Although membership suffered during the pandemic, Salt Co. is quickly reestablishing its community, and hundreds of college students from around the Twin Cities are gathering to worship, read the Bible and connect with one another in small group settings.
The Salt Co. is the college ministry branch of Salt City Church, a Twin Cities-based Christian Church establishing community faith groups on college campuses across the country. The primary goal of Salt Co. is “to help college students know, love, and follow Jesus for the rest of their lives.”
Salt Co. student leader and St. Thomas second-year student Jonathan Bunce said the community and faith support provided by Salt Co. is important to him.
“There’s lots of places you can get information,” Bunce said. “I can read a book or watch a sermon online, but it’s really about the gathering of believers. I think that definitely is the big piece.”
The Salt Co. community has been rapidly growing. Salt Co. student leader and second-year student Rachel Hartman said Salt Co. St. Paul has increased its number of student leaders from five to 25 in the past year, and the goal for next year is 40 leaders. Many of Salt Co. St. Paul’s members, including several student leaders, are St. Thomas students.
“There was about 30 people last year, and this year there’s almost 200 students every week,” Hartman said.
Meetings, which are Thursdays at 8 p.m. at Vertical Church consist of worship songs and gospel readings, much like a regular church service.
Leading worship has been a passion of St. Thomas first-year Ellie Mortenson’s since she was in eighth grade; it is one of the things she enjoys most about Salt Co.
“I get to serve people in that way every Thursday, which is just so fulfilling for me,” Mortenson said.
A large draw of Salt Co. is the weekly “connection groups,” where members can discuss their faith and connect with others in small groups of around 10-20 students. According to Mortenson, these groups provide a valuable space where students can be vulnerable and honest.
“It kind of acts as therapy,” Mortenson said. “It’s very helpful in my life to have a group of girls that I can count on and rely on.”
Hartman said she has seen the community groups positively impact herself and others.
“I’ve seen a lot of broken stories come into Salt, and a lot of students feel like this is a comfortable, safe space to find a sense of community,” Hartman said.
Salt Co. student leader and St. Thomas second-year Hope Adebayo thinks that learning about God connects the members of Salt Co., saying everyone, Christian or not, can come together to learn.
“We don’t want people to just blindly believe, we want people to know who God is,” Adebayo said.
Derek Badger can be reached at badg7629@stthomas.edu.