"A Family of Churches!"

Financial Miracle

The “meta” church is definitely not just a new name for what we are already doing. It’s a brand new idea yet like the phrase “back to the future” it’s right out of the book of Acts. Any church that calls itself a Biblical church is most simply the family of God yet, to be very honest, for many reasons it is difficult to make it a real family.

Washington Cathedral, being a family of churches, will have the best of both worlds. Together, many “meta”congregations meeting in one facility, allows a 21st Century double-miracle. Each “meta” church will be small enough to be a real family yet together as a Cathedral we will become a potent force for God.

The Miracle of Multiple Use

Many “meta” congregations using one facility is instantly a financial miracle in what this formula will save every month in energy, repair and upkeep costs- - - think of the nightmare of the necessity of 5 times more parking spaces- - think of building 5 or 10 more sanctuaries.

Small churches, each with volunteer congregational pastors and God-called volunteer Deacons, will almostautomatically have the sense of ownership so that 90% of the janitorial, gardening, etc. can be joyously volunteered.

Now add a very small full-time staff that trains and guides each little church and the resulting savings are thousands of dollars each month. Suddenly we’ve overcome the fact that most churches sit empty and idle most of any given week. It’s just like 6 or 7 churches deciding to pour their income into one church which would allow financial needs to be met, debt to be paid off quickly, plus an almost embarrassing surplus that could be used to feed the 30,000people a day in the world who die of malnutrition.

Is this all too good to be true or is it too good not to be true? Well, watch it happen as Saturday Night Worshipbecomes “Boulder Creek Church”- - - a member of the Washington Cathedral family of churches.

Different But One

Most families will eventually consider themselves a member of a specific “meta” congregation! Yet, at the same time they will also feel a vital part of Washington Cathedral. American lifestyle now is so wonderfully diverse that the “Jones Family” would relate closest to Saturday Night “Boulder Creek Church”, but perhaps as often as once a month their changing calendar of events would find them comfortably worshipping in an early Sunday morning “meta” congregation.

It’s also exciting to realize that events like Christmas and Easter can become powerful ministries when backed by many “meta” congregations. Eventually, each “meta” congregation will have its own Sunday school, yet on the teen level absolutely fabulous programs could be provided by the strength of many little churches working together.

"The Eyes of a Child!"

But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children.” Luke 18:16

The look in a child’s eyes when they see what Santa has delivered on Christmas morning is something like what we’re experiencing in our new Mountainside Sanctuary.

For the past 25 years, one of my duties every week has been to take attendance at each of our services. Moving from a sanctuary that is overflowing when 280 people attended services to a sanctuary that holds over 800 people, has been quite an adjustment. I am personally witnessing a miraculous transformation in our congregation at the 11:00 AM service. If we had the number of people we are having each Sunday at 11:00 in our Spirit Falls Sanctuary every week we would be seating people in the choir chairs and out the doors. We are growing and every week we are seeing new faces.

Sure a good number of congregants aren’t exactly on time for the start of the praise songs, but what they lack in punctuality they make up for in their enthusiasm for our music, prayers and the message. Just stand in the atrium outside the Café after the service and you can see joy and fellowship overflowing from those who attended services.

What a blessing it is for us to have such a wonderful facility in the Randy & Rod Halvorson ReCreation Center. Darren Motamedy personally told me last week that he was “deeply impacted by what God’s dream has delivered for us”. And, if he could have seen the excitement in the Sunday school classrooms, at the senior and junior high youth group and in both our Coptic and Esperanza congregations, he would have had his opinion doubly re-enforced.

When Pastor Tim’s vision for Washington Cathedral as a pace-setting meta-church (a campus housing many ministries and congregations) fully comes to pass, we may long for the days when ample seating was still available. I am seeing more and more new faces who are “sampling” our new facility and that’s a great sign we’re making progress in spreading “God’s Good News.” As our church approaches its 25th Anniversary, it will be fun to see our attendance swell from the momentum God is helping us to build.

By Rich Skinner

“Join us as we learn the conversation of hope!”

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."
Psalm 122:1

When I was a little girl every Saturday we had what I believe was a sacred ritual. My mother would iron a beautiful white altar cloth, clean all the brass communion and altar ware, create a floral arrangement from the garden, pack it all into the car along with me and we’d drive to our little church. When we walked in to the little sanctuary with folding chairs and a bare wooden table we used for an altar, I think to many people it would seem more like a garage than a church. However, to me and my mom, it was a “Holy Place”. I would help her place the cloth on the altar (first white and then a beautiful purple runner), we’d polish any of our fingerprints off the brassware, put the candles in their holder and place the bouquet of flowers in their appropriate spot. Part of our ritual was to always pray for the next morning’s service.

You see we were part of a group of people who started a new Lutheran church in Citrus Heights. It was a new church that was birthed from the mother church Faith Lutheran in Carmichael, California. The mother church had beautiful stained-glass windows and a large steeple, the picture perfect church. There were some people who would not move to the new little church because it met in a building that was more like a warehouse and not the picture -perfect church. So I asked mom, “why are we here?” Mom replied “We are Pioneers and we go where God needs us.” (She would always remind me that as a little girl she came from Montana to Washington in a covered wagon so she was a true Pioneer).

The amazing thing to me is that on Sunday mornings, when I would walk in with my mom to that little church in a warehouse, it was a beautiful place. The altar glistened in front reminding us that we were there to worship God and celebrate what Jesus did for us on the cross. The folding chairs had people sitting in them smiling, praying and worshipping decorating the entire scene.

Every Saturday I have the pleasure of setting up the altar in our new Mountainside sanctuary. Rich often helps me or Kathi King or Millie Porter or Fiona Monaghan or Jannette Backlund. We place the clothes on the altar, the plants, the brassware, the candles and suddenly a gymnasium becomes a sanctuary. The entire time I’m praying for the Pioneers who are going to come in Sunday morning at 11:00AM and worship God.

I say Pioneers because for us it is hard to leave our beautiful Spirit Falls Sanctuary, but for some they realize that God needs them in the new building. To fill it up and be there to greet the visitors who 90% of the time come to the 11:00AM service as their first experience with our church.

I learned at an early age that being a Pioneer is one of the greatest blessings you can experience. Try it – be a Pioneer and experience the joy of worshipping at 11:00AM in our new Mountainside Sanctuary. I know you will be doubly blessed because over the next few months we are going to be having some of our great guest artists join us for worship at 11:00AM only. (And if you want to help set up the altar, let me know- I would love to have other Pioneers join me in that joy!)

Pastor Linda

"READING THE BIBLE IN 90 DAYS!"

“How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words,all the words written in this book!” REVELATION 1:3

What a blessing it has been for all who have poured themselves into the Bible for the last 90 days. I am hearing so many stories of blessings! And the JOY that people have for God’s message once they have finished this goal is so exciting. And we sure had some fun celebrating on Sunday with some delicious cake, pie and CELERY!

I pray, if you are part of the church that started later than some of us with your reading, you are truly being blessed with this final week of reading through the Bible.

Please let me know once you have completed the Bible in 90 days. I would love to offer you a certificate of completion and I would like to add your name to the list of people from Washington Cathedral who read the Bible in 90 Days for our church history.

For those who are still working at getting through your reading and need more time to finish, just let me know when you finish and I’ll get you a certificate to mark your journey. We are so proud of each of you for walking this amazing journey with Jesus. Whether you finish in 90 days, 120, or 250, the important thing is to finish what you have started. God will bless your life.

I also want to let you know about another resource for those who might be struggling with your reading or have a reading disability and could use some help. There is a website where you can “hear” the Bible being read “to” you in the 90 day format while you read along. There have been several people who have used this to help them as they read along in their Bibles. The website is http://www.biblein90days.org/ then click on “listen while you read.”

Again, I congratulate all of you who have completed the Bible in 90 days. God will use you to bless many people with what you have learned and experienced on this journey. A life lived with Jesus is an exciting life. Enjoy your days and go out with Joy each day looking for an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior with others!

Blessings to You,
Pastor Naomi