MEDIA CONTACT:

Anselm House

Attn: Dan Olson
Managing Director

612-203-8540
do@anselmhouse.org

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RELEASE DATE:

Oct. 12, 2023

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Anselm House celebrates completion of From the Heart Campaign and expanded presence at the heart of campus.

MINNEAPOLIS – On Oct. 4, 2023 a community of friends of Anselm House gathered to celebrate and close the “From the Heart Campaign.” “When the Lord does something wonderful like this, when he moves in ways no one expects, you have to give an account.” said Dr. Bryan Bademan, executive director of Anselm House. “He has placed us here in the heart of the University. He has heard our prayers, the prayers of faithful men and women, for the better part of 50 years.”

Anselm House launched the public phase of  the campaign in May 2022, with the most visible goal of the campaign being to acquire and remodel 20,000 square feet at 720 Washington Ave. S, now known on campus as “Melrose Station.” In Nov. 2022, Melrose Station opened to University of Minnesota students and faculty as a campus hub for study and intellectual connection. Since then, students have embraced Anselm House at Melrose Station as a center of Christian student life on campus.

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Prior to the acquisition, retired CEOs Ken Melrose and Joel Jennings each committed lead gifts of $3.5 million to help Anselm House expand into the heart of the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. Inspired by this lead generosity, more than $18.3 million from 182 supporters has been given in the form of gifts, commitments, and estate gifts — including many university faculty and alumni.

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Anselm House, a center for Christian studies, has been a fixture at the University of Minnesota for over 40 years, tracing its history back to two Christian ministries: the MacLaurin Institute and Christian Student Fellowship.
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“We believe God is establishing a new kind of co-curricular Christian college training up the next generation of Christian servant leaders from the heart of the University of Minnesota.” said Dan Olson, managing director. “Over the last four years, God has done ‘immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’...This fall, our staff of 15, along with more than 35 other campus ministries and leaders, and thousands of students, are daily reminded that this place, and the ministry happening here, is a gift made possible by a great cloud of witnesses.” After opening to the public, Anselm House has seen an average of over 80 University of Minnesota constituents use this study center daily.

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Concluding his remarks at the Oct. 4 luncheon, Dr. Bryan Bademan gave four implications for the future of Anselm House, including a commitment to greater collaboration between on-campus ministries and a commitment to providing residential housing for students. Beyond these implications, the theme centered on generosity and hospitality. Indeed, Dr. Bademan delivered a striking message: “we have tremendous resources that we feel deeply called to share, and we are not concerned about whether these resources go out directly through our channels or through the channels of other communities.”

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About Anselm House

Anselm House is a center for Christian studies that exists to help students and faculty at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) connect Christian faith & knowledge with all of life. We offer programs oriented around the integration of faith and vocation (our Fellows programs), administer a Christian faculty network for UMN professors, and host conversations, lectures, and courses open to the general public. For more than forty years, we have been equipping the next generation of Christian servant-leaders for the university, the church, and the world. More information at anselmhouse.org.

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What is Melrose Station?

Melrose Station is Anselm House’s newly renovated 20,000 sf of space in the atrium lower level of 720 Washington Ave SE. The space has been designed to provide UMN students, staff and faculty of all backgrounds a place of hospitality, community and intellectual engagement drawing on the resources of the Christian intellectual tradition. The space is designed to be a great place to study, drink coffee, and find deep conversations, courses, and community offerings.