Evergreen Community Church began as a dream in the minds of pastors Brent Knox and Mark Darling. It was the late 1980’s, and they were co-pastoring a church in south Minneapolis. They both shared the desire to meet the personal and spiritual needs of young singles and families. Since more than 70 percent of these people didn’t attend church regularly, Brent and Mark wanted to find out why. They started by looking at survey results. By doing this, they discovered what people say when asked why they didn’t go to church:
“The sermons were dull and didn’t relate to my life.”
“The people were unfriendly, and I was uncomfortable.”
“The church didn’t take good care of my children.”
“Going to church wasn’t convenient for my schedule.”
“Church services were predictable and boring – a waste of my time.”
Mark and Brent decided that they needed to create a church that would be different in all these areas. They wanted a church with relevant teachings, friendly people, a comfortable atmosphere, good quality childcare and convenient scheduling. They wanted a church that people would look forward to each week. As they wrestled with some ideas and sought God, they came up with the vision for Evergreen Community Church.
With a core of approximately 120 people, Evergreen officially opened its doors in June of 1988 at the Oak Grove School auditorium in Bloomington. Attendees were surprised and very pleased with the relaxed atmosphere and contemporary music played by the band. They found messages that were biblically based, but applicable to everyday life. But they were most taken in by the friendly and caring people - it didn’t feel like church anymore!
Over the years, Evergreen has continued to keep up with the changing times, meeting personal and spiritual needs even as they have grown and expanded to five locations throughout the Twin Cities.