Tag: Westminster Presbyterian Church (Minneapolis Minnesota)

Westminster Presbyterian Church’s Growing Season                     

Rev. Dr. Jeff Japinga, Transitional Senior Pastor for Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, has the following message for our living in this “growing season:”[1]

“The church year calls this long stretch of time as the growing season, with green as its liturgical color. What better time, then, to do here at Westminster what we are inclined to do in our lives—to turn ourselves inside out. To live on the outside instead of simply in our own hearts and minds—or in our own sanctuary. And so we will…

  • “Stand with friends and allies in Loring Park for Twin Cities Pride Festival, with a message that ‘All are welcome in God’s church.’”
  • “Invite our neighbors to the plaza on six consecutive Wednesdays for Bluegrass Evening Prayer, stepping outside into their world instead of simply inviting them inside into ours.”
  • “Return to Loring Park in late July for the art festival, adding our particular good news to the incredible creativity we see from artists.”
  • “And behind the scenes, take moments during this slightly slower time to plan what our efforts in justice will look like year-round, living out our 12th Street sign: ‘Justice is what love looks like in public.’”

“Church is the community that incarnates love both within its own fellowship and love for the larger world. What better time to follow God’s leading and turn ourselves out toward the whole people of God than the inside-out month of July?”

Our “growing season” includes the continuing work of our Westminster Town Hall Advisory Board, the Member-to-Member Ministry Team, the Westminster Counseling Center, the Youth Service-Learning Trips  and the Pastor Nominating Committee.[2]

================

[1] Rev. Japinga, From Our Pastor, Westminster News (July 2024).

[2] Westminster News (July 2024).

Cameroonians Making Home in Minnesota

By 2022 an estimated 3,600 Cameroonians called the State of Minnesota home, more than doubling since 2016.[1]

A member of this group, Adrian Abongmbu, who came here around 12 years ago, believes this growth is due to the affordable cost of living here. He said, the costs here are “very moderate. And it’s very family-friendly. It’s easy for people to start their lives in Minnesota.” He, his wife and three children live here and were joined by his mother after she immigrated from Cameroon in 2021. “It’s not uncommon for Cameroonians in the State to encourage family members and friends in other states to move here,” Adrian said.

Another Cameroonian resident of Minnesota, Florence Wanda and her husband run a nonprofit for education and heritage preservation that this September will host the Minnesota African Cultural Festival while her daughter, Modoh, is chief executive officer of the state’s first African Fashion Week.

Yet another Cameroonian resident of this State, Manka Nkimbeng, is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and a member of her tribe’s Cultural and Development Association. She recently participated in a Mother’s Day event in St. Paul while taking a limo ride around the city.

In 2022 more than 89,000 people in the U.S. reported Cameroon as their place of birth. Those without U.S. documentation are eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) through June 2025. The U.S. Government can extend that designation if their home country is determined still to be unsafe for deportation although that status does not provide a path for U.S. citizenship.

This blogger’s church in downtown Minneapolis, Westminster Presbyterian, has a small group of Cameroonian members, who inspired the church to establish a global partnership with a Presbyterian church in that country.

And a former Westminster Senior Pastor, Rev. Arnold Lowe (1941-1965) after his ordination in 1912 had served as a missionary in Kamerun when it was a German colony, and his daughter made a significant financial gift in his honor to the Presbyterian seminary in Cameroon.

This blogger enjoyed a trip to visit that church and seminary and learn more about the country, which has been undergoing a challenging time over disputes between the French-speaking majority (Francophones) and the English-speaking minority (Anglophones) as a result of those countries assuming responsibility for that country after Germany was stripped of its African colonies after World War I by the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.[2]

========================

[1] Ansari & Tu, Though small in numbers, Cameroonians are beginning to make a mark in Minnesota. StarTribune (June 8, 2024).

[2] See List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CAMEROON; Kamerun, Wikipedia.  See also “A Preacher for the times; THE REVEREND ARNOLD LOWE” (pp. 84-91) in LIVING FAITH: Stories from the first 150 years, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1857-2007, Minneapolis, Minnesota.