Downtown Cornerstone, 

Last year was another emotional, relational, and spiritual roller-coaster: ongoing Covid challenges, mask mandates dropped, we received construction permits after an 18-month wait, we continued our capital campaign amidst inflation and pandemic-induced giving challenges, we wrapped-up 81 sermons in Romans, we welcomed 55 new members and celebrated 11 baptisms, Roe v. Wade was overturned, we moved back to one (very) full gathering, we brought Pastor Luke on staff to oversee Families & Care, we began a midweek bible study, and announced the process of shifting to elder-led congregationalism. Woah.

Yet, through it all, the joy of the Lord was our strength (Neh. 8:10). He was faithful (Dt. 32:4). He was our refuge and ever-present help (Ps. 46:1). He has not promised a life without trials and troubles, but he has promised to be with us amidst them and to use them for our ultimate good (Is. 43:2f; Rom. 8:28; Dt. 8:16). Friends, we can expect no less in this new year.

Therefore, in light of all that 2022 was, we thought it would be helpful to create a digital annual report to recount tangible displays of Jesus’ mercy among us and to remember what the Lord has done (Dt. 7:18; Ps. 77:11; Ps. 105:5).

Of course, as I often point out, the final fruit of our prayers and labors is not entirely quantifiable. The most important fruit of God’s work is often unmeasurable. After all, who can measure increased joy in the Lord, or how many persevered through trials, or how many said “no” to a multitude of destructive temptations, or how many hearts were re-captured by the love of God, or how many re-structured their calendar and finances to place God first, or how many saw obedience turn from duty to delight, or how many seeds of the gospel were sown that will bear fruit in our city for generations to come in ways we’d never imagine.

God is at work among us in ways seen and, more often, unseen.

Yet, other fruit is more easily seen and measured. Fruit that is seen is no less spiritual nor miraculous, so it’s fitting to give glory to God for it (1 Cor. 10:31). Some of this fruit-that-can-be-seen is recounted here for our encouragement and God’s praise:

Evidences of Grace
Preaching
Making Disciples
Being a Faithful Presence
Readying Our Future Gospel Outpost
Taking the Gospel to the Nations
2023: Looking Forward
Evidences of Changed Lives
Partner with Us

So, at the start of this new year let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2). He is an inexhaustible fountain of life (Ps. 36:9). He is a God of glory, grace, and truth (Jn. 1:14). In him, and in him alone, do our hearts find the rest (Jn. 10:10; Ps. 16:11). May he keep us on fire for his supremacy in all things in the year to come (Col. 1:16-17). Let’s lean on who he is and all that he is for us (1 Cor. 3:21-22). God’s promises are true and they cannot fail (Titus 1:2). He is worthy of our days and dollars (Rev. 5:12).

What a privilege we have in being part of the greatest cause on earth, together, in our beloved city. His story is still unfolding and we’re a part of it. Together, let’s ask Him to do what only He can in 2023 (Eph. 3:20-21).

Christ is all, 
Pastor Adam

EvidencEs of GraCe

MILESTONES

We celebrated our eleventh birthday as a church!

Salvations

We witnessed many friends put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We also rejoiced in 11 stories of God’s grace through baptism!

PREACHING

We began the year with our annual New Year Essentials series. We completed our study in Romans and also studied Daniel and 2 Peter. For our topical series, we were in Sightings of Jesus and The Living Word. We concluded the year with our Advent series, Unto Us A Child Is Born.

Leadership

We continued our quarterly Leadership Lab for ministry leads in our body. We installed two new deacons, with many more in development.

Membership

We welcomed 55 new members! We (sadly) said goodbye to 66 members, the majority of whom moved.

Discipleship

Over 250 people attended one or more of Foundations and midweek classes this last year. We also launched our Midweek Bible Study in the fall, with over 80 participants.

Additionally, over 220 people attended training events we hosted on topics including missions and mercy, as well as our Men’s Training Day and Women’s Discipleship Day.

Communities

Over 350 people participated in a Cornerstone Community to eat together, pray together, study the Bible together, and share life together.

Regathering

We moved to one gathering in the summer which allowed our body to worship together at the same time, and grow in our relationships with one another coming out of the Covid season. We also got together for our 11th annual summer picnic!

MISSIONS & Church Planting

We invested over $260,000 this year in supporting church-planting efforts around the globe. This includes supporting two DCC members serving in SE Asia, 13 west coast church planters, and church planting efforts in Tokyo, Turkey, Ecuador, Albania, and Brazil (where we helped fund and train nearly 30 church plants/planters through Restore Brazil and the Planter Project).

FamilieS & Biblical Care

We fully restarted our Cornerstone Kids & Youth ministry and rebuilt our team of volunteers who serve to extend the oldest good news to the youngest hearts among us.

We made further progress in biblical care for those facing difficulties, through training, pastoral care, and peer counseling and support.

Mercy

We continued to strive to be a salty, bright, faithful presence in Seattle. Over 150 people participated in our mercy service events this year, including Serve the City, Blood Donation Drive, and Belltown Portal Park cleanup.

FINANCES

By God’s grace, we met and exceeded our $2.3M budgeted goal for our DCC Giving Fund in our 2021-2022 fiscal year. This allowed us to meet all of our obligations and start our 2022-2023 fiscal year on a solid foundation. Additionally, because of strong end-of-year giving, we were able to set aside another $150,000 dollars towards the renovation of our new building!

* These numbers don’t include the countless coffees shared, counseling times, and discipleship moments had over the past year.

Preaching

GOD IS GLORIFIED WHEN THE DEPTH OF HIS RICHES, WISDOM, AND KNOWLEDGE, IN JESUS, IS Heralded FROM HIS WORD—LEADING TO NEW HEARTS, RENEWED MINDS, AND FAITH-FILLED LIVES.

New Year Essentials

As part of our annual New Year Essentials series, we considered important themes that we must repeatedly return to for the glory of God and the transformation of our lives.

Romans

We concluded our multi-year study in Romans (which began in the fall of 2019) by considering the practical implications of Jesus’ gospel in the every day lives of his people.

Daniel

Through much of the spring and summer, we studied the Old Testament book of Daniel. In it, Daniel reassures God’s people that, despite appearances to the contrary, God is in control and faithfully at work.

Sightings Of Jesus

Sightings of Jesus was our parallel sermon series during spring and summer, in which we looked at the seven signs in the Gospel of John. Each of the signs communicate different facets of Jesus’ glory, and John shares them with us so that we may believe and have life in his name.

2 Peter

In the fall, we were in the New Testament letter, 2 Peter. In it, the Apostle Peter exhorts us to grow in grace, to keep Jesus and God’s word at the center of our lives, and reminds us how we start the Christian life matters, but how we end matters most.

The Living Word

The Living Word was our parallel sermon series in the fall, based on Hebrews 4:12, in which God’s Word is described as “living and active.” To demonstrate this, we asked five pastors and leaders to share a passage the Lord has been using in their lives to convict, comfort and/or challenge them.

Unto Us a Child Is Born

In our Advent sermon series, Unto Us A Child is Born, we immersed ourselves in Isaiah 9:1-7. This beloved passage is a prophecy of a coming King who will establish a kingdom of ever-increasing peace and justice, joy and righteousness. We looked at each of Jesus’ titles in “Wonderful Counselor-Mighty God-Everlasting Father-Prince of Peace.”

We also hosted our annual workshops on biblical exposition in partnership with Charles Simeon Trust to train and grow faithful biblical preachers and expositors across churches in our region.

Making Disciples

The heart of Jesus’ commission to his church is to make disciples. The term disciple refers to being a student, a follower, or a learner. Being a disciple of Jesus is the lifelong process of learning to trust and become more like Him in every sphere of life—and help others do the same.

Amidst what was a year of recalibrating and renewing our shared life as a church, we took a number of significant steps toward strengthening our discipleship rhythms post-Covid:

• We continued to grow our Sunday serving teams as a way to tangibly love another, and to welcome and support those new with us.

• We further grew our Cornerstone Kids & Youth teams as a way to keep partnering with parents to joyfully teach, show, and model who Jesus is to the children.

• We continued to host Newcomers’ Coffee and Foundations class as a relational on-ramp for those new with us.

• We continued offering midweek classes for the winter and spring quarters.

• We launched our Midweek Bible Study in the fall, led by DCC pastor-elders.

• We continued to train and equip our body via mercy meetups and focus groups to serve God’s vulnerable image-bearers around us.

• We continued engaging topics of ethnic harmony as a church—aiming to think biblically, grow in Christlikeness, and build up one another.

• We advanced our ability to care well for those hurting from abuse by having our leadership participate in training to respond to physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

• We resumed our Men’s Training Day and Women’s Discipleship Day as an intentional time for training and spiritual growth.

On Ethnic Harmony: A Theological Position Paper

The elders of DCC, along with a cohort of members, prepared this paper as a discipleship tool to aid our ongoing conversations on ethnic harmony and related issues, and to strengthen our “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Read more here.

Bookstore: 2022 Top 5 Books Sold

1. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Mark Vrogrop

2. The Secular Creed, Rebecca McLaughlin

3. ESV Study Bible

4. The Valley of Vision, Arthur Bennett

5. Confronting Christianity, Rebecca McLaughlin

Sunday Gatherings: 2022 Top 5 Songs & Hymns

1. How Great Thou Art

2. Steadfast

3. Praise The Lord Ye Heavens

4. O Great God

5. Death Was Arrested

Being A Faithful presence

Declaring the good news of Jesus and being a display of that good news to our city.

A permanent home in the heart of our city is another step towards fulfilling our vision of becoming a faithful gospel presence for, Lord willing, generations to come.

Since our earliest days as a church, we prayed for an opportunity to purchase a permanent home, in the heart of our city. A place in which we could worship God, proclaim the gospel, make disciples, train leaders, build meaningful relationships, plant churches, and love our city to life.

By God’s grace, in December 2020, the Lord made that a reality and opened up the door for us to purchase a new home on the corner of 1st Ave and Broad St, in the heart of Belltown! Additionally, this past year, we were able to raise another $1.5M towards our Onward campaign, and we are praising and thanking the Lord for his ongoing faithfulness to us!

Although it took us eighteen months to get a permit from the city, this past year we were able to sign a contract with a General Contractor, begin ordering supplies and equipment, and set a date to begin construction in the spring of 2023. Lord-willing, we’d be able to worship in our new home in the winter of 2024. As we work towards starting construction, we continue to trust our Father’s good timing and provision.

God has given his people, the church, the mission of making and maturing disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). Disciples are made through the preaching of the gospel (Rom. 10:14-15) and are brought to maturity by engaging in the life of the church (Eph. 4:11-16).

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