"The Meta Church!!"

It’s Time For A New Kind of Church!

Is there anything wrong with the old kind of church? No, of course not- - - if it is people coming together to worship our Lord and carry out his work in this world.

We live in an age of the “mega church” wonderful phenomena of the last ten to thirty years. A mega church is a huge church with many being from 10 to 40 thousand. And we say, “God bless them,” because without them the church would have nearly disappeared.

Yet, we believe God is about to unleash a third force in this hurting world in the critical hour which we live. We also believe that Senior Pastor, Tim White, has a startling and practical vision of what God is about to do. He calls it the “meta church!”

The Meta Church A Third Force!

Part of the problem (for those of us coming from ruts in the past) is that the meta church concept isactually very simple and very pragmatic. Perhaps like other movements of God it is first of all strangely similar to what the Holy Spirit was doing in the Book of Acts. And secondly, many churches have already, if not all along, been testing and applying some of its factors.

Why- - - A New Kind of a Church?

Let’s consider two fascinating facts facing the 20th Century church. First, careful statistics will show that the church, across the board, has stopped growing. Sure, there is a lot of activity; that in the end seems like a lot of shuffling with little churches closing and big churches bulging. (Thank God for the huge churches who now days very quietly call someone who has not attended church for six weeks a “non-churched” person). Yet without the huge churches picking up the drop-outs it seems the church in general would be shrinking instead of just holding its own.

So the first fascinating fact is that the church in the United States has stopped growing and the second fact is church futurists have been warning that the basic economic cost of a church will cause many to cease to exist in the near future. Remember that most typical churches actually use their property and facilities a few hours a week. Any modern business knows it will fail unless it brings in a fortune of profit if its only open a fraction of the time.

An Amazing Idea!

The meta church is a group of little country-churches averaging 150 to 500, but share office space, worship space, recreational and health facilities, educational facilities. The idea also allows sharing the highest level of counseling, after school tutoring programs, third-world mission’s projects, etc.

By Pastor Dale

"February – A Month to Live!"

I was ruminating about Pastor Linda’s message last weekend while I was purging my computer files and ran across an article by Tony Snow, Press Secretary for FormerPresident Bush. He was facing a losing battle with cancer and penned some words thatI found especially memorable so I saved the entire article. In it, he posed this question: “Can we surrender our concern in things that don’t matter so that we might devote our remaining days to things that do?”

That was the pivotal sentence that brought me back to Linda’s message and ultimately to my decision about this month.

“…I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life…” (Deut. 30: 19-20)

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10)

That is how I want to live out the remaining days of this month of February. I wantto live life to its fullest. I want to experience His love in a new way. I want to give love to others in a whole new way. I want to pray without ceasing and give without counting the cost. I want to forgive any petty grievance I may have about any sillylittle episode I may recall. If forgiveness is in order, I want to give it willingly and then put it behind me. I want to push aside my fears and insecurities about people who I think may not like me and reach out with a hand of friendship. I want to live as Jesus wants me to live NOW!

This is going to be an amazing month! February is the month to LIVE!

By Pastor Sally Jo Holmes

"The 3 to 6 After School Program: A Reason to Hope!"

March 23rd Washington Cathedral is launching an after school program for 7th-12th graders. Not only does this meet a relevant need for our society, it will be a place of hope for our youth and community. Students will come to be inspired by passionate volunteers who will be ready and equipped to teach everything from swimming, to art, to world history. As students are mentored and invested in, they will gain new hopes for their futures, and confidence in their day to day lives.

With the church standing behind the youth of our community, God is going to do great things in this generation. Students will know that coming to church is like being welcomed as a member of a family into a home. They can bring their questions about algebra, chemistry, and God to people who care and are willing to journey with them. They can develop skills in areas they might not otherwise get the chance, because there will be no cuts on our sports teams. This will be a safe place to learn and be inspired as we care for the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of the students.

To make this dream possible please join our church in prayer for the youth of our community. Also, if you are interested in being a part of the after school program’s staff, please contact Becca White for more information (becwhite@spu.edu). We are excited to be a church offering hope to the youth of our community.

By Becca White

"carpe diem"

“Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind.  The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land.  So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!”  Exodus 14:21-22

How amazing it must have been for Moses to raise his hand and the winds to blow back the water.  How amazing it must have been for the children of Israel to walk on dry land where once there was a sea of water.  Can you imagine what it must have been like to be there at that moment and to be a part of that amazing miracle?

Our church is standing on the edge of our own “Red Sea” as we move into the new phase of our dream.  We need $3,335,000 to finish off our project and to give us the financial cushion to make loan payments for one year while we build up our congregation.  We believe that God has led us to a creative solution.  In today’s tight financial market it is hard to get financing and investment returns are very low.  So rather than pay interest to a financial institution, why not pay interest to our own people?  We found a company who specializes in structuring and selling these kinds of bonds.  They have helped us put together a program that is very fair to the investor and favorable terms for the church.

I have been told that people can invest as little as $1,000 and they can buy bonds that go for 5, 10 or 15 years with interest being paid at 6%, 7% or 8% respectively.  Great Nationals Bond Agents are qualified to IRA and similar types of retirement funds, CD’s, stock transfers and, of course, cash.  This investment opportunity is available to anyone who calls Washington Cathedral their church home or anyone who has supported the church financially plus the family members –including mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and first cousins.  If you would like more details, there will be information meetings on Sunday, February 8 and February 15 at 1:30 pm; Wednesday, February 11 at 7:30 pm or Saturday, February 14 at 4:30 pm in the Library of the Re-Creation Center.  If you’d like to attend one please call the church office and ask for Kathi King.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for those people who invested in companies like Microsoft and Starbucks when they were just starting out with their dream and had nothing but a dream and a need for cash?  We are standing on the edge of the “Red Sea” and ready to cross into a new adventure.  I know God is going to work lots of miracles and if you’d like to be a part of this one and earn a little money on your investment, we invite you to join us in the journey.

We understand that not everyone has funds available to invest, but we know that God has prepared some people with the financial ability to do this.  If you cannot invest money, we ask that you invest some time in prayer and support of all that is going on here.  Together we will cross the Red Sea on dry land.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Tim

"Excitement at the Stairs!"

And Jesus said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children…….Matthew 18:3

The most inspirational place to be in the Re-Creation Center, in my opinion, is at the bottom of the stairs! My heart sings with joy and laughter as I watch the feet of small children climb the mountainous stairway to the classrooms. I can see the excitement in the children as they anticipate reaching the top. These precious children do not see the staircase as an obstacle. Just the opposite is true. Climbing the stairs is the beginning of the adventure they call Sunday school!

Every class for children at Washington Cathedral is a Growing in Jesus TLC (Tiny Little Church.) Although the smallest of our flock do not fully understand what a TLC is ~ they definitely know when they are in class they meet with Jesus. I can only imagine how their hearts are smiling up at Him before they even reach the top of the stairs.

We are all children of God and we are never too old to experience the child-like joy that comes from anticipating a personal meeting with Jesus. Next time you find yourself climbing stairs in the Re-Creation Center I hope your heart will jump for joy as you walk toward Jesus.

By Jannette Backlund

"I was frankly amazed last Sunday morning!!"

Standing there on the worship platform, just starting to preach. I suddenly realized something very powerful and very, very comfortable!

I was experiencing a preaching-pastors “fully-alive moment” in terms of relating to theworshipers. Maybe you didn’t realize how much the feedback of the worshipers means to the preacher. Real preaching is as much- - - “Yes!”- - -”Yes!!” from the congregation, sensing God-energized ideas or else the sermon is nothing but a dull lecture.

If you’ve ever tried to pour out your heart in joy and love to someone through a rail fence or speak in total vulnerability to another person who happens to be standing behind someone else (and you can’t even see their face) then maybe you’ll understand what I’m trying to say.

The Mountainside Sanctuary in the Randy & Rod Halvorson ReCreation Center is frankly an awesome place. It reminds me of the wonderful, little, country-church sanctuaries where it seemed my heart was strangely warmed every Sunday morning. And now, believe it or not, we have the same rapport but with padded seats and individual arm rests. Actually it reminds me of the Greek/Roman theatres which provided every seat in the house with a direct view of the speaker. Sunday I was looking directly into the eyes and the face of every single person in the room. Maybe even more importantly, I could feel love and warmth in their faces flowing back to me.

Frankly I recommitted myself to weekly praying and giving- - - and I thanked God again for the chance to be a part of such an incredible and totally practical dream that is already happening and yet only just beginning through Washington Cathedral.

And all week long I had these beautiful moments when I remembered specific faces in that worship service- - - and I felt growing expectation for next Sundays worship.

Caleb

"New Generation!"

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” Matthew 19:26

The New Generation Service is Movin’ & Groovin’!

One of the “unspoken rules” on our church staff is that if one of us gets an idea we are excited about, it’s up to that person to be responsible for making the idea happen.

At our staff retreat back in August, I was foolish enough to say that I thought it would be great to have a service when our Recreation Center opens right after our big 10:30 service is over. The purpose would be to allow all of those who had been involved in ministry during the BIG one, to have a chance to go to worship at a convenient time.

I had totally forgotten about that idea, when all of the sudden (after an eternity of waiting) we were in the new facility and Tim said it was up to me to get that Noon service off & running! Within two days I tried to pull a service together…..decided to bring back the donut & fruit break…..involve teens and youth leaders….and even our youth worship band! It’s been crazy to try to bring it all together, but those who have attended the pastcouple of weeks have loved it!

We’ve been blessed by Roxxy’s soulful songs she’s written, awesome music, our students taking on the role ofreading Scripture, being ushers & greeters, and it’s just so amazing to be in our new facility! So far, there are a lot of seats available, but what an inspirational place to worship!

Sometimes I forget that God is in the business of making what seems impossible to be possible….like getting into the Rod & Randy Halvorson Recreation Center! I once wondered if we would live through all of the stress of abuilding program. But as many of you can see we not only lived through it, Pastor Tim is a very healthy looking dude these days!

Thank you all for hanging in there with us and all you have done to make this Godly dream possible!

Jackie White
Director of New Generation Ministries