History
Park Harbor Church, formerly known as Park Assembly of God, has been a part of the St Louis Park/Minneapolis community since January of 1953. It started in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Wilerman, with a number of students from North Central Bible College (now North Central University). After a short stint at the Lenox school, we moved to our current location in 1957. We are part of the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal (Spirit-filled) fellowship. We believe that the Bible is very practical, alive, and given for our lives today; and that Holy Spirit leads us in compassion and uses us to touch other’s lives with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Park Harbor has a reputation of being a church that partners with the community. We have been blessed with a spacious building, and have opened it up to many groups in the city, such as the St Louis Park Jr and Sr High Schools, the St Louis Park Police and Fire Departments, the City of St Louis Park (as a polling place), Girl Scouts, rhythmic gymnastics, new church plants, other congregations, and para-church ministries. St Louis Park used to have a Sunday morning community worship service at Wolfe Park as part of their Parktacular Celebration, and (along with other congregations) we helped organize and lead that service annually. We also reach out to help the less fortunate in the greater community. Park Harbor takes clothes, food, blankets, hats, mittens, and other essential items out onto the streets to bless the homeless and others. We also offer to pray for people with needs in the community and have seen many healed by the Lord, introducing them to Jesus in a very personal way.
Many people over the years have spoken over us, that they have sensed that we are a place that brought about healing in people’s lives. We have seen many who have come through our doors that have been hurt by other churches and leadership, family, divorce and just the hard trials of life. It has been amazing to see the Lord not only bring inner healing to people and transform their lives, but also bring physical healings to people that have needed them. The Lord is so amazing!
The people of Park Harbor are close. We call each other family. We look out for one another. We are involved in church activities because we love to spend time with each other! We’re not perfect people, but we pursue relationship with each other, because we desire to love others as God loves us. In recent years, the Lord has been leading the Park Harbor family on a very specific journey. The Lord was impressing upon us to slow down (life is way too busy), to stop, to listen to Him, and to simplify our lives and ministry… and we have been doing just that! Over this time, we have seen an increase in intimacy and personal encounter with the Lord and his Holy Spirit. At present, in our services we take our time in singing, worshiping, and praying as the Lord leads us in those moments. We are not in a hurry, because we want to experience God in a personal way. As a result, the very peace and presence of the Lord has been so evident in our services. The preaching of the Word is done in a very practical way so as to enable people to take what they have heard and apply it to their everyday lives.
We at Park Harbor Church have a vision that the Lord has placed on the hearts of our leadership and congregation and it is simply this: to Encounter, Empower & Engage! What does this mean?
Encounter: to provide a place and atmosphere for people to come together and experience His presence. God’s heart is to have intimacy with us, His creation. Our desperate need is to have intimacy with God and truly experience naturally and supernaturally the very presence of God Himself. Anything that we say or do must come from the Lord’s presence! Once we Encounter, we . . .
Empower: we begin to minister His anointing. We don’t minister to others in our own strength and abilities, but in the anointing that flows from His presence. Thus we begin to see scriptures fulfilled such as: John 14:12 – “The works that I do shall you do also; and greater works than these shall you do” Acts 1:8 – “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall receive power to be my witnesses.” When we Empower, then we . . .
Engage: we reach His world. For God so loved the world that he gave Jesus, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life! Our heart is to touch our city, state, nation & world with the presence and love of Jesus.
We can only truly engage after we have been empowered, and we can only be empowered after we have encountered the Lord. This is what Park Harbor Church is all about!
AG Fundamental Truths
Our Pastors
Rev. Philip Whalen 1953-1954
Rev. Glenn Weslander 1954-1955
Rev. Wilbur Wacker 1955-1957
Rev. Donald Patz 1957-1963
Rev. Edward Hollen 1963-1988
Rev. David Torgerson 1988-1992
Rev. Wesley Brooks 1993-2001
Rev. Robert Christenson 2002-present
