Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying for us, we continue to covet your prayers as we take some time to process in community with a few trusted friends. We so greatly appreciate the support and care we have received from the denomination during this time.
Peace to you,
Leah
I subscribe to a daily devotional. Every morning, in the middle of free offers from Amazon or Restaurant.com that I can seem to successfully unsubscribe to, there’s a fresh delivery of scripture, commentary and prayer. Some days it’s great, some days reading through the scripture passage is the one redeeming quality of the message. I’m sure I sound like a broken record, but this journey of churchplanting has come squarely in the center of a rough season. There have been good, kind, experienced folks who have encouraged me to consider taking a little time before really jumping in to planting a church. There has been pushback about our theology. We have already had folks come, check us out, and decide to do something else. All of these have been good things, stretching things, and I have felt personally supported through the process. But there have also been days when I have questioned my own sanity, my own calling, and my own giftings. We all do, from time to time. This morning, in the midst of praying through my own questions, I opened up the devotional message, not expecting much. What I found felt like water for my weary soul. May it bless you as well.
He’d been fishing unsuccessfully all night and worked much of the morning, cleaning his nets. He’d let Jesus use his boat as a pulpit. After all that, you’d think he’d just want to go home and go to bed.
But when the preaching was over, Jesus said, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Amazingly, Simon did it.
Being a disciple is not easy, nor always convenient. As Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof says, “I know. I know. We are your chosen people. But, once in awhile, can’t you choose someone else?”
God calls us in the middle of our exhaustions and other plans, in spite of our shortcomings, even after our failures. God calls us to risk going deep, even over our heads.
But Jesus knows what we’re getting into. After all, this is God’s mission we’re on, not our own. Jesus assures Simon and us, “Do not be afraid.”
Jesus Christ, help us to follow you with courage, knowing that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us. Amen.
Mary Sue Dreier
Associate Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership, Luther Seminary
Master of Divinity, 1979
After a week in Denver and a renovation party at U-Studios, I hope you’re as excited as I am to continue our journey through the book of Luke. We will be meeting Tuesday at Lounjin at 7:00 pm. Join us for cake and conversation, even if you haven’t made it out before. Also, we’ll be deciding together how we as a church can start partnering with our neighborhood, so bring any ideas for organizations you’ve worked with or researched. As a new churchplant, we have the unique opportunity to literally ‘be the church’ together. What you say, believe and do shapes who we are. For those of you who are joining in Sinners and Saints, I pray that these next few months and years are a blessing and a stretching to your own lives and faith. In the next few months, as we start Sunday worship services, Becky Cramer Jarboe of U-Studios, a new exercise studio space next to the University Bookstore, has generously offered her space to us for Sunday use. Thanks so much, Becky! We’ll be updating everyone when we make the transition to Sunday services.
Becky Cramer Jarboe and Pastor Leah at U-Studios space, finishing up renovations. Many thanks to Becky for her heart in supporting our new churchplant! Blessings on the new business, Becky!
Coffee Chats
Needing a little pastoral care, or just hoping to catch up? I’ll be hanging out at Trabant Coffee and Chai in the University District on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Shoot me an email, I’d love to meet with you. If Trabant doesn’t work with your schedule or location don’t worry, we can come up with a time and place that works for us both.
Midwinter Update
While spending time with our denomination in Denver, I also had a chance to chat with our churchplanting coach, Kurt Carlson. A northwest churchplanter himself, Kurt will be journeying with us over the next few years, and in upcoming months will be joining one of our gatherings. Both Kurt and national churchplanting director Peter Sung expressed excitement over what God is doing through our new faith community. We will sign our official paperwork with the denomination in mid-February!
A typical worship service at Midwinter
Sunday Family Dinners
Our Sunday Family Dinners will kick off February 14th. Join us at our home in Wallingford for Sunday Dinner. We’re starting dinner at 5pm to welcome families with children, and enjoying a time of relaxed fellowship together. These evenings won’t include a Bible Study, but will include plenty of good food, great friends, and the chance to build community. Need the address? Just e-mail Leah at leah@sinnersandsaintschurch.com
Sinners and Saints Schedule
Church people coming together around power tools! Check out Katie's mad skillz with the power drill. Thanks for helping with the remodel, Katie!
January 25, 2010
Greetings Friends,
I’m writing tonight from the lobby of a hotel in downtown Denver where over a thousand folks from our denomination (the Evangelical Covenant Church) are gathered for our annual pastor’s gathering called “Midwinter”. We’re here to learn and recharge together, to hear what God is up to all over the country and world, and I’ll be meeting with a few people about Sinners and Saints Church, and hoping to snap a few good pictures to share on Facebook. This week in Seattle, I hope everyone is working hard on what we discussed last Tuesday, coming up with a few ideas on how we can be in partnership with our neighborhood. We will start serving together in the next month, and I’d love to hear if you have an idea for an organization, school, shelter, food bank, tutoring center, or whatever that we can be working alongside. I’ll also bring some suggestions to our next Tuesday meeting.
Remember, NO TUESDAY MEETING TOMORROW, January 26th.
Looking forward to fellowship with you again in Seattle,
Pastor Leah
E: leah@sinnersandsaintschurch.com : T: 206.280.7029
Sinners & Saints Schedule:
Last night we met for our second plunge into Luke’s Gospel. Sinners and Saints is off to a great start. We’ve already covered social revolution, a pregnant virgin, a post-menopausal woman’s miraculous conception (with her husband), angelic visitations, being oppressed vs. being the oppressor…it’s getting real, folks. Another group activity we do well: eating. We’ve been munching our way through brownies, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, triple gingersnaps, and did I mention brownies? In the interest of group bonding, we’re willing to take one (or more) for the team and make sure the warm baked goods don’t go to waste. If we could share warm brownies with the world, I’m inclined to believe peace would be within our reach. As requested by the group, here’s the recipe for last night’s batch. And for those of you who missed out: we’ll be back with a fresh batch on February 2nd. Enjoy!
Butterscotch Brownies, via Alan’s mom, ‘the Rev’
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 2/3 cup butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 6 oz. chocolate chips
1. Mix eggs, melted butter, vanilla and sugar.
2. Add remaining dry ingredients, chocolate chips last.
3. Pour (okay, spoon really, it’ll be thick) into greased 9 x 13 pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Closer to 25 if you like them on the chewier and slightly underdone side.
Alan thought his manly good looks won me over. Really, it was his ability to bake a mean pan of brownies. I had to marry into the Klug family to get this recipe. Just don’t tell ‘the Rev’ I shared it with you…
If you’ve been wondering about the goings-on with Sinners and Saints, you can subscribe to our newsletter here. For now, I’ll include this week’s newsletter below. See you tomorrow night!
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Dear Friends,
Today we remember and observe the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who started a great work and whose life invites us out of complacency and into action. Today I would like to also extend an invitation to you to join us in a new work in our community. Sinners and Saints Church will continue to meet for Tuesday night Bible Studies, and will begin hosting Sunday night dinners in February. I look forward to seeing you at either or both gatherings, and would love to learn more of your story. If you are curious about the church, need prayer, or would simply like to share your story, I would love to have coffee with you.
Peace to you this week,
Pastor Leah
leah@sinnersandsaintschurch.com | www.sinnersandsaintschurch.com
Sinners and Saints Schedule:
Tuesdays
Tuesday night Luke study, 7-9pm, Lounjin
Over the next quarter, Sinners and Saints will be meeting at Lounjin on Tuesday nights from 7-9pm to fellowship, pray together, and study the book of Luke. Bring yourself, a Bible if you have one laying around, and an appetite for the cookies or brownies that make an appearance each week. Support Lounjin by purchasing one of their lovely lattes or teas.
Sundays
Sunday night dinner, 7-9pm, Leah and Alan’s house
Starting on February 14th, we’ll be hosting Sunday Dinner at 7pm at our house in the U-District. Email Leah for directions, all are welcome. We won’t be having a study on Sunday nights, this is a time for fellowship, sharing and building community. All are welcome!
Other Events:
1/24-1/28: ECC Midwinter Conference (our denomination’s annual conference), Denver.
2/7: Pastor Leah sharing at Quest Church, Sinners and Saints folks welcome to join.
2/12: Sinners and Saints Scheduled to become an official churchplant with the ECC!
2/14: Sunday night dinners start at Leah and Alan’s house.
While chronicling church visits has encompassed all of my blogging bandwidth lately, I’ve mercifully spared everyone visit #3 – Multi-Site Visit. Unwittingly, we visited a prosperity gospel church that cold Sunday after Christmas, ending the visit early when we walked out during the sermon. Hey, it happens.
Visit #4 brought us (theologically) close to home, visiting a Lutheran church with a strong heart and active life for where the gospel meets reality through practicing social justice as a community. While they do tons of great work we would love to partner with, the actual worship service itself may not have changed for at least 50 years. Beautiful? Yes. Sleepy? Ditto.
After a series of visits, we’re excitedly looking forward to visit #5–Sinners and Saints! Next Tuesday, January 12th, we’ll be meeting at 7pm at Lounjin once again. Kicking off a study through the book of Luke, we will also spend time dreaming and scheming about how we can work together to live out the Gospel. Hope to see you there!
Last Sunday, Alan and I headed across the bridge to hear his awesome pastor mom preach the Christmas sermon. She did a great job opening up the Gospel of Luke, and we enjoyed spending time with the family. People who had known Alan since he was “this high” encouraged us on our new path, and shared recommendations for churches we could visit during our time off. Special musical programs (three!), cardamom bread and many a Christmas sweater only served to emphasize the Christmas feel.
At the same time we were both reaffirmed in our desire to plant in our neighborhood. Every neighborhood and city has its own ministry context, and ideally churches created in those areas are reflective of their makeup. Churches that address the challenges and utilize the strengths of their members. I felt uncomfortable at the suburban eastside church, but that’s okay. I’m not a suburban eastsider. I was welcomed and loved with warmth and affirmation, and felt the care of the community. The songs and scriptures reflected the gospel message and spoke to the imminent coming of Christ. The problem belongs to Alan and I: we are longing for our home. And I have a feeling that no matter how beautiful, innovative, edgy or amazing, while we have much to learn from the churches we are visiting, none of them will feel like home.
As Alan so eloquently noted on our other blog, as we are in the process of planting Sinners and Saints, visiting local churches on Sundays is our new hobby. Somehow, it has only been two Sundays since leaving Quest, and technically Sunday number one was spent at the Burke Museum with my dad. Sunday number two was a visit to a neighborhood big box church.
Sunday morning dawned cold and clear, so we bundled up and walked to the large University District church for the second of their five Sunday services. We were cheerfully greeted by two greeters with name badges, and ushered into the large stained glass sanctuary just in time for the first choir (of three!) to start the Christmas music. After all those years at Quest in a converted warehouse and a 1950’s era church building, a classically beautiful stained glass and stone sanctuary complete with concert organ was a bit jarring. As the service went on, we both felt lulled into a slight stupor. The space was warm, the decorations beautiful, singing on key, and nothing was asked of us. We were there, but we were not needed. It was a little too perfect. Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing service and I’m sure that at a church that size, transitions and prayers need to be carefully planned and manged. But there was no room for us to see ourselves as part of that community or as part of that perfect service.
Over the next few weeks, we look forward to visiting more churches, and continuing to dream of creating a new church home. A community of folks who aren’t perfect, a place where visitors and regulars can see themselves in the story and worship God together, offering the gifts they have been given.
After having my own office, along with a convenient regular coffee hangout for the past zillion years at Q, it’s been interesting exploring new alternate office spaces. This morning, I chose a local coffee house for a meeting and to spend some time working on the agenda for Friday’s informational churchplanting meeting at Lounjin, from 7-9pm. And yes, that is a shameless plug for Friday’s meeting.
I have yet to find a new daytime office/coffeehouse hangout since Lounjin opens pretty late, and have noticed that my productivity level at home is less than desirable. Thus far, I’ve tried out a few of the usual suspects: Fuel, the Street Bean (for meeting people who work downtown), Irwin’s, and will probably check out just how busy Solstice is these days. With the exception of the Street Bean, I can walk to all the other coffee houses, something that works a little exercise into my daily routine. If you were looking for a friendly coffee house in the University District/Wallingford area, what would you choose?
