St. James, Fergus Falls

St. James has become a faith community which includes those who have been hurt by previous involvements in their home churches, or churches they attached themselves to as adults. In addition, these dear attendees have found a home at St. James where they are free to share their past and revel in finding a faith community that accepts them for who they are and encourages them in their growth as believers in Jesus Christ.

We are a congregation that reaches out into the community through various financial commitments and special events. These include Habitat for Humanity, Meals By Wheels, White Earth, Salvation Army, and others. We host an annual block party for the community surrounding Lake Alice. We feed everyone without charge and provide entertainment and musical quality at this event. However, donations are accepted. We also host the Ottertail Chamber Orchestra for concerts twice a year. The most recent concert was Sunday, June 29, and the next concert is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 30. 

We received and confirmed 11 new members on Palm Sunday of this year. We have an adult forum, which meets every Sunday prior to our worship service. The class explores individual books of the Bible and comparative studies of books. The most recent study is a comparison of the Books of Galatians and James. Prior to that we studied the Gospel of John. This class has gone a long ways towards solidifying our theological and biblical identity, yet we are not afraid of challenging each other as well as assumptions made by church bodies past and present. We are also a musical congregation! Our regular pianist and organist, Deb Embretson, is a first-rate musician and ministers weekly from September through May, with summers off. Amazingly, our congregation is blessed to reach out to local musicians who are extremely capable musicians. We have to pinch ourselves from time to time at the provision God has made as our worship is so dramatically enhanced through the ministry of music.