904 Washington St SE, Olympia, WA 98501
State of the Church – Part 1
The COVID + Years: 2020 to 2023
It’s hard for me to believe but it has been 5 years since you all called me and entrusted me to be the Senior Pastor, here at Olympia First Baptist. In conversation with the Executive Leadership Team at our last meeting, we thought the timing was right for me to attempt to present to you all, for lack of a better word or phrase, a “State of the Church” address. From my perspective, what I want to share is to review what God has been up to these last five years as God continues to bless us, challenge us, surprise us, and even grow us into that sustainable, unknown future that God has been preparing us for. There is much ground to cover these past 5 years, so I think it wise to do this in 3-parts! This will be installment #1 and I will do my best to be brief, but still informative and transparent.
2020
I officially began my call as Sr. Pastor on March 1st, 2020. On March 15th, we were in lockdown mode due to the global pandemic of Covid-19. For the next 2-years, our focus was on finding ways for us to stay connected as a faith community despite the limitations that were placed on us and that we supported, in order to keep one another as safe and healthy as possible during a really difficult time. Technology became our friend during this time and we embraced and expanded our capabilities to connect with each other thru that technology. Those Covid years, forced us, but also helped us, become more flexible, adaptable, creative, and imaginative, not only in that present time-frame but as we started to think, dream and wonder, more and more, about the future.
Post-Covid, late 2022 into 2023
I like to think of as the Year of Exploration. It seemed pretty obvious to most of us that things were never going to be quite the same again. The world around us had changed too much during the pandemic. Going back to business as usual did not seem realistic or practical. So, what now? During this time frame, we focused our attention on questions like, “Who are we?” “What focus do we want our ministry to take-on?” “What are our values; the things that make us unique?” “What do we want people to experience when they come to Oly First?” “Where do we see God at work, around us and within us?” You know…easy questions, with easy answers.
We held a summer series of Fireside Room Chats to discuss, ponder, share and wrestle with those and similar questions. Additionally, we sought guidance and insight from the Rev. Sam Kim, who is one of our Associate Executive Ministers at our Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches.
Out of this process we:
Rededicated ourselves to being a downtown, neighborhood church, with an emphasis on engaging our surrounding community more intentionally.
We prioritized – Hospitality, Relational Connection, and Spiritual Nurture, as our most commonly held values as a congregation.
Continued to flesh out and be prayerful about Purpose – Vision—Values – Goals; as well as tapping into the concept of “Currency of Place.” The discussions about place led to putting together plans for utilizing our outside space, which became the Front Porch project.
This year also placed an emphasis on looking at existing ministries and what kind of new opportunities for ministry there might be for us. And who knew that refugee resettlement through World Relief, would became a reality for us?
2023
On top of all of the above, post-Covid, 2023, was also a time of deep, deep loss. We gathered too many times to grieve and say goodbye to those who we loved and who had graduated into God’s eternal and loving presence. We ended the year with a Blue Christmas worship service to acknowledge the lament of loss during a time of anticipation and celebration around the birth of the Christ child.
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I think it best to stop there. Next month, I will pick up our story, with an overview of 2024, what I like to call the “Year of Transitions!” I think it is important that we take a look at where we are in relationship with where we were. I hope, we as a leadership team hope, that you will see how good God has been and that that goodness and faithfulness from God is ever present now as we lay a new foundation alongside the good foundation of our storied history and past, as we forge a new chapter toward a new future, here on the corner of 9th and Washington.
Blessings and Joy!
Humble over Hype!
State of the Church – Part 2
The Year(s) of Transitions: 2024-25
2024
(unofficially) Phase One: Year of Transitions
We began by starting the process of rewriting, repurposing and changing the way we make decisions as well as our governance model. The task of rewriting our church By-Laws and Constitution fell onto the wide and steady shoulders of Mike Cooper and Jodi Honeysett. They worked tirelessly for 9-months, getting input, questions, etc., thrown at them and handling it all with grace and an openness that cannot be dismissed. All of that work; all of our gathered times for conversation and questions around this move to provide more flexibility and adaptability within our structure, led to the adoption of new By-laws and Constitution at the Annual Meeting!
Even though this year of Phase 1 emphasized transitions in structure and governance, we continued to be opened to God’s Spirit and being surprised by that same Spirit. Community engagement was a priority and emphasis and this led to hosting two block parities for the neighborhood during the summer of ’24. We also saw a continuing and deepening of our new partnership with World Relief and using Emmaus House as transitional housing for incoming families. We also had the privilege of exercising our hospitality gift by hosting World Relief’s Thanksgiving Potluck, where 150 plus folks gathered in our Fellow-ship Hall with a cornucopia of food, laughter, stories, testimonies, and dancing! We also had the privilege of hearing and learning about the ministry of reconciliation for those incarcerated through One Parish-One Prisoner and embracing that ministry as well. We now have a OPOP team of 7 people who are building a relationship with a young woman, who is looking at being released sometime this year. Additionally, we also have seen more and more new faces in worship, with many of those folks very much interested in becoming members and a vital part of the mission and ministry of Olympia First Baptist Church. To top all of that, our biggest joy was witnessing four baptisms this past Easter.
God is good – all the time – God is good!
2025
We are now, just on the other side of the first quarter of 2025, what I sheepishly called, Phase 2, to the Executive Leadership Team. This year we are still in a process of transition. We have a new structure in place, with a new leadership team and ministry teams that will be taking their maiden voyage together and discover/see if any of it will actually work, cohesively. We think it will but we do anticipate some bumps in the road throughout the year. We will continue to listen to God’s voice and direction as well as opening ourselves up to being surprised by God’s Spirit in the midst of it all. This means, hopefully, being able to pivot when we discern that God is pointing us in a different direction or area of ministry.
One of our unforeseen challenges in 2025 is that our giving is down. Currently we are $25,000
down in our giving. Though no one is excited or happy with that number, we are not in panic mode. We recognize that we have lost some of our incomes are pretty fixed and so we are not necessarily able to give as much as we might have been able to in the past. Plus, we also recognize that our current economy and the uncertainty as to what some of the new economic policies in place and the ramifications of them, has many of us concerned and down-right scared.
When fear and uncertainty get a hold of us, we tend to hold back, just in case what comes next looks more like scarcity than abundance. As church leadership, we get it. We really do. However, we are a people who also have experienced and been on the receiving end of God’s abundance. And because of that, we remain faithful. We give as best we can. And for those of us who are able, we check ourselves and see if we can give more. Whatever your circumstance; wherever you might find yourself in this season, we just ask that you be prayerful, be faithful and give as you feel called, without shame or guilt. God loves you. We here at Olympia First love you too!
Last thing!
This year we are also hosting the Annual Meeting of the Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, October 9, 10 and 11th. As we prepare for that event, it reminds us that we need to be working on making our facility and property a bit more welcoming and accessible for people, whether through our work and ministry of community engagement, and/or hosting our region family in October. That will mean clearing out some of the clutter that has accumulated over the years in most of the rooms.
We are also going to give the second-floor hallway a new paint job that will brighten up that space and make it a bit more, warm and welcoming. We are also putting the final pieces together that will lead to an ADA compliant bathroom downstairs, outside of the Fellowship Hall and Fireside Room. We are turning that bathroom from a Women’s bathroom into a “family” style bathroom that will accommodate those with disabilities and/or family needs. This is part of making our church more accessible to all who come. We are also planning on putting in new bathroom doors in the upstairs bathrooms as well as an ADA complaint toilet in the upstairs women’s bathroom.
We know that improvements to the property is not always views as being ministry-centered. However, if our vision and goal is to be more engaged with our neighborhood and surrounding community, we need to make sure that the space we are welcoming others into, is indeed, warm, bright, welcoming and accessible for all who choose to come and explore life with Christ within our faith community.
Next month – Part 3 – Vision: What does the future hold?