Category: Parish Life

Music was a central part of Megan’s life growing up. Megan joined her church’s youth choir as soon as she was old enough. She kept singing straight through law school, whether in large choirs, smaller ensembles, or a cappella groups. But then it all just stopped. Work and family responsibilities made it hard to keep up with singing. Before Megan knew it, a decade had passed since she had sung a song with anyone other than her children. 

After the pandemic, Megan came to Redeemer hoping to build more of a community in Kenmore. She didn’t realize that coming to Redeemer would be her pathway to reconnecting with music.

Megan remembers walking into Redeemer for the first time and staring at the organ, wondering if it would be played during the service. She was thrilled to open the hymnal and sing the beautiful hymns accompanied by the organ, and even more so when she would occasionally hear parishioners sing the harmony lines. “Music church,” as her kids call the 10:30 service, has become a welcome retreat for Megan.

Singing with others is where she finds her greatest sense of spiritual connection. Just this month [September 2025] Megan joined the church choir for the first time and felt such joy as our Sacred Harp-based piece came together during practice.

Redeemer has also provided the community Megan was hoping to find for her family. Redeemer has been so welcoming, and her family has tried to make the most of what Redeemer has to offer. Megan and her children have participated in Sunday school, vestry, work parties, potlucks, ladies’ tea, and more. Her children were baptized here, and Redeemer is the first church Megan has called home in 20 years.

As a former Catholic and a transplant from the east coast, Megan has been so grateful to find a church where her children can put down roots as they grow up in Kenmore.

As Christians we are story tellers. We have an ancient narrative, one that describes the beginning of time and the relationship between God and God’s Creation. We see this story grow through the prophetic tradition until our story recounts the life and gifts of the Son of God. Today the story of God’s work in the world continues in each of us as we encounter and are transformed by the Good News. Collectively we, the Church of the Redeemer, carry on in God’s mission to bring God’s transformative love into our time and place. We magnify the Lord!

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

When St. John of the Cross wrote of the Dark Night of the Soul, he was describing a time of testing and pain that was accompanied by confusion, fear, and uncertainty—including doubts of God. When Chris describes his first few years in western Washington, one wonders if Dark Nights in Kenmore is an appropriate comparison.

Chris and Rachelle, his wife of 14 years, along with their two children, moved from their friends and family in Boise in 2021 and ultimately divorced in August 2024. This followed the end of a pandemic that shook the world and a cancer battle that Rachelle thankfully survived. Experiencing the grief and loss of family separation, Chris found himself isolated from his entire support network and feeling alone in a dark place.

With no one to turn to, Chris sought refuge at Redeemer. Raised Catholic, Chris had drifted away from his faith years earlier. Chris’s sister, Nancy, a long-time Catholic back in Boise, had started attending an Episcopal Church, which had been a wonderful experience for her. Nancy encouraged Chris to try Episcopalians out.

Reeling from the grief of divorce, loneliness, and job struggles, Chris did a Google search and discovered that the beautiful building he passed from time to time down the road was an Episcopal Church. In February 2025, Chris wandered in to the 10:30 am service at Redeemer to join in worship for the first time in years.

Intending to sit quietly and keep to himself, Chris was surprised how welcoming Redeemer was. One member sat with him and kindly helped him fumble through the bulletin and books guiding the service. Another immediately offered to meet him for coffee and shortly after took him in as one of his own. Others opened their homes to him on holidays. Still others shared similar struggles and how they were getting through them. 

Looking for community and faith development, Chris fully immersed himself into Redeemer, and, within a short time, he felt like a full member. He has connected deeply with so many wonderful people at Redeemer and has been able to share Redeemer with his siblings as they visit.

Redeemer has not only given Chris the loving and supportive community that he so deeply wanted, but it has also rekindled the spirit of God in his life. Redeemer has saved and blessed Chris’s life in many ways, and he is so grateful to be a member of this beautiful community.

As Christians we are story tellers. We have an ancient narrative, one that describes the beginning of time and the relationship between God and God’s Creation. We see this story grow through the prophetic tradition until our story recounts the life and gifts of the Son of God. Today the story of God’s work in the world continues in each of us as we encounter and are transformed by the Good News. Collectively we, the Church of the Redeemer, carry on in God’s mission to bring God’s transformative love into our time and place. We magnify the Lord!

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

“I want a divorce!”

Bill was so fed up with the church in the early 1980s that he just wanted nothing to do with it anymore. Having found a warm, embracing evangelical faith in the late 1960s, Bill was dismayed at the rise of televangelism, increased bigotry, and mega churches focused on material wealth. Bill wanted to walk with Jesus, just not the church that used His name.

Bill kept his faith private until, in 2009, the televised Catholic funeral of Edward Kennedy piqued his interest in a different expression of Christianity. With some wariness, since he had always been taught that “organized” religion is the evil Babylon, his spiritual hunger had him try the Episcopal Church. Bill came to Redeemer and found a table ready for him to eat.

“The Eucharist is what makes God present to me.” The home churches would occasionally have a Lord’s Supper but having it regularly is so much more meaningful. What made it even more credible is that real humans, people just like Bill, were the ones leading service. [The] Rev. [John] Ferguson, Bishop [Greg] Rickel, [the] Rev. [Jed] Fox all spoke to how grace makes us whole, not legality.

While Bill feels fed by the common worship at Redeemer, it is the one-on-one stories he hears at gatherings, like the Spiritual Companions, where he sees God working in everyday lives. It is the two sides of the coin—Eucharist and fellowship—that Bill cherishes about Redeemer. 

As Christians we are story tellers. We have an ancient narrative, one that describes the beginning of time and the relationship between God and God’s Creation. We see this story grow through the prophetic tradition until our story recounts the life and gifts of the Son of God. Today the story of God’s work in the world continues in each of us as we encounter and are transformed by the Good News. Collectively we, the Church of the Redeemer, carry on in God’s mission to bring God’s transformative love into our time and place. We magnify the Lord!

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

After a long respite from churches, I knew it was time to go back, but where? I had become greatly disenchanted with so many churches that were not presenting the true Christ, so I was wary. My husband had a past connection with the Episcopal Church, so we tried Redeemer. 

When we arrived, I walked in quietly and I immediately felt that the presence of God in the sanctuary. There was no specific reason, I just felt His presence in my spirit. When I opened the bulletin there was a welcome message that told me this is the place I can worship. A church that welcomed all races, all religions, all ethnicities, all sexual orientations, and all genders. 

A wonderful lady showed us around. When I saw the memorial garden, it touched my love of nature. Here is a church that values nature also. Later, I could be a part of caring for the garden.

I have absolutely loved and been in awe of every sermon I have heard and go home with something to think about and add to my life. The knowledge, education, and spiritual wisdom of each priest I have heard at Redeemer is amazing. I have so enjoyed getting to know so many like-minded people in the congregation. I particularly like the new Spiritual Companions group which gives me an opportunity to connect with people at a deeper level and receive prayer. 

However, there is one downside; why do we have to thumb through 4 to 5 different books every Sunday just to worship? I am glad it is no longer in the bulletin because that just wasted trees. But could it be narrowed down to 2 books at most? I miss some of the modern quiet contemplative music and it would be nice if it could be added in with the traditional hymns. But none of these is a deal breaker; this is my home. Redeemer has taught me so much and it helps me to go out into the world as a better human being. 

As Christians we are story tellers. We have an ancient narrative, one that describes the beginning of time and the relationship between God and God’s Creation. We see this story grow through the prophetic tradition until our story recounts the life and gifts of the Son of God. Today the story of God’s work in the world continues in each of us as we encounter and are transformed by the Good News. Collectively we, the Church of the Redeemer, carry on in God’s mission to bring God’s transformative love into our time and place. We magnify the Lord!

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.