Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis pastors promote depolarization as an act of faith
At Mercy Vineyard Church, a crowd has gathered for plates of pasta and a crash course in becoming peacemakers in politically polarized times.
Pastor Gary Dawkins kicks the event off with some scripture. He says the Bible is a good blueprint for navigating today’s divided environment.
“Jesus is quoted here by saying, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,’” he said, reading from the Book of Matthew. “Jesus is saying, ‘I don’t want you to be a peace faker. I want you to be a peacemaker.’”
Dawkins is among religious leaders asking what role faith can play in bridging political divides in a particularly polarized election year.
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Pastor Steph O’Brien, the lead pastor at Mill City Church, talks about the nature of contemporary polarization during a workshop on how to be a peacemaker in the image of Jesus during a polarizing time at Mercy Vineyard Church in Minneapolis on Oct. 8.
Tim Evans for MPR News
Through a series of workshops, Dawkins and another local pastor, Stephanie O’Brien of Mill City Church, have been teaching congregants how to listen better, how to bust through their media echo chambers and how to use their faith to empathize with people on the other side.
Dawkins said that reducing polarization is exactly what Jesus would want his followers to do, even if it means loving someone who sees politics differently.
“One of the false conversations that we have around us, is that in order for me to be at peace with someone, I have to be on their team, or they have to agree with everything I agree with,” he said. “But that’s not peace. That’s just conformity.”
Pastor Gary Dawkins, the lead pastor at Mercy Vineyard Church, explains the details of an exercise during a workshop on how to be a peacemaker in the image of Jesus during a polarizing time in Minneapolis on Oct. 8.
Tim Evans for MPR News
Talking to someone on the other side of politics is hard, which is why O’Brien came up with the idea for these workshops.
Since the pandemic, her parishioners tell her they’ve lost relationships.
“This is a form of deep loss and grief, and I have had people say to me, ‘It feels as though this person in my life has died, and I know they’re still alive. I even sometimes see them, but the person and that relationship is gone. It’s gone.’” she said. “I don’t believe that it has to be the end of the story.”
People raise their hands for an impromptu poll during a workshop on how to be a peacemaker in the image of Jesus during a polarizing time at Mercy Vineyard Church in Minneapolis on Oct. 8.
Tim Evans for MPR News
Old habits die hard
A recent workshop began with a little introspection.
Participant Tim Fynskov took a quiz that revealed his stereotypes about people who vote differently than he does.
“I found disdain is my natural inclination, or pity that you know they’re not hearing the truth,” he said.
And for him it’s personal. He said he doesn’t talk politics with some members of his family.
“Because I really want to resist thinking less of them. I know them for the people that they are, and I don’t want to find myself disparaging them or thinking of them with disdain,” he said.
People read a presentation slide on the attributes of Jesus during a workshop on how to be a peacemaker in the image of Jesus during a polarizing time at Mercy Vineyard Church in Minneapolis on Oct. 8.
Tim Evans for MPR News
Self-reflection was a consistent theme during the two-hour session.
At one point, co-facilitator Ramón Pastrano asked participants to evaluate their media consumption habits. Many participants said they tend to go back to the same sources of information over and over.
Pastrano said algorithms are designed to reinforce our biases.
“When we’re doing a Google search, we’re chasing our tail. We’re looking at our past search history to search for something that we think is going to give us some truth,” he said. “When actually what we’re doing is walking this path where we already have been, and we’re making decisions based on that.”
Seeking to understand, not change minds
Dismantling these old habits can be challenging, said participant Lizzie Dresselhaus. For years, she’s tried to change people’s minds about politics.
“Maybe changing somebody’s mind is not going to be super effective,” she said.
Now, she wants to change her approach to those conversations.
”How can I see somebody’s story, how did [they] get to the values that [they] have now, being a whole person and not just a representation of a viewpoint that I disagree with,” she said.
Co-moderator Dr. Ramón Pastrano explains the role of self-awareness in interpersonal dynamics during a workshop on how to be a peacemaker in the image of Jesus during a polarizing time at Mercy Vineyard Church in Minneapolis on Oct. 8.
Tim Evans for MPR News
Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota weather: Gorgeous Sunday with a warmer Monday ahead
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A sunny and warm Sunday is in store for the Twin Cities, with even higher temperatures expected on Monday before a chance of rain and cooler air returns later in the week.
Sunday forecast
Local perspective:
Sunday is starting with some cloud cover before sunshine moves in with highs near 70 degrees around the metro and southern parts of the state.
Winds will be much lighter than Saturday, coming from the south at 5 to 10 mph with only occasional gusts up to 15 mph.
The Brainerd Lakes area will see temperatures in the 60s, while the North Shore will be cooler, which is typical for this time of year.
Sunday’s weather is expected to be dry and pleasant.
Overnight, temperatures will drop to the upper 30s and lower 40s, with some clouds moving in ahead of Monday.
Extended forecast
What’s next:
Monday could be the warmest day of the week, with highs in the lower 70s for the Twin Cities and some spots in southern Minnesota possibly reaching close to 80 degrees.
Winds will shift from southerly to southeasterly and then easterly as the day goes on, but should remain light.
After the warm start to the week, a cold front will move through on Tuesday, bringing a chance for a few rain showers in the early morning.
Temperatures will likely drop to the upper 40s by Wednesday and Thursday, with another front possibly bringing showers late Friday into early Saturday.
The rest of the extended forecast calls for temperatures close to or just below average, with highs in the upper 40s to lower 50s.
The Source: This story uses information from the FOX 9 weather forecast.
Minneapolis, MN
Man found dead in south Minneapolis house fire
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Firefighters are investigating the Minneapolis’s second fire fatality of the year after a man died in a house fire Saturday afternoon.
Fatal fire on 28th Avenue South
What we know:
According to the Minneapolis Fire Department (MFD), fire crews arrived shortly after 1:00 p.m. and found smoke coming from the second floor of a single-family home on 28th Avenue South. Bystanders alerted firefighters that someone might be trapped inside.
Crews had to work through heavy debris to reach the upstairs area. It took about 40 minutes to fully put out the fire.
During the primary search, firefighters found a man in his 60s dead on the second floor. No one else was found after searching all the floors.
Minneapolis Animal Care and Control took in a dog found outside the home.
Assistant Chief Wes Van Vickle said, “The department is grateful to the neighbors who alerted fire crews that someone may still have been inside, allowing them to act quickly.”
Fire safety reminders and community response
What they’re saying:
“This afternoon’s tragic loss of life weighs heavily on all of us, and we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” said Van Vickle.
He also encourages the public to regularly check and maintain smoke detectors and fire extinguishers at home.
There were no other injuries reported. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner is working to confirm the man’s identity.
What we don’t know:
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and the man’s name has not been released.
Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota serves as the flagship for nationwide ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Organizers of Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies across the country are predicting that the protests against the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration could add up to one of the largest demonstrations in U.S. history, with Minnesota taking center stage.
Organizers say more than 3,100 events have been registered in all 50 states, with more than 9 million people expected to participate.
And they’ve designated the rally at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul as the national flagship event, in recognition of how the state where federal agents fatally shot two people who were monitoring Trump’s immigration crackdown became an epicenter of resistance.
Headlining that observance will be Bruce Springsteen, performing “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote in response to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and in tribute to the thousands of Minnesotans who took to the streets over the winter. Springsteen’s Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour, which has a “No Kings” theme, kicks off Tuesday in Minneapolis.
Minnesota organizers have told state officials they expect 100,000 people could converge on the Capitol grounds, where last June’s event drew an estimated 80,000 people.
The St. Paul rally will also feature singer Joan Baez, actor Jane Fonda,Sen. Bernie Sanders and a long list of other activists, labor leaders and elected officials.
The White House dismissed the nationwide protests as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support.
“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
Rallies are also planned in more than a dozen other countries, from Europe to Latin America to Australia, Ezra Levin, a co-executive director of Indivisible, a group spearheading the events, said in an interview. Countries with constitutional monarchies call the protests “No Tyrants,” he said.
For those unable to attend in person, another activist group, Stand Up For Science, is hosting a “virtual and accessible” event online.
National organizers told reporters in an online news conference Thursday that they expect Saturday’s protests to be larger than the first two rounds of No Kings rallies, which they estimate drew more than 5 million people in June and more than 7 million in October.
“This administration’s actions are angering not just Democratic voters or folks in big blue city centers – they are crossing a line for people in red and rural areas, in the suburbs, all over the country,” said Leah Greenberg, the other co-executive director of Indivisible. “The defining story of this Saturday’s mobilization is not just how many people are protesting, but where they are protesting,”
Two-thirds of the RSVPs have come from outside of major urban centers, Greenberg said, listing registration surges in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well in competitive suburban areas of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.
“Millions of us are rising up from all walks of life, from rural communities to big cities at No Kings,” said Katie Bethell, executive director of MoveOn, another major organizer. “And as we do so, we will send the loudest, clearest message yet that this country does not belong to kings, dictators, tyrants. It belongs to us.”
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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