our story

The vision for Church of the Cross began when the Lord gave Christian and Molly Ruch a strong sense that they were called to plant an Anglican church. They didn’t know the “where” or “when” of the church plant, but prayed about this vision for many years. In 2002, as part of Christian’s ordination process at Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois, other church leaders confirmed the calling to church planting and joined the Ruchs in seeking the Lord’s leading for the next steps.

By 2003, the call to plant a church in the Twin Cities had become clear, and in October of that year, Christian and Molly and their children were sent out by Church of the Resurrection to the near western suburbs of Minneapolis. In addition to Church of the Resurrection, they also had the support and oversight of the Anglican Mission in the Americas and Bishop Sandy Greene. They were joined by a few others who had moved at the same time from the Chicago area. Soon others in the Twin Cities were also interested in helping start an Anglican church.

After ten months of praying together, learning about their community, holding monthly worship services, recruiting other team members, and doing planning and development, this team launched Church of the Cross on September 12, 2004. By that time, the Lord had miraculously provided a permanent space in Hopkins, where the church continues to meet to this day.

From the day Church of the Cross first formed, it has desired to be a church that helps plant new churches. It has planted three daughter churches—Church of the Redeemer in Saint Paul, Restoration Anglican in South Minneapolis, and Resurrection Anglican in Brooklyn Center. In the spring of 2012, Church of the Cross transferred its affiliation from the Anglican Mission to the Anglican Church in North America, and is currently part of the Minnesota Deanery of the Diocese of the Upper Midwest.