Did you hear the news?! We’re moving! Starting March 25th our Fremont Expression will swap out The Troll as a neighbor for lions and bears at Woodland Park Zoo at 4900 Dayton Ave. N. (Emmanuel Bible Church). We are excited about how God may magnify and multiply the gospel through us even more in this next season with a space that is more accessible during the week and hospitable on Sundays (read: enjoy greeting one another and guests with coffee in hand, Hallows-only children space, opportunities for growing in relationships with possible post-gathering basketball or volleyball games…).
We are also moving up our Sunday gatherings an hour to 4 p.m. starting March 25th to better accommodate college campus dinner hall hours, children’s dinner and bedtimes, and everyone’s ability to share a dinner table after worship gatherings at local businesses if they want to without being rushed. So, make a note to join us at 4 p.m. starting on March 25th and to invite friends to join you on Sundays—after all, ultimately the place where we gather matters less than the relationships we invest in believing that lives flourish in gospel-saturated relationships.
This is also a great time to begin a rhythm of serving on select Sundays each month if you are not already doing so (we would like to add new members to our set-up, sound and slides, hospitality and kids ministry teams—note that each expression would love to add additional members to these teams). Just email info@hallowschurch.org for more info on serving.
For more background info on the decision to move our Fremont gathering location and ways to be praying, continue reading below.
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Background on our decision to move Fremont Sunday gatherings to Emmanuel Bible Church (4900 Dayton Ave. N. Seattle 98103):
Six years ago we began the process of planting The Hallows Church in the Fremont neighborhood of our beautiful city of Seattle. Throughout our short history, God has granted us a remarkable opportunity to see lives flourish in gospel-saturated relationships all across Seattle. He has multiplied our faith family into three gathering expressions and numerous Missional Communities. All the while, we have prayed for God to provide what He deems necessary for us to magnify and to multiply the gospel through Seattle to the ends of the earth most effectively. We discerned early on that one such need was for a centralized hub to catalyze our church’s multiplication efforts.
Fremont Baptist Church has been a wonderful host, but our access to the building remains limited to Sunday evenings, with rare exceptions for special occasions such as a Family Gathering or a Good Friday Gathering. Over time, we believe this arrangement may restrict our Fremont Expression’s growth and ministry impact. A little over three years ago, we formed a Property Search Team (PST) to assist us in the search for a physical space to call our own. Together, our elder board and PST decided on the following criteria for our search: 1) a centralized and accessible location in or near the Fremont neighborhood, 2) a useful facility that could provide options for Sunday service times as well as administrative and strategic disciple-making initiatives during the week, and 3) an affordable facility that would not prohibit us from practicing our value of Sacrificial Generosity.
Recently Pastor Bob Zurinsky and the congregation of Emmanuel Bible Church has invited us to move in and lease 8,500 sf of their 50,000 sf, three story facility located at 503 N. 50th St. (our Sunday gatherings would occur on the 4900 Dayton Ave. N. side of the building). Our square footage would include: exclusive weekly use of Administrative and Kids’ ministry spaces, exclusive use of the gym for our worship gatherings on Sundays—which provides flexibility for service times, as well as permanent and convenient storage for our worship gathering supplies. Moreover, we would be able to post permanent signage and practice a more robust hospitality ministry on Sundays (i.e. coffee, treats, etc.). An industrial kitchen is located next to the gym and would service our quarterly dinner parties well. Other non-exclusive spaces such as the sanctuary and Port and Anchor café area may be reserved for our usage during the week at no extra charge. However, such spaces would need to be scheduled in concert with Emmanuel Bible Church and other building tenants such as the Kapka Cooperative School.
Furthermore, the Union Gospel Mission operates a seasonal emergency men’s shelter out of a portion of EBC. The shelter runs from November 1 through April 30 and serves as a transitional step for approximately 25 homeless men taking serious strides towards a stable and self-sufficient future. The men enter the facility at 7 pm each evening and leave the facility by 7 am each morning. The UGM has hired staff on site overseeing the shelter’s ministry, which includes daily drug and alcohol testing for each occupant. We would have the opportunity to partner with the shelter in providing food and other services in care of our homeless neighbors.
Granted as exciting as this move is for our church, it does also solicit some unique challenges and adjustments. For one, we will be gathering in a gym rather than in a sanctuary, which is quite different for our Fremont Expression. Although we would still set up and tear down each week, our team’s assessment is that the process would be somewhat simpler due to the convenient location of the storage room and for the first several months we will be sharing the set up and tear down process with a fellow church (Mosaic Community Church) using the space in the mornings until their permanent facility is move-in ready.
Ways to be praying and participating in the move:
1) Pray that a spirit of unity and peace will saturate our faith family during our transition.
2) Pray that our faith will grow as we stride together towards our new location.
3) Over the years, we have asked God to provide whatever He deems necessary for us to magnify and to multiply the gospel through Seattle to the ends of the earth most effectively. Pray that we would quickly realize all the ways moving into EBC is an answer to that prayer.
4) Pray for the joy of the Lord to be our strength as we work hard to transition well.
5) Pray for renewed energy, excitement, and vision for our ministry staff and all our ministry teams.
6) Pray for God to provide the necessary gifts, skills, talents, and creativity from amongst us to make the best use of this new space for His glory.
7) Pray how you personally might be able to help the transition and the next season of our Fremont expression’s ministerial life to be marked with joy, humble community and teamwork and reaching our neighbors with the hope of the gospel through gospel-saturated relationships.
To get involved with one of the teams we are hoping to add new members to in our Fremont Expression (set up, sound and slides, hospitality and kids ministry) simply email info@hallowschurch.org today!