At Eagle Brook, Minnesota's largest church, the focus is away from politics

“People often ask, 'Who is your senior pastor?' They can’t say, and that’s what we want,” said John Alexander, the church’s executive director of creative arts. “We resist the potential for celebrity as much as possible.”

The Lino Lakes lobby began to fill a half hour before the service. Parents signed up their kids: Kid-O-Deo for preschoolers and younger, Elevate for elementary-age kids, replete with popcorn machines, a climbing wall and Minecraft on PlayStation 4s. As the children's service began, about 60 elementary-aged children watched a skit produced by Eagle Brook about “Talking to God When You're Afraid.” They wrote down their fears, then tore up the papers and gave them to God.

The new location in Baxter is a two-hour drive north and is also full of young families. Dawn Wicklund, the pastor, stood unobtrusively in a flannel shirt, skinny jeans, and Nikes. Her Eagle Brook story is like that of many other community members. Thirteen years ago, Wicklund was at his lowest point. She had married her high school sweetheart when she was 19, when she was five months pregnant. On her first Mother's Day as a mother, Wicklund's 17-year-old brother – her closest friend – was killed by a drunk driver. At the age of 25, an overwhelmed mother of three children, her father died of cancer.

That Easter, someone invited her to Eagle Brook Church. She left hesitantly. She had been raised a Christian, but the tumult of life made her angry at God. She cried during the service.

“It just ruined me,” she said. “…From the moment I sat down, it was like I knew that Jesus was there, present, and that He had me there for a reason.”

Community members have similar stories. Brian Horn lives a two-hour drive from the Lino Lakes campus on a cattle ranch near Pillager, but wakes up at 4 a.m. on Sundays to drive here to church. He came six years ago looking for a new, exciting church experience.