In April, at our annual District Conference, the delegates from NCD churches voted during the business session to accept South Cities Church into the NCD family. South Cities is a recent church plant yet has a rich history that we are excited to share. We look forward to how God continues to work in the months and years to come.

 

Key phrase:

“Loving God. Loving Neighbors. Making Disciples.” is an often referenced, abridged version of the full mission statement. “We exist as a family in Christ to love God, love our neighbors, and make disciples of all peoples.”

 

Where:

We are located in Lakeville, MN and it is currently the fastest growing city and suburb in the Twin Cities. Our desire is to love our neighbors well, and be involved in the community, sharing the good news of Jesus, and inviting them into regular worship and fellowship. There are plenty of opportunities all around! We often talk about being a blood-bought family and strive to live that out in our area of the Twin Cities.

 

How it started:

While South Cities Church was planted in 2022, our church has a long, rich history. In 1871, Swedish immigrants planted First Swedish Baptist Church in downtown Minneapolis. After a fire in the original building, they moved to their current location in 1886.

At the end of WWII, in 1945, the church was renamed Bethlehem Baptist Church, switching from Swedish to English services, as many Swedish second and third generation immigrants transitioned to English-speaking churches.

Under Pastor John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist grew substantially through the 80s and 90s, launching two additional campuses in 2003 and 2006, one in the North metro of Minneapolis, and one in the South. In 2018–20, the elders at Bethlehem’s three campuses became increasingly convinced that the pathway forward for the church is toward more contextualization. In 2020, the congregations voted to affirm three preaching pastors at the three campuses, and then to give authority for electing officials and membership matters to the individual campuses. In 2022, the three congregations voted to move toward establishing the three campuses as three distinct and self-governing churches. On December 1, 2022, Bethlehem’s South Campus was planted as South Cities Church.

 

How it is going:

We are trying to live out our mission statement in practical ways. Our hope is that we will grow in our desire to love God with everything we have, and a motivation to get to know our neighbors, serve them with the love of Christ, and share the good news of Jesus with them. We want our people to know that God has them where they are at — their neighborhood, their job, their co-op, their friend group — for a reason: to testify to the freedom found in Christ and living for him in a world that needs his hope.

This is one reason why we are excited about the EFCA. We are excited about building relationships with other EFCA churches in the area in order to foster gospel unity and a potential vision for reaching these south cities with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Building relationships for encouragement, support, and mutual sharpening fits with how we want to grow as a church.

 

Pray with us:

• • Practically, that God continues to bless us as we navigate being our own autonomous church.
  • That as a blood-bought family, our affections, thoughts, desires, and lives would demonstrate that God is our most valuable treasure.
  • That we would encourage one another to reach out to our neighbors. To be Jesus to them by doing life with them, serving them, and welcoming them into worship and fellowship.
  • That we would also go to the ends of the earth to share this good news, so that all nations might belong to Jesus, and find hope and rest in him.

 

Key leaders:

Dave Zuleger is the pastor for preaching & vision. He preaches regularly and prayerfully guides the church in vision along with the elders.

 

 

Nick Roen is the pastor for worship & education. He leads regular worships and writes curriculum for Sunday school and other classes.

 

 

Daniel Viezbicke is the pastor for membership & mobilization. He draws those who attend into a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the church and the blood-bought family via membership, baptism, community groups, and serving opportunities.