My Church: Redmond UMC

In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren tells us why we exist—to worship God every waking and sleeping minute of our lives. It's so simple a concept, yet so hard to practice.

That's why my church is so important in my life. It is the one restful, quiet, cool place I can sit and say "God, I'm here for You. I worship You, Lord," and not feel tron by the distractions.

It didn't use to be so … spiritual. When others were hung up about the diminishing return on church investments, or whether we should serve coffee over the new carpets, or whether songs needed books with notes instead of just words, or whether we use designated funds only for building maintenance, I found myself stressing out. Losing patience.

Our Sanctuary, built in 1986-87, is a local Redmond landmark. It is widely used for a variety of community and civic activities and is a popular place for weddings. The older portion of our building dates to the 1920s. RUMC was founded in 1896 by a Methodist Episcopal circuit rider.

"Let's not worry about the building or the appointments," I used to say. "Let God take care of those things and let us do His work in the world. Why are we even IN a building anyway? The people are outside waiting for our Word. Jesus never preached in a building. Let's build a bonfire on the lawn and pray for people in passing cars."

When no one listened, I looked for another church. I visited the nearby mega-church—gorgeous pageantry and nearly Carnegie Hall quality performances. But I didn't feel Christ there with me (don't get me wrong, He may well have been there for others, just not for me).

I visited other denominations. I'm a Methodist by upbringing and never felt confortable in their churches. I worried that I might not kneel at the right time, or the words to the unison prayers might be different than what I memorized, or … or …

Again, don't get me wrong. Those other denomoniations exist becuase they provide the richness of diversity for other people and they have a purpose in God's mighty kingdom. But they weren't "for me."

Finally, I wandered back to my church, prepared to justify my not having attended for the previous four months, prepared to need to ask forgiveness. How wrong I was.

They accepted me back with open arms. "It's good to see you. How are you feeling. We missed you." They included me in dialogs begun after I left. Those issues still hung there … but unattended as the humanity of my return took precedence.

And now, I could ignore the issues. They don't matter. It's the people who do. This church is my home. These are my family. God's circle is complete, at least for me.

I can sit in the worship service and listen to the sermon without stumbling when the message doesn't quite fit … becuase it isn't the message that drives me to church anymore. When it's a good message, that's just icing on the cake God gives me. When it's not something I want to hear, God is still there, waiting—patiently—for me to worship Him.

So, Redmond United Methodist Church in Redmond, Washington, is where I worship. Terri and I have attended for … gee, 17 years. My children grew up in this church. At RUMC, the community of believers helps keep me centered on the love of Christ.

Last year's Sunday School Christmas pageant shows our church at its ministry.

Our new RUMC stained glass windows (behind the angels at right) are gifts from the wonderful wife of a spiritually-rich long-time member. Bill told Rose for ten years, as we experimented with all manner of window dressings, that he wanted to see stained glass behind the alter. Rose stewarded their resources when Bill passed away, and put his dream into action. She convened the committee which picked the artist and approved the design. She is one of my dearest friends—always has something kind or encouraging to say.

We're the only church remaining in the downtown Redmond area, on the drain flats of the Sammamish River at the north end of Lake Sammamish. In the sixties and early seventies, the others followed their membership populations up Education Hill to the north and their former plats are commercialized. In the meantime, we have opportunity to serve 15,000 new families moving into multi-residence dwellings nearby–few of them native to Redmond (or even the United States).