By Scott Barkley - Posted at Baptist Press:
Published January 15, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS (BP) – As protests escalate, one emotion remains prominent in this city where a majority of Southern Baptist churches are multiethnic or non-Anglo. It has shaped – and been shaped by – confrontations that have now led to mentions of invoking the Insurrection Act.And in a time when people need each other and the Gospel, it has also led to isolation.
“Fear,” said Trey Turner, executive director for the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. “It has stifled church gatherings [and made] people want to keep to themselves. If everyone is tuned out, how are they supposed to hear the message?”
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deployments to the Minneapolis area, since named Operation Metro Surge, have grown to approximately 2,000 and DHS describing it as “its largest immigration operation ever.”
The Jan. 7 fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has become a Rorschach test of sorts, with extreme viewpoints amplified through social media. A Jan. 13 “targeted traffic stop” resulted in a chase and hospital trips for a federal agent and the man he shot. DHS said the officer fired his weapon in self-defense when the man and two others attacked him with a shovel and broom handle.
This morning, President Trump threatened the use of the Insurrection Act if Minnesota leaders “don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists.”
Associational mission strategist Chris Reinertson called it “a challenging time” for churches in the Twin Cities Metro Baptist Association.
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