The only African American-led PC(USA) church in Minnesota ministers to human trafficking victims and people living in poverty
by Beth Waltemath | Presbyterian News Service
MINNEAPOLIS — Liberty Community Church is the only African American-led PC(USA) church in the state of Minnesota. Located in North Minneapolis in one of the city’s poorest ZIP codes and situated between major interstates which make the area a prime spot for sex trafficking and illegal drug trading, this Matthew 25 congregation revitalized the spaces of two Presbyterian churches that closed in the last 30 years and transformed them into healing spaces for the neighborhood.
The congregation and the charitable organizations it has launched attend to the generational work of addressing structural racism and systemic poverty. Through its afterschool program, summer Freedom School, and youth group on one campus, Liberty helps children and youth excel academically, prepare for college, access music education, and learn the fundamentals of personal finance. Its second location, Northside Healing Center, provides a place of respite, access to therapy, yoga, spiritual direction and other healing modalities for its neighbors, many of whom are victims of human trafficking or living below the poverty line.
The Rev. Dr. Alika Galloway is co-pastor of Liberty Community Church in North Minneapolis. (Photo by Rich Copley/Presbyterian Mission Agency)
Minneapolis is a city where the systemic racism and police brutality exposed in the death of George Floyd during the summer of 2020 captured the attention of the nation and helped galvanize an already growing movement to affirm the humanity of Black lives and to call out the forces that destroy them. Liberty Community Church is a beacon of hope, not just through the direct services it provides, but through its strategic partnerships within the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and around the city to invite others into antiracism work and to educate people about the historic and legal obstacles that must be overcome to dismantle structural racism and close the opportunity gap for individuals trapped in generational poverty.
Across the country, congregations, mid councils, and the Presbyterian Mission Agency are working together to eradicate systemic poverty, dismantle structural racism, and build congregational vitality. Learn more here and here.
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