St. John's Bible Trip

September 25th, 2026

Fifteen adventurous souls boarded a charter bus on a dreary Thursday morning, destined for Saint John’s University in Collegeville, to view The Saint John’s Bible. The 75-minute ride was relaxing and provided ample time for conversation and shared curiosities about this outing for which Pastor Jennifer convinced them to sign up.

The 112-foot-tall poured-concrete bell tower of Saint John’s Abbey Church, resembling a massive sail, welcomed the travelers from over a mile away as the charter bus exited Interstate 94. Coach Driver Dave courteously assisted people as they disembarked the bus in front of the impressive bell tower and church. Folks ambled up a handful of stairs and entered Abbey Church, a Brutalist architectural feat listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Alumnus Tony Mather offered a brief tour of the church, which incorporates a massive use of cast and steel-reinforced concrete and a marvelous ‘honeycomb’ stained-glass window.

Before reaching the much-anticipated Saint John’s Bible Gallery, the band of pilgrims broke off into smaller groups to explore the university campus, situated on 3,000 acres of lush landscape and lakes. Options included attending mass with the monks, visiting the gift shop to purchase world-famous Johnnie Bread, watching craftspeople at work in the Abbey Woodshop, or wandering through the library. Not dissuaded by the drizzly weather, a few ventured out to glimpse the Johanna Kiln, the largest wood-burning kiln of its kind in North America.

When hunger struck, folks gathered together in the refectory for lunch and continued conversations. Diners had the opportunity to meet a (now-grown) ‘child’ of the congregation. Sarah Achartz, daughter of Julie Mohlis and sister to Aaron Achartz, grew up attending All Saints. She now serves as the Manager of Global Programs at The College of Saint Benedict, which is a close partner with Saint John’s. Sarah shared some interesting facts about the campuses and entertained questions from the group. Pastor Jennifer asked what impact All Saints made on her life. Her response was both informative and inspiring. Community. Sarah valued the sense of belonging and connection she felt with the congregation. Cultivating a sense of community continues to be important to Sarah in her work and personal life.

And then it was time. The much-anticipated presentation and tour of The Saint John’s Bible commenced with Director and Curator Tim Ternes gathering the eager group in front of a rare 18th century Torah scroll which originated in Syria. This scroll is strategically positioned at the entryway of the exhibit space to ground visitors in the ancient Hebrew roots of biblical text before they view The Saint John's Bible.

Mr. Ternes provided an exquisite behind-the-scenes look into the development and creation of this sacred scripture and art, which is the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine abbey since the invention of the printing press over 500 years ago. The Saint John's Bible is the brainchild of Donald Jackson, renowned British calligrapher and official scribe to Queen Elizabeth II. To bring this grand endeavor to fruition, it took a tremendous amount of dedication, collaboration, and trust among the artists, scribes, scholars, theologians, financiers, and committees. (Yes, committees!)

The purpose, significance, and goal of this time-, labor-, and financially intensive project is summed up in the FAQs on the name-sake’s website:

“The goal of The Saint John’s Bible is to ignite the spiritual imagination of all peoples throughout the world by commissioning a work of art that illuminates the word of God for a new millennium, in a way that is relevant to the 21st century. It is a prophetic witness to the word of God in our day and beyond, an opportunity for learning and scholarship and a dignified expression of the Benedictine vision: "That in all things God may be glorified.”

The travelers hung on to every bit of knowledge Tim shared, every carefully illuminated word and every magnificent colorful jot and tittle of the 28 pages of sacred art on display in the gallery. It was truly breathtaking.

Amazed, grateful, and inspired, they climbed aboard the charter bus and returned to Minnetonka with Driver Dave at the helm, providing safe and comfortable passage. Here is what a few people said about the experience:

“Thank you for the opportunity to see the St. John's Bible. I feel that I have an added connection to the Bible from witnessing this extra-ordinary volume of hand scribed scripture interpreted with beautiful contemporary art. It is awesome how they represented God's presence in all of the art.”

— Bonita Buttke

“I confess that I went to the Saint John's Bible Gallery with the expectation of just seeing great illustrations. I was overwhelmed by the complexity and logistical challenges of the project, both scriptural and aesthetic. Curator Tim's dialogue with us about individual pages was very thought provoking, particularly the page concerning the Ten Commandments and the most boring passage in Matthew.

Tim's exhortation that this famous Bible should be used by congregations to bring them together and not just to admire it as an artwork was very compelling. The plan to bind the pages into books and the projected 7 years to finish binding the books made a great deal of sense after the whole of the project was explained. The Abbey should try to raise funds to make a video about the binding process, which to judge by the few photos about it, is as technically demanding as the calligraphy.”

— Steve Suppan