eugenecho's blog

By eugenecho on

The Elder Board is pleased to nominate Jeff Roach to the church membership for ratification. Please take some time to review his 'elder board profile,' pray, and discern your vote at the church Annual Meeting on Saturday, January 16.

Please contact the current elder board at elders(at)seattlequest.org if you have any concerns about Jeff Roach's nomination to the EB. Please remember that only members can ratify and affirm someone to the Elder Board.

By eugenecho on

Dear Quest,

It is very rare for our church to send more than one email/week to our church community, but in light of the current situation with the H1N1 (aka Swine Flu) virus, not just globally, but also in Seattle, we wanted to let you know that for the next several weeks (or until the situation settles down), we’ve made some precautionary decisions. Please note that our intent isn’t to propagate fear but rather, practice discerning precaution.  There will be two notable changes to our Sunday worship service:

By eugenecho on

Quest is far from a perfect church. We have our blemishes, warts, and zits. We're bumbling and stumbling our way through the journey of following Christ. But we believe in what God is doing through our church community.

We can't make any promises of fancy gifts, Stumptown Coffee from Q Cafe, 2,000,000 eggs dropping from a helicopter, or ginormous productions... We simply have an invitation.

If you're looking for a place to worship, gather, or thinking of stepping foot into a faith community for the first time in a long time or ever, please stop on by to the following gatherings to help us reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ.

By eugenecho on

Unless you've been living in a cave recently, you know that we're going through a severe economic downturn. Every week, we hear more doom and gloom news about all things economy related. This city and our church community have also been impacted as well. We've seen many in our city affected by foreclosures and many in our church affected by layoffs and financial anxieties. To my estimation, at least 10% of our church have been laid off in the past six months.But in the midst of this, we're still called to maintain our faith in God. In fact, the invitation is actually bolder: Grow our faith in God. While it may be hard to see, there's an immense upside during this economic downturn as well: It gives us at Quest more opportunities to be agents of care and grace to the city, world, and one another.<!--more-->

By eugenecho on

Quest has had the privilege of helping facilitate a new churchplant in the Kent, Washington area.  But it's likely that these folks have never even heard of the word 'churchplant' and the numerous technical words that pastors like myself like to throw around.  And to be honest, these folks probably don't care.

But they do care about one another, family, community, justice, their children, their people, and of course, they care about their faith in Christ.

Over a year ago, a group of friends including Rich and Teresa from Quest helped start a church community for refugees from Burma including the Karen and Chin people.  The group has since grown to over 100 people the last time I heard including tons of young children. I've had the privilege of visiting and preaching there and I've been immensely encouraged by this community - even though I know there are numerous hardships and struggles.  I was even greeted by a man who recognized me from my visit to Burma several years ago.  I'm glad to report that this community has moved to another location that better accomodates their growing community.  The last time I visited them, the kids were meeting in the janitor's room.

This isn't an official Quest plant but we are supporting them through our Quest Churchplanting Foundation.  Years ago,I would  have wanted this to have our 'label' but it's been liberating to let those things go.  God's at work there and we want to just be a part of it.

By eugenecho on

As you know, Quest Church canceled our church services in light of the current snow storm [aka Snowpocalypse].  This is the first time in the 17 years of ministry that I've cancelled a Sunday gathering so this is awkward but the other elders and pastors believed this was the wisest decision for all involved.  

By eugenecho on

WHAT IS GIVING SUNDAY? A special offering conducted over two Sundays each year [around the anniversary of Quest] where we invite each person in the Quest community to give beyond their normal giving to further the church's mission.

WHEN? Giving Sundays will take place this year on November 9 and 16.

By eugenecho on

I first met Shane about six years ago when we spoke at a conference together in Seattle.  All the speakers gathered at Q CAFE for some coffee and chat.  He's since grown to be an immensely important and prophetic voice to the church and beyond.  One reason why is because there's substance to his lifestyle and choices underlying the talk.  Agree or disagree or somewhere in between, it's challenging, refreshing, and thought/heart provoking.

By eugenecho on

Please genuinely pray for the people of Burma/Myanmar due to the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.  I had the opportunity to trek to Burma a little less than two years ago to see some of the human rights issue and it was life changing.  Meeting these men and women have deeply informed how I attempt to support and pray for this distant country.

As Christians pray, this is one of those situations where we must join the global community to bring resources and aid.  Please help spread the word for both prayer and aid. The situation is far worse that what people imagined it would be when they initially heard about the cyclone.  And I suspect that it is actually even worse than what we are now speculating.  Good news is that the military government has expressed invitation for international aid and support.