Join Us in Extending the Oldest Good News to the Youngest Hearts

Discipleship, Kids | by Pastor Luke Davis

Downtown Cornerstone,

Hey there! Whenever this message greets you, I am praying that your soul is finding nourishment in the promises of God, proclaimed by the angel Gabriel to Daniel. God stakes His name on finishing transgression, ending sin, atoning for iniquity, and bringing everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24). Count on it!

In just over a month's time, I will have the honor of stepping into a staff role as the Pastor of Families, Students, and Biblical Care. My delight in this new role is mighty and I am feeling humbled at the prospect of shepherding God's people in this new and expanded capacity. Pray for me.

I am sending out a note now in order to add my voice to the call for help in Cornerstone Kids.

As Pastor Adam shared this past Sunday, CKids is the ministry bearing the most weight in our move to one gathering. So, would you join us in helping our church love our kids by extending the oldest good news to the youngest hearts? The space is there, a gospel-rich curriculum is ready, and the kids are wanting to engage. Now we just need your help:

• We recently had to pause offering the K-1st grade class due to insufficient volunteers. We just need 6 more volunteers at the moment to open K-1st back up. But why stop there? The more volunteers we have the sooner we can re-launch classes for infants and older elementary children. Can you give one Sunday morning a month to help?
• To make CKids happen, we need a mix of volunteers who are and are not parents of CKids-aged children. Currently, just over a third of all CKids households have at least one parent volunteering. If we were to double that amount to two-thirds, we would have 14 new volunteers. Parents, ask yourselves, "How can I participate in the good news my kids are receiving?"
• Serving in CKids requires a bit of a process—this is a good thing! As the most impressionable and least powerful people in the church, it is only right that we institute special measures for adults working with children. Therefore, we want all CKids volunteers to be known and require them to have been present at DCC for 6 months. Additionally, there is special training on child abuse which is required of all incoming volunteers.
• Given the "known" requirement, many newcomers to DCC first plug into a service opportunity that is more readily available, like Greeting, for instance. That's terrific! However, now that many of you service-minded folk have been here longer than 6 months, consider moving over to CKids. My own service journey at DCC is similar. When we first arrived, I jumped into building clean-up. After several months I perceived the need in CKids and joyfully stepped into it. If you are thinking about a move out of a service role into CKids, please email first.
• Are you itching to help but so new that you have not yet been here 6 months? Go ahead and complete an application. You can get yourself ready now by completing the necessary steps in order to be available then.
• I have had more than one person say, "I want to help, but I'm nervous about not knowing what to do." Great news! That's OK. We are careful to pair novice volunteers with experienced leaders in CKids so you get the benefit of a competent partner right there with you.

Come on, click here now to start the volunteer application process or learn more about the role. Our kids need multiple Christian adults in their lives who have tasted the love of Jesus and want to extend that love to them.

All the best,
Pastor Luke

The Unexpected Exponential Impact of Our Evangelism

Discipleship, Uncategorized | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Downtown Cornerstone,

Our friends up north at Canyon Hills Church put this short video together, of which I am a part, to highlight the unexpected exponential impact of our simple evangelism. It reminds us that God is able to do above and beyond all that we ask, think, or imagine through his everyday, ordinary people (Eph. 3:20).

Over 40 years ago, Glenn was sharing the gospel on an Arizona college campus and led Brian to the Lord as a freshman. Brian went on to join Campus Crusade, and later Bridges (a ministry reaching international university students for Christ), through which he has shared the gospel with hundreds of students over 30 years.

Nearly 25 years ago, Brian was sharing the gospel on the UW campus and, of all places, the Greek system. We met and he led me to the Lord while at the Husky Union Building. Shortly after, I too sensed a call into vocational ministry and giving my life to spreading the gospel in Seattle—and beyond.

This clip is a rare and profound glimpse into three generations of gospel movement. We all have stories like this. What is yours? For those of you who’ve come to Christ with DCC, this is part of your gospel lineage as well. Isn’t that amazing?

I hope this encourages you this summer as you consider who God is inviting you to reach with the unbelievable news of Jesus. What might he do though us in the next three months? Let’s pray!

Christ is all,
Pastor Adam

A Final Push to Finish Onward!

Onward Building Campaign | by Pastor David Parker

Downtown Cornerstone,

It was great to gather with you all this past Sunday! My heart was so encouraged by our time together singing, sitting under the preached word, and responding to the Lord’s initiating work. I can’t wait to do it again this Sunday!

During our gathering, I took a few minutes to give a quick financial update (more details here), and share some exciting news about our new building and our Onward campaign! If you didn’t get a chance to catch that update, you can watch it below.

A Final Push to Finish Onward!

By our reports, and since so many of you are new to DCC, over half of our church has not yet had the opportunity to give or pledge towards our new building.

Now that we have a construction permit(!), and before we close out our fiscal year at the end of this month, we want to make a final push to finish our Onward campaign and invite everyone to prayerfully consider pledging toward our future home. We are currently about $450,000 short of our $3.5 million dollar goal.

The more that is pledged or given now, the more we will be able to build out now, and the less we will have to borrow later.

Giving and Pledging

We know that above and beyond financial giving can take careful and prayerful planning, so pledging is a simple way of expressing a future commitment to give to this project over a period of time. Whether that be a one-time, weekly, monthly, or quarterly gift over a year or two, a pledge is a tool that helps us continue planning through each phase of this project wisely.

Pledges can be fulfilled in the future by either directly donating cash or other securities to DCC (company stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.).

If you are wondering how you can give or pledge to Onward:

First, you can give directly to the DCC Giving fund. Any giving above and beyond our budgeted need for this fiscal year (ending June 30th) will go towards our new building.

Second, you can go to the Onward page on our website or use the button below to submit a pledge. Again, every dollar pledged to be given in the future, will be one less dollar we need to borrow.

Would you consider partnering with us for the sake of the gospel in Seattle and to help see us get into our new home?

Submit a Pledge

Clearly, we don’t want this final push to be a substitute for your regular, ongoing giving to the general DCC Giving fund (so we can make sure we’re able to pay our staff and monthly bills), but we do know that many of us have opportunities throughout the year (through extra income, company stock vestments, and the like) to give above and beyond.

A Brief Project Narrative

If you are new to our church, in 2010 we planted Downtown Cornerstone Church as a Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, Gospel-centered church in the heart of downtown Seattle. Since then, we have prayed for an opportunity to purchase a permanent building that would serve as a gospel outpost and a beacon of hope in our city for generations to come. 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, it is becoming a reality! On December 14th, 2020, we purchased a roughly 24,000 square foot building in the heart of Belltown, just a handful of blocks from where we currently meet. This building was built in 1946 and served as a labor union hall for decades. However, due to the age of the building, it's going to require a complete gut and remodel. This includes everything from seismic retrofitting, to sprinklers, new roof, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and more.

Once complete, the building will seat approximately 700 people in the sanctuary, provide classrooms for children and adult education, an office level for staff and counseling, and plenty of spaces for our church to worship Jesus and help make disciples.

When we did our due diligence on the building in February 2020 before purchasing it, the renovation estimates came in at about five to six million dollars. However, because of Covid-19, inflation, and the skyrocketing prices of commodities and construction in Seattle over the last two and a half years, our renovation costs have practically doubled to about ten million dollars.

Over the last decade, and by God’s grace, our church has been able to save enough money to cover the downpayment of the property ($3 million), and to date, set aside and raise an additional $5 million towards needed renovations. Although we’ve come up with a plan for phasing the project and also secured an additional three million dollar construction loan to help fill some of this gap, we are still about two million dollars short. There is enough equity in the property that the bank is willing to lend us more money, but it’s our preference not to borrow any more than we need to. Hence this final push.

By God’s grace, we received our construction permit and are finalizing preconstruction details with the city in preparation to sign a contract with our General Contractor to get going as soon as possible. Lord-willing, our hope is that we’d be able to start construction in August.

If you have yet to see the plans and renderings of the project, you can view them here!

DCC, I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord is going to continue showing up, and can’t wait to worship in our new home together with you all!

For the Gospel in Seattle,
Pastor David

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us at .

We’re Moving To One Gathering Starting June 5th!

News | by Pastor David Parker

Downtown Cornerstone,

As Pastor Adam mentioned yesterday, starting on June 5th, we’ll be moving to one gathering at 10 am for the summer! Spread the word! 

If you missed the announcement, please watch this important short video below for the rationale behind why we are making this change.

While we know this adjustment will require flexibility on everyone’s part, we are really excited to pull everyone together and are praying that the Lord would use it to further strengthen our church into this next season.

We know there will be many questions, so we’ve tried to address the most common ones in the FAQ below, but if there are other questions you have, don’t hesitate to let us know.

For the Gospel in Seattle,
Pastor David

FAQs

Q: Why are we doing this?

See the linked video above for a longer explanation. But, in short, coming out of the pandemic, our church can fit in one (very full) gathering better than two (not very full) gatherings. This will allow us to regroup as a church over the summer, better steward our resources, grow our relationships with one another, worship together at the same time, and enjoy weekly post-gathering connecting.

Q: How long will we be at one gathering?

At this point, we’re planning to have one gathering through the summer, and then reevaluate as we head into the fall.

Q: How will we fit everyone in the building?

Over the last several weeks, we averaged 300-350 people sitting in our auditorium across both gatherings. We can currently fit about 320 people in our auditorium with another 25-30 in the Commons. We can also fit another 75+ folks in our Multi-purpose Room (MPR) who will be able to worship via livefeed. The MPR should give us enough room to accommodate any overflow and/or create space for those looking for a little more room.

Q: Can we still invite others? Will there be room?

Of course! Please invite others, as always! We will make it work. By arriving slightly earlier, your seats will be guaranteed every week. We’ll also have ample overflow seating. It’s true that some may not feel there is room for them if we’re full. But, conversely, others may not feel welcome if the room is empty. At this point, we believe one full room is the healthiest option for us as a church as we head into the summer. This means we’ll need to be on the lookout for, and be welcoming to, those who are new week-to-week. Why not make it your goal to meet someone new each week?

Q: How early should I/we arrive for the gathering?

Generally, we recommend arriving ten to fifteen minutes prior to the gathering. This will allow you time to park, check your children into CKids (if applicable), find a seat, greet others, and prepare your heart for worship. This will also ensure you are able to participate in the whole of the gathering, from the welcome to the commission.

Q: Will there be any changes to parking?

No. We’ll continue to reserve the lots next to the building for families and first-time visitors. Free parking is also available on the street and validation will still be provided for the Bell Harbor Parking Garage (located at 2323 Elliott Avenue). Please bring your ticket with you so we can validate it in the Commons, by the Connect Desk.

Q: Will there be a rotation for those sitting in the MPR (downstairs)?

For now, no. Our first aim will be to fill the sanctuary, followed by the Commons, then the MPR. Seating will generally be available on a first-come-first-served basis. Therefore, those arriving last, will usually be directed downstairs if upstairs seating is full. After all, we don’t want people downstairs if there is still room upstairs.

That said, our hope is to strike a balance over time. If you or your community are open to taking rotations downstairs, we’d welcome that. We also hope to have pastors and leaders present in the MPR each week. While not ideal, it's important that we don’t see MPR as second-class seating. You’ll still be with the church, in the same building, at the same time, with opportunities to connect with others before and after worship.

Q: What’s the difference between a livefeed in the MPR and a livestream at home?

All throughout scripture we see that the church gathers. In fact, the very definition of “the church” isn’t a building, but God’s people gathered in a particular place, coming together to worship our Savior together. We discontinued our livestream last July in order to bring our church together. While we might be scattered in different parts of the building, the distributed livefeed will allow us to worship, all together, under one roof, at the same time. Additionally, we’ll be inviting everyone to stay and join our post-service fellowship.

Q: Are there ways we can help in this transition?

Yes! There are five things you can do right away to help:

1. Pray that the Lord would continue to unify us and grow us in our love for each other.
2. If you’re not serving, please join a serving team. We’ll especially need additional volunteers in Cornerstone Kids, and volunteers in all of our teams to backfill those moving to serve in CKids.
3. Be thinking about who to invite this summer.
4. Be intentional about welcoming those who are new or whom you don’t know.
5. Plan to arrive early and help the ushers and greeters fill every seat by sliding into the middle or end of a row to give room for others.

Q: How will this affect my serving team?

Be on the lookout for an email from your Ministry Lead this week about how this change will impact your serving team's responsibilities and schedule. The biggest impact of this shift will be on our Cornerstone Kids ministry. Our hope is that we’ll have enough CKids volunteers so that we can move to a four-week rotation, and no one is missing more than one gathering a month.

Q: I’m planning to participate in the Foundations class. How will this affect me?

We’ll be moving the start time of our Foundations class to 8:15 am, to ensure it is completed before worship begins.

Q: I typically use the Commons with my toddler who needs a little extra wiggle room, what should I do?

First, in addition to providing Cornerstone Kids and our Nursing Mom’s Room, children will always be welcome in our worship gatherings! Second, if you’re having a harder morning with your child, we’re opening the conference room downstairs as a “wiggle room” that has a TV with the livefeed that you are welcome to utilize as needed.

Q: When will we be able to move into our new building?

We’re continuing to wait for our building permit and a final round of bids so we can move forward. Please continue to pray that the City would issue a building permit soon and that we’d be able to start construction this summer. Once everything is in place to start construction, we expect the initial phase of renovations will take 6-8 months before we can move.