A Church that brings Good News to the Poor
On my vacation I had the opportunity to visit several churches. I intentionally sought out worship that was different from our own, and congregations that were different from ours. I paid particular attention to who was there, how they worshiped, and what the primary focus of the congregation seemed to be. In my next few articles I want to reflect on my brief experience with each of these congregations.
The first church Alice and I visited was a small church startup that was meeting in the children’s museum in Medford, Oregon, called Water's Edge Community Church. Here’s what they say about themselves on their web site:
We are a missional community of ordinary Jesus followers who are radically committed to making an extraordinary difference in our world as God gives us strength, vision and courage. We want a "Christianity worth believing"--caring, compassionate, inclusive, embracing, emergent, hopeful"--for all who find themselves living at the edges.
Our mission:
To follow Jesus together with joy,
bringing good news to the poor,
and arms of embrace for ALL.
The congregation had a very similar age demographic to our own, with a just few more young families in attendance. Their worship was informal with a band and a mix of praise music and traditional hymns. There were no bulletins and the service, including music and other responses, was projected on a screen. This was more than just words. The screen showed inspiring pictures of mission trips the group has made to Africa, as well as other more local mission work. They emphasized each line of their mission in music, prayers, the video presentation and in the sermon.
The pastor started with community announcements that went on for at least 15 minutes! He said, “I know this seems like a long time to dedicate to announcements, but this is what we are about. This is part of our worship and our life together.” When he finished his announcements and teaching about their mission activities, the music stared. I was surprised to find myself in tears as we raised our voices in song.
After the sermon, at the moment in the service that we would call, The Prayers of the People, the pastor turned the microphone over to a congregant who reported on a member who is struggling with a serious health crisis. Right there in the service they worked out who would visit this woman, who would take her meals, and who would help her with rides to her medical appointments. It was quite effective and quite moving.
I loved worshiping with these faithful people. Judging by all the work they are doing in their community and in the world, they are certainly living into their mission statement. I was grateful to have found them and for their hospitality in worship, and I wish them all of God’s blessings as they build their new congregation.
Next week, I’ll tell you about my visit to Phinney Ridge Lutheran, an excellent and thriving congregation in Northwest Seattle.
Your brother in Christ,
The Rev. David Marshall
Click here to repond to this posting in my blog.
Community Engagement
Registration for our Vacation Bible Camp this summer at St. Dunstan’s closes by the end of next week. Registration forms are available in the Narthex, office, or online at our website. Please send in or drop off registration forms to the office by Thursday, August 12. Please contact Mary E. Pacher at (425) 308-1469 or cmpacher7@comcast.net for further information.
Annual St. Dunstan’s School Supply Drive is officially underway and will run through September 26th, the last Sunday in September. Please bring new school supplies to the church and place them in the box marked “School Supplies.” If you would rather make a cash donation, make a check out to St. Dunstan’s and mark it “School Supplies.” All of the supplies this year will be given to homeless children in the Seattle School District. Please contact Kathy Newman at 206-365-0677 for more information.
Camp Huston still has space available for the following camps: Session 3- International Odyssey, August 8-14; Mini Camp, August 16-19; Labor Day Family Camp, September 3-6. There are registration forms available in the Narthex. Please contact Chelsea Hendrikx at 360-793-0441 or chelsea@huston.org for more information.
Greenwood Food Bank donations needed for school age children: Thank you to all who have continued to donate to the Food Bank over the summer. The goal for the summer is 300 lbs. per donating group. Please contact Warren Broderick at 206-362-3217 or Al Bahlkow at 206-282-4431 for more information.
Announcements
