Mercy Hill is a part of a network of churches called the Aspen Grove Network.  As a network we talk about being Sent to Love. We love because God first loved us and we believe that God's love is compelling us and propelling us in the ways we think, feel, and act about ourselves, toward God, and with people. We live out our mission in ways similar to an aspen grove. The second largest living organism in the world is an aspen grove in Colorado and Utah. Each tree is unique but also interconnected in its root system. We are one church with several unique locations. Besides Mercy Hill, our network includes Crow River Church in Delano and Woodridge Church in Medina. 

At Mercy Hill we live out our mission through a vision of Striving After Relationship Not Religion. When we talk about relationship and not religion we mean putting our relationship with God in the middle of everything we do. We mean making commitments to really be with and for each other in community. And, we mean making efforts to connect in meaningful and lasting ways with our neighbors, our co-workers, and anyone else God might bring us into contact with. We believe really strongly that God didn't make human beings to live in isolation, loneliness, or independence. We were created to come alive inside of relationship. First with God and then with each other. 

We value lots of things but right now we are especially focused on ...

PRAISE: We want to be a people that know God and celebrate what we learn and experience about God through praise. Praising God for who he is and what he has done orders our hearts, minds, and imaginations in the right way. At Mercy Hill this right ordering happens through music that is loud, beautiful, inspiring, and real.

GRATITUDE: The more we learn and experience about God the more that propels us toward being thankful. 

We want to cultivate hearts that are thankful.

VULNERABILITY: The secret sauce of being Mercy Hill is a risky, trusting, hopeful, humble, open honesty. 

But, it must be said that for everyone in our community vulnerability looks different, the vulnerability that God is calling you toward right now might simply be to show up.

GENEROSITY: We love because God first loved us. One way of thinking about generosity is sharing the love of God with all of who we are.

THE FUTURE: We are certainly not pessimistic about the future but we aren't optimistic either. We are hopeful! Our hope motivates us to care about the future, seek to influence the shape of the future, and invest in the future. At Mercy Hill investing in the future especially means caring about kids and developing leaders of all ages.

One way that we attempt to embody our faith is through habits built around the words Bless, Eat, Listen, Learn, and Sent. This idea is not our own, it is explained in detail in a book by Michael Frost called Surprise the World. His goal for these habits is that they would form people into "a godly, intriguing, socially adventurous, joyous presence in the lives of others."

BLESS: We try to bless people each week. Some who are a part of our community and some who are not. Blessing another person is to build them up, relieve their burdens, encourage them, relieve their stress, and lift their spirits through words, actions, and gifts.

EAT: We try to eat with people each week. Some who are a part of our community and some who are not. Eating has been at the heart of Christianity since before it was called Christianity and we want it to be at the heart of the way we live our lives. We seek to eat like Jesus did, not just with people we share everything in common with and are comfortable with.

LISTEN: We set aside time to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. We seek the Spirit so that we can negotiate the spectrum between being withdrawn and being judgmental. We seek the Spirit so we know what to say yes to and what to say no to. We seek the Spirit because we want to know and be shaped by the God who would speak to us when we develop the habit of listening.  

LEARN: We set aside time to learn Jesus. We look to the stories of Jesus and then we ask ourselves questions about what Jesus would do if we could imagine him embodying our particular location, at our moment and history with the personality and passions God has given us.

SENT: We want to identify ourselves as sent one's (missionaries). Wherever you are, God put you in that place and invites you to observe and participate in the world around you go from not the way it's supposed to be to the way God intends it to be.

You might be interested to know that we are proudly a part of a denomination called Converge. 

Our denomination is affiliated with Bethel University, Trout Lake Camp, 

hundreds of great church communities in Minnesota, and thousands around the country. 

You might be curious to take a look at what we believe, click here to check out our Statement of Faith.