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From Pastor Bill...
To be honest, I really like giving presents at Christmas time. It is so much fun to watch people anticipate the opening of the package and then be elated by its contents. I am not going to lie, I do enjoy getting them, but I like it when they are practical. I am not much into the frivolous useless stuff. I like stuff that I can use and books are always welcome! (Books I like)
Lately, I have been thinking about presents, resources and giving. Perhaps because it is the time of year, or because our nation is crippled by an economy that does not see much relief in the near future and is thus limiting many to "cut back" so to speak. I keep asking myself, "As a church, what should our response to presents and resources and giving be, as we are limited in what we can do?" This is not just a question monetarily, but rather with our attitudes, faith and practice. Usually, we tend to do the same thing; when we "feel" like we don't have enough, we hold back. As an urban church, it is quite common to always be on the short end of money and resources. It is because of the expenses associated with living in the city and its pressures and strains. The city is dynamic and always in need. However, that should not limit us. What is our response then?
I believe that as an urban church we must understand that communities are never built from the top down, or from the outside in. Rather, when resources are scarce, the creativity and ingenuity of the people of God, born out of prayer, partnership, and trust in the Spirit of God who is liberal in giving gifts, communities are restored from the bottom of communities upward and from the inside of communities outward. In other words, the kinds of things that make the community vibrant are prayer, seeking Jesus, serving and giving. To have this as the "bottom" and moving it upward speaks to the fact that money or buildings don't drive the mission.
We are a very blessed church; we have very generous givers in all aspects. We have networks of people that believe in All Saints Church and its vision and mission so much that they give and help us continue the mission. The people that call All Saints home, sacrifice much to see that the movement that is being created here continues to encompass as many as possible. I am grateful every week for the financial blessings, the volunteer work, and those who are praying tirelessly to see the community work and move forward and outward. It is an effort that happens from the bottom up and from the inside to the outside. It is a beautiful thing to be a part of. It is consistent with the greatest gift humankind has ever seen-- the incarnation. Jesus started from the bottom and moved up, meaning that he limited himself as a human and showed us what love, sacrifice and serving can do to change people, communities and cultures.
Now we can truly sing, "Joy to the World, the Lord has come!"
See you Sunday,
Pastor Bill
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Service Team Updates
Communications: Joel Domingo and Craig Mathison recently attended a workshop that explores ways to improve electronic communications across organizations, and in particular how we at All Saints Church utilize those means. We are exploring the ability to use mass text pushes when we need to communicate quickly about things like schedule changes due to snow. Stay tuned.
Facilities: Jolie Lewis has led the effort to develop an organized procedure and official paperwork for people/organizations looking to rent space at All Saints. The paperwork includes maps of the facilities and a lease agreements. If you or others who you know are interested in finding out about using the facility on a regular basis, please contact Jolie at jolie@gbk.com
Finances: The accounting team is working to get everything in order to wrap up '08. They also continue to work to find greater efficiencies in our use of our resources.
Note: The last opportunity to make a contribution and receive tax credit for '08 is noon on December 31st.
Website: Our website is completely built! Brian Lee will be having a tutorial with those who constructed our site so that he can learn how to use all of its features.
Youth: The leaders of our youth ministry met on Sunday and worked out a new calendar of events for the year ahead.
Childrens' Ministries: A Parent Meeting was held on Monday evening for parents of children age 3 - 5th grade. Parents in attendance learned about how Children's Ministries is currently functioning, where we hope to go, and things they can do to help the kids have the best experience possible. Parents had a lot of great input as well and were extremely helpful in offering to help to integrate some of them.
The kids will be performing a brief Christmas program as part of our special Christmas worship time this coming Sunday.
Spiritual Formation: Journey: Beginnings and the next round of life groups will be launched on January 11th. Sign ups for Journey wil be available at the concierge desk beginning this Sunday.
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Let it snow...
But then what?
We have added a "weather updates" window to the All Saints website that will be updated as soon as we have information on schedule changes due to inclement weather. We are working to find efficient ways to communicate such changes, but in the meantime this will be the best way to find out about them.
If you are a service team leader we ask that you please work to develop a contingency plan for your team. With the threat of more snow moving in this weekend, the sooner you are able to work this out, the better. Please take some time to develop a plan, communicate it with your entire team, and submit a copy to the office so that we can refer to it if need be. If something comes up on Sunday morning and we need to be informed of any changes, please touch bases with Pastor Bill or Joel. Thanks for making the extra effort now to help things run smoothly should anything come up down the road.
**Many thanks for how well everyone handled our first winter storm last weekend! Volunteers who were able to make it in went above and beyond to help make sure everything was covered and taken care of. We had 2 strong gatherings and even welcomed several new guests! It was a great snowy, Sunday!
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Christmas-time Announcements
Opportunities to serve others:
- A friend of All Saints has some extra turkeys! If you know of someone who would be blessed to receive a turkey for their Christmas dinner, please let us know.
- A young lady from Amsterdam will be traveling through on her way to Canada next week and she will be stuck in the Seattle area on Christmas day and leaving the day after. If you are open to sharing Christmas with her in your home please let us know.
- If you would like to pursue either of these opportunities please email sarah@believedoubtseek.org
Schedule:
December 21st: We will celebrate Christmas together with special music selections, a presentation from the All Saints kids, and a Christmas message. This is a fun one to invite friends and family to!
There will be two gatherings this Sunday (at 9:30 and 11am)
December 24th: A family-oriented, candlelight, Christmas Eve gathering beginning at 5pm and wrapping up about 6.
December 28th: Two gatherings (at 9:30 and 11am)
Attendance trends show a consistent drop between Christmas and New Year's as people travel and spend time with family and friends. For this reason there will be no 8:15am gathering on December 21st or 28th. We hope you enjoy the extra rest!
Holiday office schedule:
12/24 9am-noon
12/25-26 Closed for Christmas
12/31 9am-noon
1/1/09 Closed for New Year's Day!
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Giving Tree
Gifts for the Downtown Emergency Service Center will be picked up next Tuesday the 23rd. Please leave your unwrapped gifts beside the giving tree between now and 4:30 pm on the 22nd. We have such a generous church and are so glad to see that generosity benefitting some of the most vulnerable homeless adults in Seattle. Thank you.
If you are interested in helping DESC on a more long term basis, please contact Tony Zimney at adzimney@gmail.com.
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The All Saints Newsletter is sent out regularly to the community to engage and inform people of all that takes place through All Saints Church.
If you have any ideas, submissions, or comments, please send them to life@believedoubtseek.org
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