ABOUT US

ABOUT OUR CHURCH

The church building at Dayton Avenue and Lexington Parkway was originally designed by architect Cass Gilbert in 1886. It was first located at Lincoln and Grotto before being dismantled and moved piece by piece to its current site in 1915. At that time, stained glass from a downtown Presbyterian church was added. Over the decades, the wooden structure sagged with age, eventually requiring steel beams and cables to stabilize it.

Lexington Parkway Presbyterian Church worshiped there from 1915 until merging with Merriam Park Presbyterian in 1969, when the building was sold to New Hope Baptist Church. In 1986, major reconstruction was required after the city condemned the sagging structure, leading to installation of steel supports, new wiring, and air conditioning.

In 1990, St. Paul Apostolic (SPA) was founded as the first Oneness Apostolic church in St. Paul or Minneapolis since 1965. After years of renting various buildings, SPA purchased the Dayton & Lexington property from New Hope Baptist in 1999 for $207,000—a figure the church considered providential. Through faithful giving and sacrificial offerings, the mortgage was fully paid off in 2006 and burned during SPA’s 20th anniversary in 2010.

Since then, the congregation has continued to renovate, adding nurseries, updating the sanctuary, and creating more space for worship, fellowship, and growth.