By: Christa Meland

On the third Wednesday or Thursday of every month, walk into Kabetogama UMC—and you might see half the town’s population visiting with each other and getting their hair cut.
 
It all started a couple years ago, when Rev. Brenda King began asking church members: Where can we share God’s love with our community? How can we leverage our largely unused church building to meet vital needs?
 
The congregation, which worships about seven people in the winter and as many as 60 in the summer, had some success when members hosted a scavenger hunt in the cemetery behind the church in October 2022. But it was last April when the church came up with a game-changing idea. One of the 90-year-old members mentioned that her hairstylist, located 30 miles away in International Falls, had recently lost the lease on her building. “Could we have her come to the church and cut hair?” the woman asked King.
 
King learned that at least half a dozen other community members also went to that same stylist. In the remote community of Kabetogama, which is located near the Canadian border and has a population under 30 during the winter months, the only options for those wanting a haircut were to drive 30 miles northwest to International Falls or 90 miles south to Virginia.

The hair stylist, Tina, was happy to drive to the church once a month and cut hair there. She even coined the name “Hair and Prayer,” and she relays a blessing to each person at the end of their haircut.
 
“My goal is to provide joy, laughter, and smiles,” said Tina.
 
Every month, Kabetogama UMC’s treasurer calls community members who might want a haircut and invites them to choose a time slot. The first couple of Hair and Prayer gatherings had eight to 10 people. Last summer, that number had grown to 15. And in recent months, as many as 20 people have come for a haircut and for fellowship—including those with no previous connection to the church. Attendees often bring snacks to share.
 
“People will sit there and chat—often it’s a faith conversation without anybody having to do too much with it,” said King. Topics that have been discussed from a faith lens include everything from abortion to chemical abuse to the use of tasers.
 
Hair and Prayer is an example of a fresh expression, a new type of being church that is gaining traction in the Minnesota Conference. Fresh expressions gather in various community venues and public spaces around shared interests and hobbies. This is a movement of Christian communities where people with no connection to the church are finding life and encountering Christ. 
 
For those who gather, the fellowship and lively discussions are just as important as the haircuts.
 
Hair and Prayer is about community and using the building to provide a needed service, said John and Lynn, a married couple who regularly attend.
 
The success of Hair and Prayer has prompted the church to use its building to serve the community in other ways too. For example, several months ago, a member started an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group that meets in the fellowship hall weekly. He’d been driving to International Falls because that’s where the closest AA meetings were offered, but unfortunately they met at the same time as Kabetogama UMC’s Sunday worship. After learning how to lead AA meetings, the man started offering them at the church—thus freeing him up to attend worship on Sundays and offering other Kabetogama residents a closer option for AA meetings. Seven or eight people usually show up to the ones at the church.

King is delighted to witness the community coming together through Hair and Prayer, and the AA meetings—and church members feel good about using their building to meet vital needs.
 
The message that King hopes to convey to everyone who walks through the doors: “The church loves you. The congregation loves you. God loves you.”
 
“I hope they feel that love of Jesus Christ coming into the building,” she said.

Christa Meland is director of communications for the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church