Our story
In the early 2000s, less than 1% of the Twin Cities' massive under-34 population went to church weekly. Pastor Peter Haas started Substance to change that number — one relocation at a time.
Substance began as a college church, meeting on campus and growing through three services before outgrowing the space entirely.
After scouting more than 50 locations, the only option was a high school in Fridley. The church lost 20% of attendance overnight — then filled two services within a year.
Substance leased an Operation Center in Roseville — a TV studio, coffee shop, and 350-seat auditorium — and started broadcasting the weekend message to a second campus at the University of Northwestern.
Substance launched a campus at a high school theater in Spring Lake Park while running 7 services across 4 locations most weekends. Pastor Peter's first book, Pharisectomy, became a bestseller.
At the edge of what a portable, volunteer-run church could sustain, leadership chose to pause rapid growth and invest in deeper discipleship, staff stability, and permanent buildings.
Facing another forced move, Substance improbably acquired the 125-year-old Historic Wesley building in downtown Minneapolis — the one with the glass dome — in partnership with a local Methodist pastor, launching Substance Downtown in September 2016. That same year, the Northtown campus opened in Spring Lake Park.
Substance launched a national worship project, Substance I/O, which charted on the mainstream iTunes charts, followed by an electronic/rap project, Substance Variant.
Northtown, Downtown, Northwest, and Southside serve the Twin Cities metro, alongside a partner congregation in Monterrey, Mexico. Substance also sits on the lead team of the ARC church-planting network, which has helped launch over 800 churches worldwide.
"If God did it for us, he can certainly do it for you too."
What we believe
Substance is non-denominational, but our theology is deliberately ordinary — closely aligned with mainstream evangelical Christianity, and affiliated with the Association of Related Churches. Here's the short version of our full statement of faith.
Scripture alone is the final, inspired authority on doctrine — not tradition, not personal experience layered on top of it.
One God in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is fully God and fully human, born of a virgin, and lived the only sinless life.
Salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus's death and resurrection — a gift, not something earned through good works.
New believers are called to be baptized in water. Substance also holds a charismatic view of the Holy Spirit's baptism, including spiritual gifts.
We believe God's will includes wholeness — spiritual, emotional, physical, financial — while acknowledging trials are real and don't signal spiritual failure.
Substance holds the traditional evangelical position: sexuality is intended for marriage between one man and one woman. The church does not perform or host same-sex weddings.
Jesus will physically return; believers are resurrected to eternal life, and those who reject Christ face eternal judgment.
This page is a plain-language summary. For the complete statement with scripture references, see the official Statement of Faith (PDF).
Leadership
Peter and Carolyn Haas planted Substance in 2004 and still teach most weekend messages across campuses. Each physical location also has its own campus pastor — Parice Bayer at Northtown, Isaac & Lindsay Cortes at Downtown, Bryan & Melissa Cotch at Northwest, and Josh & Cally Ezzell at Southside.