When you decide to start a church, the Assemblies of God in Washington sends you to three training weekends where you hash out what you are doing and why.  As we sat there dreaming about who we wanted to be, we talked often about being a church that gives and gives and gives.

In one of our conversations we laughed so hard because somebody was helping us out and Jeff said, “We’re going to buy you a Starbucks…not just a cup, a franchise.”  And that became the mantra for who we are. 

We want to be “that” church who rebuilds somebody’s house when it’s falling down or pays off a hospital bill for someone who is in need.  We want to be ridiculously generous and break the old adage that the church just takes your money.

So, needless to say, we’re not at the place as a young church where we can rebuild a house, but that’s not stopping us from our core value.  Our small groups have repainted an apartment, taken food to the homeless, blessed a teenager whose mother died of cancer, given money, time, and resources in so many ways that we cannot begin to list them all…

I’m really proud of the giving spirit that is embraced by North Creek.  We have no problem getting volunteers to help out in church and in ministries outside of our four walls.  We are no where near the dreams that I have for the future of our church, but I know that we’ll get there. 

So, thank you to those of you who do give so much, both financially and with your other resources.  We hope that you are proud of how we distribute your giving to bless this community!

Over the last two years I’ve been asked several dozen times how we got the name Coffee Church – www.coffeechurch.com.  It’s a pretty simple story really, but one that is worth writing down for the history books! 

North Creek Church is really a compilation of things we liked about various churches all over America.  We researched, studied, travelled, and talked to as many people as we could to see what works for them.  Then we picked through all of that to decide who we wanted to be.  In the pile of tidbits we liked was a story that came out of Lee McFarland’s church in Surprise, AZ.  Someone in the media had dubbed them the “Blue Jean Church”, so they picked up the website www.bluejeanchurch.com so that people could find them based off of what they heard on the news.

We actually have a “real” website – www.northcreeklife.com, but even as I typed it I couldn’t remember what it was.  I had to stop and think.  And therein lies the beauty of advertising…if you can remember it, that sure helps.

So, again as our team sat around discussing things, we stumbled upon what I consider is genius.  What represents who we are?  Coffee.  Warm, relaxing, casual, and we’ll give you a boost.  Let’s see if coffeechurch.com is available…and it rolled into something much larger from there.  Themes, advertisements, t-shirts.

Initially I think we were all concerned that we weren’t being “spiritual” enough.  Here’s the irony…the people we want to remember our website probably aren’t “spiritual” at all.  So, it works to tell people who might not consider themselves fans of church that we aren’t taking ourselves too seriously.  God deserves our reverance, but our website sure doesn’t deserve any.  It’s a tool.  How do you best use the tool?  Make it a memorable deal. 

So, North Creek is a name that few remember.  However, try saying Coffee Church and many more people will say, “Yeah, I’ve heard of you.”  And isn’t that half the battle?