Sharing the Harvest Raises $15,000 for Global Hunger

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By Mark Swanson, Pastor, Wiley Heights Covenant Church

Early on in the pandemic there was a number that brought the seriousness of this global event into perspective. The World Food Program stated a likely doubling of those facing famine, raising that number to 265 million individuals. The reality of that number weighed heavy, as it should. Yet we knew there were people who were working hard to make a difference and minimize the impact in regards to global hunger and malnourishment.

In West Pokot, a county in Kenya, there is a wonderful organization called Jitokeze Wamama Wafrika that is supported through Covenant World Relief and their partner Growing Hope Globally. Jitokeze over the years has empowered women and girls in sustainable agriculture, community development, and the development of entrepreneurial skills. They do this work, by assisting in the development of self-help groups, sharing resources to lend and support one another. They also have a residential program that trains girls in tailoring. In many ways their work came to a halt in the beginning of the pandemic, but they quickly pivoted, and became a major mask provider in their community.

Since 2014 Sharing the Harvest, a project initiated by Wiley Heights Covenant Church (Yakima, Washington) has been raising resources through the selling apples to churches in the Pacific Northwest Conference to benefit projects that work to alleviate hunger and malnourishment, like Jitokeze. Part of that work has included our Packing Day, which includes a few hundred volunteers descending upon Wiley Heights for a day of bagging up purchased apples to return to their churches. In light of the pandemic, we knew we could not hold the same event and maintain all the necessary social-distance requirements, but we also were aware of the need.

Thankfully, one grower was able to donate all the apples for the event and assisted with the preliminary bagging. This meant, along with creating an online “shopping” platform since most churches were not meeting in person, that we could move forward. In the end we had several churches participate and transport their apples, which meant we could pass on more than $15,000 to come alongside Jitokeze in their work and help set up similar projects through Growing Hope Globally.

If you would like to learn more about Sharing the Harvest and how your church can get involved visit www.sharing-the-harvest.com.

Introducing Phil Rushton, Lead Pastor @ Bellingham Covenant Church

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By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC

Enjoy this interview with Phil Rushton, the new Lead Pastor at Bellingham Covenant Church

What is your personal and ministry background?

          I grew up in Abbotsford, BC as the youngest of three. During my middle school years I became heavily involved in a local church and started to sense a call to ministry. I attended Trinity Western University in Langley, BC and received a B.A. in psychology and history. During that time I served as the worship director at Murrayville Community Church, and worked as a support worker for adults with developmental disabilities. I met my wife Julie at Trinity Western. We’ve been married 14 years and have 3 boys – James (8), and twins Nate and Drew (3).

          After finishing my B.A., I went to Regent College in Vancouver, BC and completed my M.Div. From there I took a call at Longview Community Church in Longview, WA as the associate pastor of spiritual formation. LCC is an interdenominational church that was founded back in the 1920’s. I served at LCC for 11 years. While at LCC I completed my D.Min from Fuller Seminary, which was focused in spiritual direction and formation. I met a number of Covenant pastors at Fuller and they introduced me to the ECC. After completing my spiritual direction training I joined the Spiritual Directors Network in the PacNWC and started the Covenant Orientation program. When the position at Bellingham Covenant Church came up I sensed that it might be a good fit. We are grateful for the opportunity to be officially part of the Covenant now and to find a great church family here in the Pacific North West. Both my wife and I have family in the area.

What are you passionate about in ministry right now?

          I am passionate about the ministry of preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and spiritual formation. I am excited to help lead people beyond information into a transformational relationship with God. Theologian Karl Rahner says, “Knowing God is more important than knowing about God.” That sums up the journey I’ve been on personally over the past few years. My doctoral dissertation focused on creating a spiritual formation process based on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Through that experience, I have enjoyed finding ways to help people not simply understand the scriptures intellectually, but encounter them experientially.

How can we pray for you?

          I have read a few books on how to start a new call as a pastor, but there are not a lot of books about how to do this during a global pandemic! Pray that I will continue to find ways to connect and develop meaningful relationships with my new congregation here in Bellingham. Pray also that God would lead us to the right house in this crazy housing market. We are grateful to have the chance to stay with my wife’s family for the interim time, but are hoping to find our own place soon!

Five things you didn’t know about Phil:

What is the greatest challenge you have had to overcome in your life thus far?

Surviving the first 7 months with twin babies while writing a doctoral dissertation was probably one of the hardest seasons we’ve had! We also had a hard season when our first son James was born with a severe congenital heart defect and had to have open heart surgery as a baby.

What is your favorite thing to do?

I love to be out in nature running, mountain biking, or snowboarding.

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

My friend had a connection with a movie producer in Vancouver and I got to be an extra on the movie “The Five People You Meet In Heaven,” staring John Voigt. If you pause the movie at just the right spot and have a zoom feature on your DVD player you can see the back of my head!

What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t doing this?

I almost became a therapist instead of a pastor. If I wasn’t a pastor I would probably be doing something like therapy or social work.

What are your three most overused words/phrases?

As a spiritual director I use the phrases, “I wonder,” “I notice,” and “I sense and invitation to . . .”  a lot. It is creeping into my preaching as well.

[Click Here] to see Phil’s Facebook Page

[Click Here] to visit Bellingham Covenant’s web page

Celebrating Keith Tungseth

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By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

We are saying farewell to Keith Tungseth as our PacNWC Mission Advancement Coach after five years of faithful and fruitful service. We are deeply indebted to Keith for his leadership in helping move us forward with Spanish-language ministries and steadily move into our vision to become a mosaic of churches working interdependently together. 

We began with only Iglesia Lationoamericana in Bellevue eight years ago, then along with Keith’s leadership went onto plant two more churches and work with another adoption. More recently Keith’s vision has been instrumental for developing partnerships with host churches like Bethany, Creekside, Grace Olympia and Faith along with exploratory conversations with several others. Leadership also organically developed during the pandemic at Renew for a Spanish language outreach. The conference goal was to commit ourselves to making sure all of our Spanish-speaking pastors become permanently credentialed and that all of their ministries would become member churches. Keith was uniquely gifted and qualified to help with this and be the effective bridge-person that was needed. He also became a significant liaison to Centro Hispano de Estudios Teologicos, the Covenant’s Spanish-language Bible school.

What the staff team loved most about Keith was his contagious passion for the gospel and church. He inspired us all and we remain ever grateful for his service. Though Keith is concluding his role officially, we will continue to contract some work with him going forward.  Please be sure to thank our dear brother.  On behalf of a grateful conference, thank you Keith!

Jars of Clay

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By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

New Years blessings conference family! I pray that this very unusual and quieter Advent/Christmastide has centered you in the unchanging and lavish love of our Savior. As we experience the insufficiency of the world’s systems and means, we are reminded of our inherent need for the Christ Child. We are broken people in a broken world panting for God’s touch. 

I love this from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.”

I pray that as you step into this new year that despite what might be happening in or outside you that you are finding your way to the Lord. I earnestly hope that despite…you find yourself being led by the Holy Spirit along that path, perhaps an unexpected path, to experiencing God like never before: intimacy with God during the exhausting and most painful of times; intimacy with God in the mundane and in the ecstatic. 

This is the treasure [we have] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.1

This treasure is the most valuable of gifts ever given that points to God himself declaring from his throne, Look, I am making everything new!2

Amidst times of such great uncertainty and need, we have Good News to share, Mission Friends. The baby we are still celebrating, grew up to call us to go make disciples. He told us to love with the most radical of loves that seeks God’s intended shalom for all. This life of disciple-making and people-loving points to specific individuals and our specific ways we experience each other in our communities and in society. Momentum develops as we make choices to enter the flow of Christ’s life for us. 

As we start to vaccinate and begin to realize what this “new normal” will actually look like, the conference staff has decided that we will have quarterly foci for 2021. We will load our communication channels with stories and resources to bring a higher level of concentration on four areas of our life together.  Starting this month we are focusing on EVANGELISM/DISCIPLESHIP. More about this later. 

As we go into and come out of our Annual Meeting Celebration April 24th – whether it’s completely online or a hybrid with some in-person – the second quarter we will focus on PRAYER. We remember that the prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective.3  And Jesus explained that sometimes spiritual forces are so strong that they can only be overcome with prayer and fasting.4 

As we move into the summer we will focus on COMMUNITY. In this third quarter with our summer window of good weather, we hope to be moving closer to each other in various ways.  One way of course is gathering at Cascades Camp.  We will also focus on moving more intentionally into our wider communities including our Youth Journey to Mosaic in August. 

Lastly, the fourth quarter will focus on SCRIPTURE. As we all look at our fall launches, what better foundation could we have than to do it with an eye on God’s living and breathing word, inspired by the Holy Spirit for us? Many churches have engaged or continue to engage Immerse, our Covenant’s community Bible reading experience. There have been many beautiful stories of how blessed people have been. 

We will share more specifics as we develop each theme, but let me come back to our first focus for this quarter. To do this, here is Associate Superintendent Dawn Taloyo’s invitation to us:

As we move into 2021, we encourage you to engage in the mission that God has called us to with renewed energy, passion, and delight.

How is the Holy Spirit calling your church to love your neighbor? To whom is God calling you to share the Gospel message of hope, forgiveness and freedom?  Will you be evangelists, bearers and communicators of the Good News that you have experienced and want to share with others?

This first quarter of 2021, as a conference, we are renewing our focus on our shared mission of being bearers of this Good News.  We will highlight resources and stories through our social media and newsletters, and hosting a webinar in later February.

As we begin, we want to encourage you to consider utilizing and engaging in the Covenant’s resource called BLESS, which you can find on the Covenant website here.

BLESS is an evangelism initiative created by the Covenant for churches. BLESS is an acronym for: begin with prayer; listen with care; eat together; serve in love; share your story.  It’s a suggested pathway for engaging intentionally in blessing others with the Good News we ourselves have experienced.

The BLESS resources are not meant to be a one-time study or sermon experience. Our hope is that BLESS will become second-nature, embedded in your church life and culture.

Every April, during our conference Annual Meeting, we invite churches to submit their “BLESS” cards with the names of those you are praying for. We look forward to receiving those and joining you in prayer.

Last year we were praying for and connecting with over 2600 people on our BLESS cards. Exciting!  We know that God longs to come close to everyone, everywhere. He is patient and waiting not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.5. I urge you to individually and as a church to commit to BLESS and download a card or fill out a virtual one.  Schedule a BLESS Sunday sometime before our Annual Meeting Celebration so you can add all of your names to all the others from around the conference. Look for more in the coming days. 

The staff individually schedules weekly at least an hour to pray for your health, wellness, wisdom, unity, zeal, and faith.  New Years blessings to you! And don’t forget that Chinese New Years is February 12th, year of the ox!  Remember, “God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.” As you walk closer to the Lord, may you know the fullness of his blessings on you and may you generously share with others.

1 1 Cor. 4:7

2 Rev. 21:5

3 James 5:16

4 Mark 9:29

5 2 Peter 3:9

Five Portland Churches Gather Online for Christmas Eve Service

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Chad Glazener – First Covenant and Stephen Bjorlin – Portland Covenant

By Chad Glazener, Lead Pastor, First Covenant Church Portland

Joel and I sat across the table, sipping soup and commiserating about the weird quirks of pandemic pastoring. As all pastors do these days, we started comparing notes. What’s working? What’s hard? What’s a surprising gift?  

Eventually, our conversation turned towards the future. Even though Advent was months away, we knew it’d be here before long. “What has your church done for Advent? Christmas Eve? Christmas Day?” 

Our pastoral team at First Covenant had already decided that we’d make a pre-recorded Christmas Eve service. Since we couldn’t gather safely, we were going to do our best to serve our community digitally. And though there was loss in that reality, there was also creative opportunity. 

Sharad Yadav – Bread and Wine

While we lost the ability to have old traditions, what would it look like to re-imagine Christmas Eve? Because with a digital service, we could do things we had never done before. We had the chance to take familiar verses and hear them in a different way. What might it mean to hear the stories and sing the songs, when we couldn’t be in a church building? 

We realized that we had an opportunity to move closer to the emotional center of the Christmas Eve story. A story about displacement, scrambling for a creative solution, and being surprised by the joy of God’s presence in places we wouldn’t expect. 

I looked up at Joel. “I know that some of the Portland churches have had joint services in the past. Here’s a crazy idea: what if all five of the Portland-metro churches celebrated Christmas Eve together? And what if Christmas Eve wasn’t in a church, but on the streets around the city?” 

As Joel and I thought about this idea—a five-church worship service–the more it seemed to make sense. Portland is a city, like many others, that has been torn by 2020. Portland is a city that became a political lightning rod, making our city a place to be feared, not loved. And we had the opportunity, as sister churches, to resist that narrative of fear. 

Stephanie Ahn Mathis and Mark Mathis – West Hills Covenant

In this moment of division and polarity, now was the time for our congregations to come together, to live into the reality that God has one church in Portland. Scattered across the city in small parishes, we are the Covenant church that God planted in the city he loves. 

For me, it was a chance to meet and work alongside respected leaders. As the newest Portland pastor, I have been amazed by my colleagues. These pastors love their churches deeply, and work hard for their neighbors. They are intelligent, kind, passionate, and prophetic. I’m the new kid on the block who hit the clergy colleague lottery. 

With these riches—healthy churches and mission-minded leaders—a question began to emerge for me: “What does God want to do with his church in Portland?” It’s a great gift to have healthy congregations in such close proximity—what might that make possible? 

Sabrina and Joel Sommer – Access Covenant

To our surprise, the pandemic made it possible. This unusual way of worshipping together created the space for a new kind of creative collaboration. Working together on our liturgy, we came up with a set of guidelines and principles that would guide our vision. We wanted a service that matched the mood of the year and moment in the story. A service where we acknowledge the pain of labor, and the vulnerability of childbirth. And that through that pain, and with that vulnerability, the divine meets the human. 

Our service features all of our clergy leading different readings and composing new prayers. Our service features over a dozen musicians from our churches, who safely recorded separate tracks that Rev. Mark Stuckey has mixed into an incredible new sound. 

Though we have transitioned into Christmas (12 Days, y’all!) we would love to share what we’ve made with you. If you’d like to see our Christmas Eve service, and remember the hope of the coming light of Christ, check out the YouTube video below.

God has planted us here for a reason. God has planted you there for a reason. With the Spirit, we are on mission together, and we are excited to see what new work God will continue to do among us all. 

Mark Stuckey – First Covenant
Javon Carter – Portland Covenant
Sarah Hammersborg – First Covenant

Fall on Your Knees! (O Holy Night)

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By Keith Tungseth, Mission Advancement Coach, PacNWC

Yes, I will fall on my knees on this, one of the darkest days of the year and in the city that a survey reveals is the saddest of the 15 largest metro-areas of our country (Seattle Times).

I fall on my knees because of the truth that the season of Advent declares – the presence of Jesus is real.

I fall on my knees because I trust that Jesus’ presence makes the difference.

‘In his name all oppression shall cease.’

‘He knows our need and to our weakness is no stranger.’

Kneeling in Jesus’ presence I hear his message: You are the world’s light. So shine until others see the good you are up to and give God glory.

On my knees I share the sadness of those who are in prison, in detention, in hospitals and I trust by faith – chains shall he break!

On my knees Jesus’ presence offers the reality of the familiar Advent themes: love, peace, joy and hope – specifics of how Jesus presence makes the difference.

On my knees, churches of our fellowship come to mind – especially those with calls to reach out to neighbors of other languages and cultures. O God, help them as they care for their children and youth with extreme challenges – not able to attend school and fighting isolation temptations and disorientations.

As Coach for Mission Advancement on our conference staff, I share part of my church prayer list in the form of internet links and invite you to be on your knees for their thriving amid unexpected challenges and new opportunities in this uncertain time:

I invite you to also join me kneeling for CHET (Hispanic Center for Theological Studies) the Covenant theological school with a campus in Compton, CA. CHET is no longer just in California but is developing centers around the USA including our own Pacific Northwest Conference. www.chet.org We have been connecting all of our Spanish language congregations with CHET for discipleship and leadership development and in the future, with ZOOM, we are  able to offer all of CHET’s programs throughout our conference.

May we be falling on our knees to together pray to be compelled by the love of Christ to minister reconciliation in our culture so dark with divisions. This divided world needs to see a people live out a better story – a story based on the reality of Christ’s love. .

On our knees before Jesus  (and He interceding for us ) we pray that our hearts will be so filled with Christ’s love that differences of race, culture, language etc. will not divide us.

Only if we fall on our knees in the presence of Jesus will we become part of such a transformed community.

No more let sins and sorrows grow
because He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love.

Be not conformed to this world but be transformed!

We must not be conforming to our culture and its divisions because of a self-focus instead of God’s world view.

On our knees may Jesus shine light on the Kingdom’s global mission and may our vision go beyond ourselves.

May we end 2020 on our knees in confession and repentance and may we begin 2021 on our knees depending on Jesus’ presence to guide us into uncharted territory and Kingdom adventure. If on our knees, Jesus can lead us to begin writing a new chapter of our life together – living a story based on Christ’s compelling love – a story better than we have ever seen before.

May we become known by a better story as we are transformed and humbled by the empowering and awesome presence of Jesus.

In their book REFRAMATION, Alan Hirsch and Mark Nelson challenge their readers:

Repairing, healing, and restoring the world in Jesus’ name and cause is a wonderful way to live a surprising life that has a positive impact. For one, it forces us to take ownership of the story we are living, as well as the story we tell – a story that can either contribute to or repair the brokenness of the world. We have a choice as to which story we adhere to and which story we are known by.  But there is no way to avoid telling story of some sort with our lives— the way we live our lives is going to tell a story, whether we want it to or not
. Our lives will either tell stories of individualism and self-reliance or stories of restoration and redemption – stories of ugliness or stories of beauty. We choose our way. (p. 191)

How is the PRESENCE of Jesus making us live differently than the culture around us? How are we laying down our lives for others, taking up our cross and following? Jesus presence has a way of inspiring within us a strong desire to live a better story.

Earlier this year I was at a unique meeting of two congregations sharing a building. I rejoiced to hear a passionate voice share their aspiration to have these two faith communities love each other so well that they would together tell a better story in their community – a story of unity in purposeful mission.

Fall on your knees and pray this aspiration into reality in multiple places in 2021!

With immense gratefulness for the opportunity I have had to work with our Superintendent Greg Yee and the entire conference staff. I have been blessed.

I thank God for all of you!

Celebrating Terry Whitcomb

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By Jessica Palmer, Marketing & Communications Manager, Cascades Camp & Conference Center

It goes without saying that this has been a year full of unexpected twists and turns here at Cascades. Yet amidst the great challenges that have surfaced in 2020, we can’t help but look back and see God’s faithfulness woven through it all. As we celebrate the conclusion of another year of ministry, we also find ourselves celebrating the conclusion of a beloved staff member’s time here at Cascades.

After 29 years of ministry, our Guest Services Manager Terry Whitcomb is retiring. If you’ve been around Cascades in any capacity over the years, you have almost surely been blessed by Terry – be it through a cup of coffee, a friendly greeting over the phone, an email granting your camper sponsorship money, special care in coordinating your group’s retreat, or countless other acts of service. Terry’s fingerprints are all over this place and its people, and we are thankful for her legacy!

Enjoy this small snapshot of Terry’s journey at Cascades over the years:

What were you and your family doing before you came to Cascades?

We lived in Wisconsin and attended a Covenant church there. My husband Paul worked for a building maintenance company, and I worked at a nursing home as an RN.

How did you originally find your way to Cascades?

Back in 1991, Paul saw an article in a Covenant newsletter advertising an opening for an Equestrian Manager at Cascades Camp & Conference Center in Yelm, WA. Paul thought he would be perfect, but I said, “You’re crazy – you’ll never get that job!” He wrote a letter to the Executive Director expressing his interest, and got a call to come out for an interview right away. We ended up moving to Cascades about four weeks later!

What “hats” have you worn during your time here at Cascades?

Pretty soon after we got to Cascades I started helping out in the office. I would enter registrations, mail out confirmation letters, do some filing – that sort of thing. Over time, I served as the camp nurse, worked in the kitchen as an assistant cook, and did some housekeeping. We eventually added our espresso stand and gift store, so I started helping out there, as well. I basically jumped in wherever I was needed – and of course, I was always a volunteer wrangler! I would often go out to Sunrise Ranch and help Paul with trail rides. My job became more administrative as time went on, and I filled the role of Registrar for many years. In 2017, I was ready for a change, so I took over as the Guest Services Manager.

What have you loved most about working at Cascades?

I love bringing people out here to see the beauty and experience the peace of God.

What’s your favorite memory from your time at Cascades?

I don’t know if I have a favorite – there are so many! One thing I will remember is praying together as a staff. I’ve never had another job where you begin the day by praying and reading God’s Word with your coworkers. I’ve never once felt disappointed that I had to come to work.

What are you looking forward to in retirement?

I plan to spend a lot of time with my grandchildren! Paul and I are also planning to do a bit of travel in our new truck. We hope to be able to see some of the country together.

Join us in celebrating Terry! If you feel so inclined, you’re welcome to send her an email at terrywhitcomb@cascadescamp.org to wish her well in retirement. Terry’s last day at Cascades will be December 11th, 2020.

Terry’s First Summer at Camp. She is on the top row fourth from the right.

Land, Family – Shared Mission

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By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC

I trust that your Thanksgiving was special in ways that only 2020 could bring. I hope that it opened up new opportunities; perhaps gave you good moments of reflection, prayer or reminded you in encouraging ways of God’s steady presence. 

As we’ve seen the fall-colors explode and now as I stare at my rake for the work ahead, my heart is filled with gratitude for this beautiful place we call home. The Pacific Northwest is flat out gorgeous. This land, these mountains, all of the waters, the weather, and our now-darkening skies that gives us peeks of so many stars above us, all sing the praises of Creator. We are so blessed. Take a walk off of the concrete. Get in and join with creation as its praises the great provider and sustainer of birds, lilies and yes, you. 

Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So [we] are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

I am also filled with thanks for deepening connections and sense of family that has grown during the pandemic. I am meeting weekly with my childhood friends. I’ve gotten much closer to my neighbors.  The conference staff has felt like we’ve had more opportunities to connect with our ministers than ever before. It’s also been beautiful to see us live into being a mosaic of churches working interdependently together to transform lives and communities particularly around so much of the unrest and pain. Our national soul has been pierced and we’ve been challenged to better see each other and understand and respond to the differences in our life experiences. 

I know it hasn’t been easy. I implore you to continue to lean in. Continue to learn, converse, explore, and embody Christ’s work in your community. What does the Lord require of us? In all of our kingdom diversity, love how God is shaping and forming us in these days. We are living out God’s call to love unconditionally, be faithful, hold out hope, do justice, love mercy, and position our hearts with humility.   

We are Mission Friends. We are a family of 74 churches, a team, doing God’s work together.  We are churches in very different settings, but we are tied together by our vital need for each other, and our common mission. 

OK, I’m going to tie my two seemingly random thoughts together now.  I am grateful for the beautiful land we call home in the PacNWC.  We recognize that we are guests on the lands of very familiar tribes such as the Swinomish, Nisqually, Yakama, Spokane, Chinook, Tillamook, and Blackfeet.  As our sense of family and togetherness grows, I want to introduce part of the work that is coming to Gather 21. Sharing it now is also fitting as we conclude Indigenous Peoples Month. 

We will have an opportunity to vote on a new resolution that will be an official declaration by the Covenant Church to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery (DOD). It is something that we have been working on for several years but now have the opportunity to make official. This work has been done by several other denominations and have had a profound affect on their indigenous members and their communities as a whole. We are stewards of the good news of Christ. We believe that this kind of work is right at the center of gospel that heals, renews, and transforms.  Our years of work on this resolution are serendipitously concluding during a year that we are understanding the importance of understanding history and the affects of how we’ve seen and treated each other in this country.  

I know the DOD is not familiar to most of us. This is a good time to introduce it as a primer to learn more as you send delegates to the ECC’s annual meeting. 

In short, the Doctrine of Discovery is a set of legal and theological principles derived from a series of papal bulls issued by the church in the 15th Century. These official church documents permitted explorers to go to new lands and “capture, vanquish, and subdue, put into perpetual slavery” and “take all their possessions and property” indigenous people.  A pattern of dehumanization and genocidal conquest was launched in the name of Christ through the church. As we know this has had overwhelming affects on Native peoples, we, as the church are now led to do this redemptive work as a denominational family to repudiate it.    

My colleague in Alaska Superintendent Curtis Ivanoff, was recently featured here on this topic.  He also put me onto this page that helps us understand the DOD better and our response as the Church. I encourage you to also explore the following as we begin this journey together:

More resources produced by the denomination are forthcoming to help us prepare for this year’s vote and additionally in how we can realize this work together. The final version of the resolution itself will also be released soon.  I’m excited that we can be part of this important and beautiful work of bringing light instead to chase away darkness, trust to replace broken promises, and respect instead of alienation and silence.  This is the way – right? 

May the Lord bless us as we continue to share the good news of Christ with all that he might bring across our paths.  May the Lord bless us as we continue say yes to his invitation to join him in establishing his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. 

Advent blessings, Family.  May the hope, peace, joy, and love of Christ sink deeply into your soul as you walk these days.  Make wise choices these holidays to keep yourself and others healthy and safe.  Stay fervent in prayer.  Stay watchful.  We cover you in prayer. 

Thunder in a Box at Cedarcreek

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Note: This event took place before the recent COVID-19 shutdown in Washington State

By Becca Worl, Pastor of Discipleship, Cedarcreek Covenant Church

For God has not given us a Spirit of Fear, but of spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Ten Jr. High voices repeated this in unison and sang this in agreement, from the enclaves of their young, brave, ever-shifting vocal registers during Cedarcreek Covenant Church’s Thunder Retreat.   Accurately reflective of the current state of our lives, “Thunder” came this year, in a box.   We are boxed into home offices, household-only-living, church through an ethernet cable; the lines are small and tight—but the light that grows, the fruit that flows, can be deep and wide and surprising. Like the Thunder-in-a-Box Retreat called “Once Upon a Thunder.”   

Typically every year our fabulous conference staff in collaboration with Cascades Camp and Conference Center puts on an epic Jr. High Retreat called “Thunder.”  This year, to think outside the box, apparently meant putting it all in a box! – and offering it to the churches.  I ordered it. It came. It blew me away.  I pulled out meticulously planned programs complete with beautiful graphics and images, well-thought out options for all kinds of retreats, professionally recorded messages, small-group leader guides, and thoughtful Covid-friendly games for all ranges of options from virtual-only to small church in-person plans.  The work that was poured into this was a true labor of love.

Cedarcreek, being without a youth director at the moment, pulled together a team of 6 volunteers, and we brought the box to life.  We discovered the treasure of our own back-yard camp, “Black Diamond Camps,” and booked our Friday evening, and Saturday retreat.  Included in the fun was the camp’s own activities: Archery Tag, and Drift Trikes.

10 kids, 6 adults. We masked. We social distanced.  We hand sanitized. We themed (adult counselors were “Maleficent, Jafar, Rapunzel, Maui, and Pascal”). We offered cold-hard-cash for kids who didn’t lose their “social distancing clothespin” (think baby shower game!) and that incentive worked well for Jr. Highers! We listened to Britta Burger speak from her heart about the spirit of fear. We heard Ruby Varghese preach the Spirit who brings dead bones to life. And Erik Cave drove 3.5 hours in the pouring rain to come and join us to speak in the evening about Love and a Sound Mind.  To have Erik was an extra gift, bringing the whole theme and the messages to life.  We shared in our small groups. We worshipped behind layers of cloth.  We sang an original song created for the weekend, repeating the verse in melody until it absorbed deeper and deeper.  Power. Love. Sound mind. Yes. May it be.

The retreat was simple, but complex, in that we held the tension of two opposing emotions within us – grief, and gratitude. Grief that the larger PacNWC Thunder Retreat could not happen.  There is a special work that happens in the lives of our youth when they leave home, head to Cascades, smoosh like sardines into box cars and gather at the Rainier Center to sing, laugh, dance, sweat
 and worship, pray, and grow.   It is a great sadness that so many of these rich, pivotal, formative moments of a young disciple’s journey were cancelled.  Grief. And yet.  It is great joy that there are other ways to grow. In the smallness.  In the newness. In our own backyard. In the trust and fellowship of longtime friends. In the quaint nature of a retreat taken from a box and incarnated into the context of who we are as Cedarcreekers.  In this quieter manner, there is a sweetness, there is fruit.  Gratitude.

Grief and Gratitude are indeed the “conflicting” emotions of the day. But they can live together. They can even breathe life into the other; loss gives birth to new ideas.  Maybe sometimes all it takes is a really cool box to help us think outside the box, to open the idea, to bend ourselves to new streams of creativity, new math. 10X6X2. Ten kids. Six adults. Two days. A whole lot of safe fun was had, many spiritual seeds scattered and sown, perma-grins planted, and palpable gratitude. We were just so HAPPY to be able to be together, even if we weren’t able to squish into a middle-school-mosh pit
 which, for this 40-year-old, wasn’t really a big disappointment.  Grateful

[Click Here] to learn more about Once Upon a Thunder

[Click Here] to visit Cedarcreek’s Web Site

Praying for the Spirit’s Leading

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This is part three of an ongoing series on evangelism prompted by a meeting with the Grace Cov, Bremerton leadership team and Pastor Grant Christensen.  It was a very ordinary monthly meeting with ministry reports, budgets, and decisions made.  What I was not expecting was their monthly rhythm of individually checking in with each other about their evangelism “temperature,” a practice learned at the evangelism cohort.  It was refreshing to watch how they are choosing to keep sharing Christ front and center as a leadership.   As often stated, “you cannot lead where you have not gone yourself.”  After they shared, Pastor Grant then walked through evangelism related Bible studies that he created. I asked Grant if he would share his material and he graciously said that his only requirement is that it would never be sold.  So much for the conference fundraiser!  I include it below to encourage and to stir.  May we walk as those full of the Holy Spirit as we share Christ today.   – Greg Yee

by Grant E. Christensen, Pastor, Grace Covenant Church, Bremerton

Galatians 5:18-25 (nasb95)  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. {19} Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, {20} idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, {21} envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. {22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. {24} Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. {25} If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.[1]

In the Epistle to the Galatians the Apostle Paul contrasts two ways of living, one lived out according to one’s own self-effort by following the external commandments of the Law, the other lived out according to the indwelling presense of our Lord Jesus Christ in and through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 3 Paul stated emphatically that we are not to be perfected by the flesh, or as the New International Version translates it:  by our own effort. Rather, just as having begun in the Spirit when we were born from above we are now to continue on by the Spirit, being continually perfected by the Spirit. Which is better then? To live by our own self-effort according to the outward commandments of the Law? Or to have the very One who authored the Law come and live within—by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit?

If one reads chapter five carefully this same contrast between Law and Spirit takes up the entire chapter. Is there something wrong with the Law? No, in the words of Paul, “May it never be!” As Paul states in Romans, the Law is “holy, righteous and good!” The difficulty is not with the Law, but with the depravity of our flesh—our self life. When we as creatures of flesh try to accomplish the works of the law by our own effort, we invariably produce the opposite, the deeds of the flesh (which is literally, the works of the flesh.) However, when we seek to walk by the Holy Spirit, seeking to be led of the Holy Spirit, He produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Whereas the heart of the Law was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves—as lived out by our own effort—now we are to walk in the Spirit, being led of the Spirit, and He the very embodiment of love produces in us what we cannot produce ourselves: the fruit of love—God’s kind of love.

So what is it then to walk in the Spirit and to be led of the Spirit? Everywhere people went in Jesus and Paul’s day they had to walk. If people were going to the market, they walked. If people were going to the synagogue or to a gathering of Christians, they walked. If people were visiting neighbors or family, they walked. We don’t walk; we drive. Walking then became synonymous with living. To walk was to live, and to live was to walk. Throughout my life as a Christian I’ve come across many sets of steps to walking in the Spirit. Yet, in all these steps, I suspect that what was described was no longer the authentic walk in the Spirit—but only a manufactured copy. The best way I know how to learn to walk in the Spirit is to ask God to teach us to walk in the Spirit and to be led of the Spirit! I’ve been praying this for many years—and I am still learning!

There are facets of walking in the Spirit that can be described: listening to the Holy Spirit’s voice—through Scripture, through His still, small voice within, through sermons heard, through the counsel of the body of Christ, and so on. Paul speaks of praying at all times in the Spirit. Jesus speaks of worshipping in Spirit and in truth. We can ask God to teach us to hear His voice. We can ask God to teach us to pray in the Spirit at all times. We can invite the Holy Spirit to worship in and through us—in truth.

One facet of walking in the Spirit is described by Paul in Galatians chapter 3, Paul writes:

Galatians 3:1-5 (nasb95)  You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? {2} This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? {3} Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? {4} Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? {5} So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

Herein Paul again states emphatically that we received the Spirit by hearing with faith—not by works of the Law. Furthermore, Paul says that we are not to be perfected by the flesh—by our own self effort—but as implied, we are to be perfected by the Spirit. Hence, faith is a necessary and crucial aspect to walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit then is a life lived out of trusting God—and not ourselves—a life lived out of trusting in the Holy Spirit’s work and not our own!

Walking in the Spirit and being led of the Holy Spirit are therefore crucial aspects of authentic evangelism. Often authors writing about evangelism speak of the the necessity to love authentically those to whom we are sharing the faith. Yet, if walking in the Spirit and being led of the Spirit is the means by which the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives—of which love is the first segment—then for us to live a life out of our own self-effort, while not being led of the Spirit, is to love with a self-manufactured love, a love infinitely less than what the Spirit is able to produce within. By necessity this will hamper the quality of our sharing our faith.

Furthermore, to be led of the Spirit is to be attuned to the Spirit’s voice and promptings—to know when to go and when not to go, to know when to speak and when not to speak, to know what to speak and what not to speak, to have the Spirit move a conversation from an ordinary conversation into one that gives life. In the book of Acts, Dr. Luke reveals much about the Holy Spirit’s leading—with much of the Spirit’s leading having to do with evangelism:

Acts 10:19 (nasb95)  While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.”

Peter’s vision and the Spirit’s subsequent communication to him was to result in the salvation of Cornelius as well as many of his family and friends. In the following verse Paul recounts the Spirit’s communication to him to go to Cornelius’ house.

Acts 11:12 (nasb95)  “The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house.”

Acts 13:2 (nasb95)  While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

The Holy Spirit spoke to the believers to set apart Barnabas and Saul for their first missionary journey during which they would bring the Gospel to Asia Minor.

Acts 13:4 (nasb95)  So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

The Holy Spirit sent Barnabas and Saul on their first missionary journey.

Acts 15:28 (nasb95)  “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:

As more and more Gentiles were coming to faith in Jesus, their arose a dispute in Antioch as to whether the Gentiles were required to keep the Mosaic Law, which was brought to a resolution at the Jerusalem council through the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Acts 16:6 (nasb95)  They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

Here the Holy Spirit forbid them from bringing the Gospel to Asia.

Acts 16:7 (nasb95)  and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;

Again the Holy Spirit prevented them from going into Bithynia—possibly for their own safety.

Acts 20:23 (nasb95)  except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.

In this verse and the two following verses the Holy Spirit seems to be testing Paul’s resolve to be led before kings and ultimately Caesar himself, occasions in which Paul would proclaim the Gospel.

Acts 21:4 (nasb95)  After looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.

Acts 21:11 (nasb95)  And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'”

It is clear from these verses the vital role the Holy Spirit has in our sharing our faith. When I have sought to share my faith apart from the Holy Spirit’s work and influence, I often ended up doing more harm than good, frequently ending up in arugments and causing pain. As I’ve learned to walk in the Holy Spirit and to be led of the Spirit I have time and time again seen a fluidness to His witness in and through me. I don’t know how the Spirit does it, but one minute I’ll be just conversing with someone and the next minute the Spirit will have opened the door, even giving me words and boldness! I am neither an expert on walking in the Spirit nor do I mean to write an exhaustive treatise on what it means to walk in the Spirit. Rather, I have found that asking the heavenly Father in faith to teach us to walk in the Spirit and to be led of the Spirit is enough! To ask this is to ask for the very will of the Father for our lives! I suspect that in the how much more willingness of the heavenly Father to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask, to ask that He would teach us to walk in the Spirit, to be led of the Spirit, is to request the very thing the Father longs to teach and reveal!

© 2019 by Grant Christensen. “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8b niv) You are free to share—copy and redistribute in any medium or format—as long as you don’t change the content, don’t use commercially without permission of the author or author’s family, and include attribution with the following Creative Commons License:

[1]  New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

[Click Here] for part one of the series titled, “Asking for the Holy Spirit”

[Click Here] for part two of the series titled, “Praying for the Power of the Holy Spirit for Witness”