|
|
From Pastor Bill
Experimental Culture
Since the first day of our existence at All Saints Church,
part of the culture in this community is all about experimentation. We are committed to continually adapting to
culture, testing trends, and reinventing ourselves. I would say that change is the most consistent
thing we do. What is experimentation?
Experimentation is the testing of an idea; it simply means trying something new
and unproven -- and acknowledging that you cannot reliably predict the outcome.
Learning in the process is tough, but
very important.
We have intentionally tried things not knowing what we would learn or what the
outcome would be. Sometimes we have
fallen on our faces, while other times we have learned important lessons that
shaped our philosophy and mission. When
we acquired the church building in Ballard, we were excited about planting a
church. We thought we were ready to
launch a new community since we had a building! We quickly discovered that just having good
intentions with well thought out plan, combined with a building were not the
elements for planting a church. We experimented and we learned. We learned that it takes leadership
development along with the passion of an actual planter that is in love with a
community. We could not have learned
that lesson without a culture of experimentation.
As All Saints grows, and moves toward a regular attendance of 300 people, we
have experimented with gathering times to make room for more people. We have learned, through experimenting is that
8:15 am is not a good time to host a gathering. We are going to move to two gatherings for a
couple reasons: First, the attendance at
the 8:15 has not alleviated any crowding from the 9:30 and 11 and two, we are
heading into the summer time and attendance will dip as the universities go on
summer break and families take vacations.
This in no way signals a halt in growth; it actually causes us to look at other
experiments to try and see if we can find another way to make room for growth
and opportunity. We are learning how to
predict through this experimentation culture. Learning to predict is a process, and as we
understand the results, this will help us learn how to experiment thoughtfully
and intentionally.
I love that God has given us the ability to create. In that process, we get to depend on the Holy
Spirit to guide and lead us. This
experimentation culture is all about one thing- creatively helping the people
of Seattle grasp the abundant life of Christ. There is no one way to do this, and we can, by
all means introduce the people of Seattle to Jesus.
So, put on your white overcoats, put on your goggles and light your Bunsen
burners. It's fun to experiment!
See you Sunday,
Pastor Bill
|
|
General Updates
Life Groups: This Sunday during the 9:30 gathering life group leaders are asked to meet upstairs in the loft for a mid-quarter meeting with our new life group coordinator, Stacy Baas.
Beanaddiction Cafe: The Beanaddiction Team is working to make the Cafe a place that people will be drawn to where they can hang out, read, study, and/or just enjoy some good java. Surveys will be inserted in the handout again this week to help them decide what would draw YOU to the cafe. Please help the team by filling one a survey and then enjoy a free beverage when you turn it into the cafe!
Children's Ministries: Our pastors brought back some amazing children's ministry materials from their visit to the Netherlands, but the trick is that we need help translating them from Danish into English. If you know anyone who might be able to help us with that, please email: kids@believedoubtseek.org
Youth: In addition to their Sunday morning gatherings, every month the youth team holds a youth event of some kind. These are great opportunities for our young people to reach out to their friends. For March, All Saints youth and friends are invited to the Rock and Worship Road Show concert on March 19th at the Key Arena. Details are available on the website and questions can be directed to:
youth@believedoubtseek.org
|
Survey Analysis
Thank you to all of you who participated in the annual All
Saints Survey. This year, we saw an
increase in the total number of participants which will correlate to more
accurate review of the data. The survey provides
critical information that will benefit the community as a whole and further analysis
will be done, so look for those results to be posted in the future.
What we do know however, is that one characteristic that an
overwhelming majority of people appreciate is our idea of a church where it is
ok to "believe, doubt, and seek." Secondly, friendships are highly valued here.
These things are nice confirmation that we are on the right
track in creating a welcoming community.
While it is affirming, it is also a challenge and reminder to us that we
are not finished. We must continue to
seek ways to reach out and share this value of friendship with those that do
not yet know what it is like to even have a friend.
That is how you change a city, and just think
what a little survey can do to remind us of that.
Pastor Joel
|
|
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. This and previous issues will soon be available on the All Saints website.
If you have any ideas, submissions, or comments, please send them to life@believedoubtseek.org
|
|
|
|
|
