Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

Worshiping God, living in community, reaching out to the world.

Tag: growth

  • New Episcopal community grants approved

    New Episcopal community grants approved

    Grant funding for 31 projects supporting the birth and growth of new ministries was approved by the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council during its October meeting. The grants total $442,166.
     
    Rooted in Resolutions A045 and A046 from the 81st General Convention, New Episcopal Community grants reflect investments in leaders and communities who are reimagining how the church lives and proclaims the Gospel in new settings, including in diverse cultural and linguistic contexts. Read summaries of all the grant projects.

    Administered by the Advisory Group on Church Planting and Revitalization, the grants accompany ministries from early discernment through long-term sustainability.

    “We give thanks for the creativity, courage, and faithfulness shown in every application,” writes the advisory group in its recommendation to the Executive Council. “These communities reflect the church’s growing diversity and its call to share the Gospel in new ways. These grants invest in leaders building vibrant, contextual expressions of Episcopal faith for the future.”

    New Episcopal community grants awarded

    New Episcopal community grants were awarded for discernment, seed, growth, harvest.

    Discernment grants

    These grants—for up to $5,000—fund early exploration and testing of new ministry ideas.

    • Comunidad de la Gracia, Episcopal Church in Idaho: $5,000
    • New Campus Ministry Collaboration, Episcopal Diocese of Long Island: $5,000
    • Sacred Paths, Episcopal Diocese of California: $5,000
    • St. Thomas’ Dinka Worshiping Community, Episcopal Diocese of Iowa: $5,000

    Seed grants

    These grants—for up to $30,000—help fund the initial stages of a new Episcopal community’s launch, typically in its first or second year.

    • Emmaus Twin Cities, Episcopal Church in Minnesota: $20,000
    • Fe en los Vecindarios, Episcopal Diocese of Cuba: $30,000
    • Holy Companion, Episcopal Church in Colorado: $20,000
    • Iglesia San Andrés, Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas: $15,000
    • Iglesia San Pablo, Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas: $15,000
    • St. Lucy’s, Episcopal Diocese of California: $20,000

    Growth grants

    These grants—for up to $30,000—help strengthen leadership and sustainability in the second and third years of a new Episcopal community.

    • All Saints’ Mission, Amsterdam, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe: $17,142
    • Espíritu Santo, Episcopal Diocese of Texas: $17,142
    • Hope & Bread, Episcopal Church in Western Oregon: $17,142
    • Journey Church, Episcopal Diocese of Missouri: $17,142
    • SpiritBound Faith, Episcopal Church of New Hampshire: $17,142
    • St. Brigid’s Episcopal Church, Oceanside, Episcopal Diocese gof San Diego: $17,142
    • Trinity-Trinidad Episcopal Church, Haverhill, Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts: $17,142
    • The Well, Bowie, Episcopal Diocese of Washington: $17,142

    Harvest grants

    These grants—for up to $40,000—help support mature communities toward stability and partnership in years three to six.

    • West Central Abbey, Episcopal Diocese of Spokane: $10,000
    • Faith Christian Church of India, Episcopal Diocese of Missouri: $15,000
    • Good Courage Farm, Episcopal Church in Minnesota: $10,000
    • Hālau Wa’a Episcopal, Honolulu, Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii: $15,000
    • Mother of the Savior Church, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan: $15,000
    • Saint Nino’s, Tbilisi, Georgia, Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe: $15,000
    • St. Cornelius Episcopal Church, Episcopal Diocese of Texas: $10,000
    • St. Nicholas Hill Country Episcopal Church, Episcopal Diocese of West Texas: $10,000
    • St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Episcopal Diocese of Texas: $10,000
    • St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Episcopal Diocese of Albany: $15,000
    • Sudanese Grace Episcopal Church, Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes: $15,000
    • The Church at Crossroads, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan: $15,000
    • The Table Episcopal Church, Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis: $10,000

    [From the Office of Public Affairs.]

    Church of the Redeemer logo

    Church of the Redeemer

    Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. 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. We are 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.

  • The Rector’s Study: Decline or opportunity?

    The Rector’s Study: Decline or opportunity?

    A church in decline or the opportunity of space?

    On Covenant, a part of The Living Church, there is an article on numeric decline in the Episcopal Church. Even saying the word decline is somewhat fraught these days. Some people will point out that the church does not have to be big to matter. Or, will trot out the old Mark Twain quote about statistics and lies.

    Mark Twain, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

    The author of the article, David Goodhew, is quick to acknowledge that numbers only tell part of the story. However, he says, “If we believe Christian faith is good news, we should be seeking its proliferation, and be worried when it shrinks. Ignoring uncomfortable numbers does no good. Indeed, it only means the problems will have increased by the time we face the true state of affairs” (Facing Episcopal Church decline – Covenant).

    Some of the numbers that the author quotes appear breathtaking in their severity. The statistics are broken down. The numbers of baptisms and marriages are particularly startling. Baptisms in 2015 compared with 1980 have dropped by half. Marriages in that same epoch have dropped from almost 39,000 to under 10,000. Taken along with the other membership data that Goodhew reports, it would not be hard to conclude that the Episcopal church will be consigned to the dustbin of history in a few decades.

    Empty pews at Redeemer

    Goodhew is also at pains to draw our attention to the fact that some of the causes of this are out of our control. Demographics do not favor the church — in a church that is predominately white, the low birthrate does us no favors. Nor has the decade of conflict and schism been a factor that makes the church particularly attractive — though these trends predate the latest unpleasantness over human sexuality. The rising secularism in American society is also noted — though we in the Pacific Northwest are much more accustomed to this trend than other parts of the country.

    It is, Goodhew infers, the church’s response to these realities that has done the most damage. We tend to move slowly to change and adapt, a natural outgrowth of our traditionalist mindset as a denomination. Being a church that sits in the middle of things — both Catholic and Reformed — we are slow to make too many course corrections. This habit served us well for hundreds of years, but now, it might cause us to disappear, in theory.

    Though it is easy to read Goodhew’s article and jump to the doom and gloom scenarios for our denomination, it’s important to center ourselves, even in this, in the resurrection. Each church is an outpost of God’s Kingdom in the world. We are heralds of Good News that God is doing something in the world. We are not responsible for the growth or shrinking of the church, local or national. We are responsible for heralding the Good News of God in Christ by living our lives in accordance with the Baptismal Covenant and engaging in the ministry of reconciling the world to God through loving relationship with God and our neighbor. I believe that continuing this work, hard though it may be when we hear statistics that seem ruinous, constitutes the best, the only way to “grow” the church: to plant and water seeds of the Good News that will grow with God’s grace. After all, we have the room now to grow.

    Fr. Jed Fox with a cup of coffee.

    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. We welcome you be with us as we walk the way of Jesus.

    Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. We are 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.

Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026. Services at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. Gethsemane Watch Vigil from about 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Good Friday, April 3, 2026: Services at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm.

Holy Saturday worship at 9:30 am.

The Great Vigil of Easter, Saturday, April 4, 2025. Service at 8:00 pm. This is the night....

The 2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A), April 12, 2026. Services at 8:00 am (no music) and 10:30 (music). Education classes resume next week.

Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
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