The Perfect Mosaic: God's Church

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17

This has always been, and will always be God's church. He is in charge. He makes decisions and we just follow. The last few years the leadership of Washington Cathedral has felt led to continue in the process of becoming a diverse, multi-ethnic, and multi-generational church; what we call the “meta church”. When we read the book of Acts, we see a church composed of all types of races, ethnicities, social-economic background, languages, and ages―God's perfect mosaic. This diverse group would learn from one another on their journey of following Jesus, becoming disciples. This movement spread like wildfire from a small sect in Jerusalem to a worldwide church. We feel called to continue that traditional at Washington Cathedral, a meta-church that is diverse community of friends who are learning the way of Jesus together.

I am honored to be a part of fulfilling God's mission for Washington Cathedral. I look forward to helping Washington Cathedral lean into the future and am excited to join this great team.

As Lead Pastor I have two main initiatives:

1) Build a discipleship culture to help Washington Cathedral become a movement. I will build this culture through communications (preaching half the time), leading our TLC's, and introducing a new discipleship language and vehicle.

2) I will also oversee the professional ministry staff and develop systems for our church that will allow us to continue growing.

Since we are restructuring our org chart, here is what it will look like. Pastor Tim will continue in the role of Senior Pastor along with his wife Jackie who is Co-Senior Pastor. He will oversee all of the congregations of Washington Cathedral and all our non-profits. He will also continue sharing and preaching about half the time. I will be Lead Pastor over ministry and staff and Linda Skinner will oversee all operations including finances and administrations.

We feel we are on the verge of a breakthrough- - - a revival- - - a move of God that will sweep the northwest. But we need teamwork and full cooperation with God to see this come about. Change is never easy but it is necessary for growth. Please pray for us as we go through this change and commit to supporting us. Paul said it best, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." (1 Cor. 3:6) God will continue to lead, build, and grow this church.

Pastor Rey Diaz

Breakthrough: Teamwork Leadership

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:1-5 (NLT)

As a church we are so excited to welcome back to our Redmond Campus Pastors, Dr. Rey and Elise Diaz. They have been serving in Honduras the last four years and God has blessed them with phenomenal success in building Together For Transformation which includes, the AFE school, the Love and Faith Church, the medical clinic, the social work project with the people of the dump, the home building projects, and so many other ministries that work at transforming that part of the world.

They are returning to our local Washington Cathedral staff with the intentions of launching a movement of great caring networks. I will continue in my current role of Senior Pastor and Chairman of the Board. Rey and I will share the preaching at the main services. Of course, as before, there will be other members of the preaching team joining us from time-to-time.

Rey’s position is what I like to call the “new offensive coordinator”. He will lead the ministry staff and Pastor Linda will continue to lead the operations and financial administration. This will allow me to put more focus on building the round table organizations and the meta church congregations. Of course I will continue, as always, to do my share of pastoral care, counseling and discipleship as I have always done in our church. Rey will be leading major adaptations to our English speaking congregations.

We will continue to be a strong multigenerational church. Each of the Congregational Pastors will continue to lead their congregations – Pastor Dale 6:00 Saturday, Pastor Linda 9:00 Sunday and Pastor Jackie 11:00 Sunday. However, we will be raising the bar of excellence in everything we do to better reach people for Jesus Christ. This includes re-engineering our small group ministry, discipleship ministry and evangelism ministry. It is as if I am the “head coach” (the chairman of the board) and he is the “new offensive coordinator”. Most churches don’t have both a Lead Pastor and a Senior Pastor, but if you haven’t figured it out yet- - - we aren’t most churches. As always, we believe in teamwork leadership.

Bill Gates brought in a specialist to be President and run Microsoft while he worked on the creative side of things- - - we are doing something similar. This is normative in the business world. Rey, myself and Pastor Linda work so well together that this collaborative approach to leadership is going to bring about a tremendous breakthrough and perhaps be a model of teamwork leadership for churches around the world.

Rey is a great organizer and sequential thinker while I am a great disorganizer and random thinker, so together we expect to move Washington Cathedral to the cutting-edge of church growth. We have been through a long hard path the last 8 years and now it’s time for a breakthrough. Rey is beginning this breakthrough with a series of messages leading up to Easter called “Contagious”. It will start next weekend (March 10th & 11th). Let’s get ready to rock this world as we bring in reinforcements to move from one great caring network to launching a movement that will change the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Courage: Born Through Adversity

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.

Be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

Most people don’t realize it, but the Bible has a lot to say about courage. For some reason, in our society today, courage has become a trait no longer highly prized as it was in our parents’ generation. Our society is enthralled with stories about those whose success came by accident and we’re thrilled when we hear that they hardly even tried―an overnight success! We like the get-rich-quick stories- - - “I bought a lottery ticket and become a millionaire overnight”- - - no work necessary. We love the idea of someone discovering us! Maybe that’s why movie stars and pop-music stars are the new heroes of our society.

But I praise the people of courage who are all around us: the single parent, the businessperson daring to conduct business God’s way in a dog-eat-dog world, the hero struggling to overcome a chronic or even life-threatening illness, the person with an impossible dream! People flock to successes, but some of us live in admiration of the people who fight the odds, holding on the impossible dream. Courage cannot be born without the cradle of adversity. If you feel like a failure or that everything is going wrong, let me salute you for your courage! I admire the writer who has never published, the policeman/fireman and their families who live with the constant threat of danger, the idealistic school teacher who continues to give everything day in and day out to each child they’re given; the TLC facilitator who ministers to and nurtures people’s souls; the person who sticks with their dream even when the results are not encouraging.

And I am not the only one who notices! There are children watching and learning- - - there are cynical people watching and wondering- - - and God is watching and applauding from heaven!

Life is a drama―a real adventure classic!
If we just appreciate it!

Lord Jesus, I pray for the people of courage! Give them this moment to hear your applause of heaven, Amen.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

An Exciting Adventure: Humility

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:3-4

The issue of self-esteem and humility is a tough one to work out. So many people are desperately in need of confidence to face the difficulties and challenges they face. Yet others become so proud that they are offensive to others with their disregard for the thoughts and feelings of those around them. I have wrestled with this issue throughout my ministry. As I think back to some of the people I have mentored in the past- - - lack of humility has been a big issue. Some grow and get so spiritual that they are not only un-teachable, but they isolate themselves with their superior attitude.

This is not to say that I have not wrestled with this issue myself- - - I think God is trying to help me grow in this area. The phrase “Consider others better than yourself”, can be a touchy statement in Scripture. We, as a church, have always had as our guideline “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In other words treat others as you would like to be treated. I think the choice of words is important. It doesn’t say that others are better than you―that could be fundamentally damaging for someone to constantly be focusing on how everyone is better than they are. Instead, it’s a basic introduction to politeness. When I think of this phrase, I remember times of being invited over to peoples’ homes and being treated with amazing civility. In fact, they were living out Philippians 2:3-4. I believe that humility is not about eroding your personal respect as a God created human being, but about treating others with more respect because of your love for Jesus Christ. And it doesn’t mean you have to buy everything everyone is selling because some of it may not be honest, ethical or practical. Sometimes you have to make a firm stand and do it in a loving way. It is just something that we all have a lot to learn more about.

What I am sure of is that those who have begun the way of humility described in Philippians have opened the door to very exciting adventure- - - a life-honoring leadership style and a second world of communication and relationships that were not available before. Let’s join together for this new adventure as we apply this biblical principle to our lives.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Worship: A Mountaintop Experience

“Then Moses led the people out of a camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.”
“The Lord descended to the top of Mt Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.”

Boeing didn’t invent mid-air refueling- - - and God did not design us to fly on empty hearts! Neither did God design us to be puppets or perpetual motion machines. Actually we are more like “seven day clocks” because we need fresh energy at least every seven days in order to love, and laugh, and be fully alive!

Worship is a lot of things- - - like praise, fellowship, etc, but it’s nothing unless you meet with God in a special mountaintop experience.

Sure God is everywhere, but it was His plan to have a special place to meet with us. Jesus said “My house shall be called a house of prayer”, so we build sanctuaries- - - places of special prayer where we can listen and experience the very real presence of God.

At least one day out of seven I need to “go up on the mountain” then I am ready to take life head on in whatever valley He has assigned for me.

Make regular worship one of the highest priorities of your life!

Dr. Dale Caleb White

What is the Greatest Day of Your Life?

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

There is nothing more exciting than a great team that appreciates its different gifts and welds them together into a greater “whole” than the parts would be. The Super Bowl is always an example of a team sport. But it’s nothing compared to a church that loves the old and young, the rich and poor, brown and white, democrats and republicans. It is for this reason that I love the books of Corinthians. I never get enough of them. The Apostle Paul tries to bring unity to a divided and underachieving church by teaching the importance of discovering and engaging your gifts- - - and appreciating those with different gifts who might feel like they were born on another planet. But together - when working with Christ at the head - watch out world!

1 Corinthians 12 is the primary chapter in all of Scripture for discovering and engaging your giftedness. When people don't discover and engage their giftedness they tend to fall into discouragement, sin, division, and isolation. Your sense of security and excitement for life all depend on not only discovering your gift, but knowing how to use it in a church. You will be blessed financially, relationally and every other way when that happens- - - and you will be a
blessing! I am kicking off a new series entitled “Christianity after Religion”. Christianity doesn't work when it’s just a show on Sunday. That might feel like “religion”, but it’s so much more. It’s
becoming fully alive every day of your life!

Let me ask you, what is the greatest day of your life? Now let me tell you- - - Today! If you find and engage your divine giftedness the greatest adventure of your life awaits you. I have asked my dad, Dr. Dale White, to begin the series this Sunday. It’s his 80th birthday. He has given 59 years in active ministry and I want our church to be able to celebrate that. I was thinking- - - what could be the best gift I could give my dad on his 80th birthday? And I immediately knew the answer- - - ask him to preach! It will be a gift to all of us as well and maybe a moment that we will all never forget. Don't miss the weekend - February 11th & 12th - as we witness a church that loves and is loved- - - a church that celebrates our differences and is blessed because of it! Remember- - - the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians is followed by the 13 chapter “The Love Chapter”. Do you want to heighten your love and joy of life? Then discover not only your gift and the gifts of those around you, but let Jesus be at the center and lead us in this adventure in love.

Remember- - - what is the greatest day of your life?

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim
White

Being Grounded: in Scripture

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:3-5

The healthy love and compassion of Jesus Christ always amazes me! In so many of our encounters with the hurts of other human beings, it’s easy to begin to think in terms of manipulation instead of healthy Christ-like love. We often try to help someone quickly process their grief, but the depth of their hurt or the uniqueness of their personality has its own timetable. We hastily want to cheer a child or discouraged friend. All the while, however, we may be acting less out of genuine Christ-like compassion and more out of our need to stand back from the discomfort when we feel when we draw close to someone who is really struggling. This attitude may cause those we are trying to help put up defenses and actually drive away those who are trying to help.

We may fall into the illusion that we own people, that we can use them, that we have a right to manage their feelings. By offering premature advice on how to cope, by prodding with our faith rather than creating an atmosphere of trust and growth, we say much about our need for easy closure. When we barge in with such consolation, we may sometimes be making hurting souls into objects of projects.

In fact, a possessive approach to relationships creates many of our own disappointments; people rarely respond well to our efforts to manage their lives or orchestrate their response to their pains. We find relationships bending or even breaking under the weight of the expectations we place on them in our discomfort with another’s suffering. We can then end up even more alone―walled up within our disappointments or sadness.

When we treat people the way Jesus did, bridges are built and windows are opened; and we enjoy the relationship whether it is moving on our timetable or not. I am discovering that being grounded in the scripture, knowing that the Holy Spirit does the work and not me, gives me so much more patience, joy and discovery in my relationships with a variety of wonderful human beings.

For some reason, God has gifted our church for reaching out to a diversity of people to share the life-changing love of Christ. Imagine if we continue to grow in relating to everyone in our lives with the wisdom and gentle strength of Jesus? I relish every moment God gives me to live and grow in this holy endeavor.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White