© 2012 ALL SOULS CHURCH OF SEATTLE / INFO@ALLSOULSSEATTLE.ORG
Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
C. S. LEWIS
All Souls is a community working together to feed the hungry, restore relationships, celebrate the arts and above all to worship Jesus in spirit and in truth, preaching the cross of Christ in Seattle and beyond.
We have a vision to see the gospel transform both individuals and the city.
Why Seattle? Not because it’s whole, but because it lacks wholeness. All, here, is not as it should be... not as it was meant to be.
Our mission, then, is born out of the reality that Seattle, like everywhere else, needs the gospel. It’s filled with people just like us who cannot make themselves whole on their own, cannot perfect themselves on their own, but can only experience healing, meaning, and hope through Jesus.
Seattle doesn’t need more religion, it needs the gospel. It doesn’t need more performance-based approval, it needs more grace-driven embrace. Which means it needs more churches we can bring our friends and neighbors to.
As a community of Christ's followers, we’re seeking to live out the reality of this gospel in the places we live, work, and play. And over time we expect to see three things happen:
+ People will be changed by Christ.
+ Neighborhoods will be renewed by Christ.
+ A city will be transformed by Christ, and, through it, the world.
To follow Jesus is to be placed in the middle of something much bigger than our own stories, ideas, and adventures; to be part of the story of the ages—the one all others point to: the story of God come to earth to have victory over death and restore true, lasting life.
It’s the story of Jesus and his longed-for return, when everything will be made right and eternally new. It’s what gives our stories their significance, what out-hopes our greatest hope, what out-dreams our greatest dream.
So as part of this story we gather to worship and we scatter to serve. That is, we are intentionally seeking ways to love and serve Seattle––the welfare of the city we call home. Why? Because we aren't as interested in building a better church as we are in building a better city... a city being made whole.
Jesus hasn’t come to improve us. He came to make us new.
HOW CAN I KNOW GOD? / AN AFFILIATE OF GRACE SEATTLE
