Church

I grew up going to a (relatively) small community church around the corner from my house.  And I mean literally around the corner - less than five minutes door to door.  Still somehow despite the church’s close proximity to our house, we would always drive.  I haven’t put much thought into the reason behind our not-so-“green” habit, but my guess is two fold.  One because my dad liked to go to the first service at 8:30 AM and (for me) every minute of sleep is valuable, and two, because that way when one of us inevitably forgot something at home, the trip to retrieve it was much quicker.  Regardless, I’m used to my church community being apart of my living community.  So when I moved away from San Jose (for college and after) and made the choice to continue being apart of a body of believers, finding one close to “home” was near the top of my wish list.  And being the provider that He is, the Lord has given me my wish at every stop.  Seattle is no exception.

Before relocating up north a few people recommended I visit Bethany Community Church.  So when my first Sunday in town rolled around and a Google maps search of “Christian community churches” said BCC was (the closest at) .4 miles away, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot.  I’d like to admit that whether for old time sake or out of habit or because I was lazy (or maybe all of the above), I drove the .4 miles that first Sunday.  However, I’m happy to report it’s only happened once since then and that was due to torrential downpour :)  Anyway, one visit is all it took.  I signed up for community group Bible study that day and decided Bethany was going to be my Seattle church.  (Not a common occurrence for someone as indecisive as I am).  The senior pastor, Richard Dahlstrom is an incredibly intellectual, somewhat eccentric, faithful leader, who has experienced enough life to connect with generations older than myself while still being culturally relevant in relating to college students.  His messages are filled with meaty, applicable truth that provoke thought and create conversation. 

We just finished a series called Genesis & Science.  Initially I thought it was going to be a study on creation theories, which was a topic I really enjoyed in college.  However I quickly learned his approach was a more macro perspective, not looking at how the world came to be but why.  Asking questions like what is the function of creation?  Where do we as human beings fit into it?  How do material things play a roll in our purpose or function on earth?  I highly recommend checking out the week we studied how creation is Gloriously Functional.  Or you can start from week one.  We’ve since moved on to an advent series, but Pastor Richard’s unique approach to Genesis 1:1 was a fresh take on the oldest story in The Book and has provided substantive, thought provoking perspectives as well as opportunity for daily application that begins on the short walk home.