What God Is Doing Around Seattle

I recently had the great honor of being involved in an important event for our region. The City Church is one of the biggest and most influential churches in our state. Their pastor, Wendell Smith, has been battling some very serious health issues over the past few years. During this time, he and his son Judah showed up at Mars Hill asking to meet with me. They could not have been more kind and gracious. The City Church is a multi-campus church like Mars Hill, and, in God’s providence, we were both starting campuses near one another. They wanted to ensure we were on good terms as loving Christian brothers and went out of their way to make this happen. Some time later, once again in God’s providence, when our elders were at a retreat, their leaders happened to be there at the same time. They graciously asked my wife, Grace, and I to join them so they could ask us some coaching questions and spend some good time in prayer for us and Mars Hill Church. A few months later, I was invited to come and teach their church planters. Through all of this, God has given me a real love for their church and its leaders. They recently honored me with a request to join them for the installation of my friend Judah Smith as the new lead pastor of The City Church. So I pre-recorded a sermon on the glory of Jesus Christ, which played at the Ballard Campus on the Sunday I joined them for the installation. Mars Hill’s Lead Pastor Jamie Munson joined me. I got to speak to the church about my love for them and our desire to work together to reach people for Jesus and was met with rousing applause and cheers from the packed house. Afterward, I got to sit with Judah at his table for dinner and celebrate God’s grace and calling on his life. Similarly, this Saturday I am going to preach at a men’s event for Northshore Baptist Church in Bothell. Pastor Jan Hettinga, who faithfully led that church for many years, has always been an encouraging friend. So, when I heard they had hired a new pastor named Jonathan Alexander, I was eager to meet him. We’ve since met a few times and I rejoice that God saw fit to call him to our region. He’s a man who loves Jesus, the Bible, and people, and he too is now a friend. It will be a great honor to teach his men and I appreciate his trust in me to do so. Over the past few years, I’ve also enjoyed building a friendship with Mike Howerton, who is the lead pastor at Overlake Christian Church. It has been a great joy to see that church growing in converts and worshipers of Jesus. God has spoken very clearly to me to encourage him, as we want the largest church building in our state filled many times every Sunday with people worshiping Jesus. More recently, I’ve also been encouraged by the fruit being enjoyed by Pastor Ryan Meeks at EastLake Church and I’ve benefitted from some people he’s put me in contact with. His church is growing fast and is attracting a lot of people who are unchurched and dechurched, which is wonderful. So, what is God doing around Seattle? A lot. All of us are younger pastors leading larger churches in the same region. And each of the pastors has been gracious to me, raves about their love for Mars Hill, and is someone God has given me a deep desire to encourage and work with as friends for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some I know well, others I’m getting to know better. Sometimes we can get so busy enjoying God’s grace in our midst at Mars Hill that we don’t take the time to see and enjoy it in other churches. So, I wanted to share with you some good news and ask you to be in pray for and speak well of these and other evangelical churches and ministries in our region. If the recent statistics I am in the process of confirming are correct, Seattle may no longer be the least-churched city in the country, the Northwest may no longer be the least-churched region in the country, and the percentage of evangelical Christians seems to be on the rise. May we humbly work together to see as many people as possible meet Jesus!