About our Bread Oven
The Community Bread Oven at Hamline Church is an outdoor, wood-fired brick oven. It produces amazing pizzas and rustic bread, but it is more than that. This oven is a unique place in our community where we all can slow down, create, strengthen relationships, and build connections. The bread oven was built by Hamline Church members, thanks to a generous grant from White Bear Lake United Methodist Church. The oven is a place for the whole community to gather around baking bread, pizzas, cinnamon rolls–and anything else you can imagine.
For a long time, there was just one oven for an entire village. It was inefficient for every person to have their own oven, and so the community shared a large oven in the center of town. In the process of baking, people would meet friends, discuss politics, share stories, and gossip. In addition to producing good food, the community ovens produced good neighbors. That old idea is now here in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood in Saint Paul.
How can I get involved with the bread oven team?
Please contact the church office at humc@hamlinechurch.org to be added to the bread oven email list. From that list you will find out how to volunteer, when events are happening, and what bread baking classes might be available to you.
Can my group or organization use the bread oven?
This oven isn't quite like a conventional oven you would have in your home. A wood-fired oven takes 24 hours to get up to temperature, and a great deal of wood, stoking, and volunteer support. We are still learning how to use the oven ourselves. We have some community bread bake events when we have the oven fired, and there may be opportunities for you to work with our team to fire the oven. Please contact the church office at 651-645-0667 or humc@hamlinechurch.org to be put in contact with the right individual.
