Help! Catholic Church

mand0114 · April 2011

Help! We need to find a Catholic Church in Mpls or St. Paul proper where you don't necessarily have to be a member and also don't have to wait months just to book!! Any suggestions?!

schmood · April 2011

you could try Assumption in DT St. Paul. I've heard that they tend to be a little more lienient on their 'rules.'

Nazareth Chapel on the Northwestern College campus has a non-denominational church that you could possibly have a Catholic wedding at? It is not, however, in Mpls or St. Paul proper, it's in Roseville.

Fort Snelling has a smaller chapel as well that I believe is also non-denominational.

tegdirb2001 · April 2011

St. Paul Cathedral. You don't have to be a member and it's gorgeous!!!!

kmr333 · April 2011

St. Albert the Great in S.E. Minneapolis. You don't have to be a member and they don't do a ton of weddings, so it should be easy to book. We are getting married there and we even got to choose the ceremony time (so long as we're out of there by 4pm on a Saturday.) It's a great parish.

mand0114 · April 2011

Thanks!! We were thinking of the cathedral .... is it expensive?

abbywis · April 2011

Pax Christi in Eden Prairie is beautiful.

branwill317 · April 2011

Cathedral is $2000 if you're not a member .. not sure what it is if you're a member. The fee includes everything - except for required NFP classes (from $150-$525) and the retreat ($130). Give Deacon Jim a call (his number is on the Cathedral's website)... he's incredibly nice.

newlyseliski · April 2011

Ditto branwill. If you're a member, the fee is around half of that. I'm getting married there in just less than a month and have been a member for about 3 years. They have a detailed wedding policy (<<clicky link) on their website that lists out all the required preparations... I believe that they also have couples take a FOCCUS inventory and meet with a mentor couple. They book up their Saturday 2:00 wedding times very quickly if you're less than a year out, but there may be Friday evening or 11am Saturday time slots still available. Deacon Jim is great to work with!

mand0114 · April 2011

Do you have to be a member for a certail period of time to get the cheaper rate? We just submitted a request to become a member the other day

kgettingmarried · April 2011

I haven't found any Catholic churches that do not require membership. Maybe the Basilica?

I was confirmed in the Catholic church, which makes me an official adult member of the faith, but I would still have to be a member of the church in order to hold a wedding there (as well as complete premarital counseling sessions, and go through the steps of the sacrament, etc).

They consider weddings a sacrament, so you're expected to follow through with the procedures that go along with that if you want to be married in that faith. You also have to follow the rules of the faith - it must be a first time marriage for both parties, both must be confirmed in the faith and baptized, had first communion, etc etc.

That's true for churches I've found in the Plymouth/Minnetonka/Wayzata area, part of the reason we decided to elope. That's where I'm from so I wanted one of the churches I was familiar with, but it's not meant to be. You might be able to find one that's a little more lenient/accepting of different situations including nonmembership at the ones pp mentioned though.

newlyseliski · April 2011

@mand0114... I don't think that there is a minimum amount of time that they expect you to be a member. I joined on my own when I graduated from college. My fi is still a member at his parents' parish in Medina. I think that they encourage all non-member couples that want to get married there to become members and allow you to pay the member fee instead... but don't quote me on that! There are a lot of things to get involved in at the Cathedral as a member... I highly recommend CYA! I'm a bit biased, though, because I used to be on the core team Deacon Jim would better be able to explain all of that!

I can definitely understand the challenge of finding a parish to plant your roots at during this transitional phase of your life! My sister had the same issue last year when she got married. She and her husband ended up having their wedding at St. Thomas More on Summit... but they had initially planned on Nativity in Saint Paul which had the same sort of membership restrictions that you ran into!

mand0114 · April 2011

Thanks you guys!! I left a VM for Deacon Jim last night -- so hopefully I'll hear back soon and it will work out!!! I would like to get this all finalized by the end of next week!!

PaddyB · April 2011

I'm not sure if you have to be a member, but St. Olaf's is right in downtown MPLS. Father Mark Pavlik seems like a nice guy (from mass etc), alought I'm not getting married in the church so I have no idea what the process is like or if you have to be a member.

the website says the prep time takes about 6 months.

newlyseliski · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_catholic-church-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:bc6c42ac-699b-48cc-b2c7-14006428418bPost:4f443fc5-d7f9-4265-b05c-39040719ebb0">Re: Help! Catholic Church</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks you guys!! I left a VM for Deacon Jim last night -- so hopefully I'll hear back soon and it will work out!!! I would like to get this all finalized by the end of next week!!
Posted by mand0114[/QUOTE]

Best wishes! He gets pretty swamped this time of the year with weddings, so it might take several days for you to hear back. They have up to three weddings a weekend booked pretty solid from Lent through Advent!

St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis is very nice, too... I go to Mass there sometimes during the week because it's right by my office.

mand0114 · May 2011

Well, the Cathedral is all booked up for 2012! And we've had a really hard time getting a hold of anyone at the Basilica. So, I'll make a call into St Albert The Great (which I actually hope works out, because we were going to have Fr Gillespie do our service anyways -- and that's his church). Keep your fingers crossed! I'm having a mini monday panic attack -- hoping that we can get this figured out soon so we don't lose our unofficial hold on our reception venue!!!

jaimeclaire · May 2011

I also ran into this issue. We were lucky to get a date at the Cathedral, but our second choice was St. Thomas More. Beautiful church on Summit, and $1300 for non-members I believe.

mand0114 · May 2011

We got it all booked!! We booked Church of St. Albert the Great & then our ceremony at the History Center! Now I can finally BREATHE!!! And let the FUN stuff begin!!

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