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Junior Aguilon Munoz is the pastor at Iglesia Manantial De Agua Viva (MAV), or Spring of Living Water Church. The church recently purchased the former Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church property in Pipestone. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Iglesia Manantial de Agua Viva (MAV) is the new owner of the former Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church at 1102 Seventh Ave. SW in Pipestone. The name translates to Spring of Living Water.
Pastor Junior Aguilon Munoz said the congregation has been in Pipestone for several years in other locations and has been renting the former Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church for services since earlier this year. It recently purchased the property after Our Saviour’s Lutheran held its final service there at the end of October.
Munoz said MAV has youth nights and adult Bible studies on Thursdays at 6 p.m., prayer nights and gatherings on Fridays at 6 p.m. and services Sundays at 5 p.m. He said about 90 people typically attend services on Sundays.
Munoz said the church is part of the Church of God, which he described as Pentecostal and evangelical. He also described the church as contemporary.
Church services are in Spanish now and translated into English for those who desire translation, but Munoz said the church plans to begin holding bilingual English and Spanish services next year.
“I have a friend who does English services at 9 a.m. and then 11 a.m. is the Spanish Service,” Munoz said. “I don’t want to do that. I want to include everybody.”
The church also has men’s groups and women’s groups and offers English classes. Munoz said the church also plans to have a community garden in the summer and would like to add a playground.
“Our vision is we are fountains that produce life, which means we are the fountain of the community, as well,” Munoz said. “We want to make sure we’re a community church. We’re Pipestone’s church. It’s not just the Hispanic community. We also want to expand out to the English speakers as well. That’s our vision for our building.”
The 29-year-old Munoz is from St. Paul and now lives in Jasper. He said he was called to ministry at a revival in Wisconsin in 2018 where an evangelist called him by name and asked him to play the piano. He said the evangelist told him that was just the beginning and to prepare to be a pastor.
Munoz said he started studying the Word of God and earned a degree in theology from Unity Christian University in Florida. He’s also working on a degree in Christian counseling and expects to complete that in April. He has previously helped open several churches in St. Paul, and one New Jersey. He was first called upon to provide some guidance to the congregation in Pipestone and eventually became the pastor.
Since buying the former Our Saviour’s property, MAV has taken on some remodeling projects to make the space its own. A ribbon cutting was planned for Saturday, Nov. 29, but was rescheduled to Saturday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. due to weather.