Covid Pandemic begins and shifts the way Renew Spokane does business moving foward. 

Summation of Mission to the Cities – Spokane grant

Why did Spokane/UCC receive this grant:

(1) Pastors & members, (2) ministries and outreaches, and (3) UCC departments – each in their own armor – move with alignment and collaboration “to laser cut through the steel of the city.”  This should result in a “church planting movement**.”  

What also caught the attention of the General Conference Mission to the Cities team (alluded to in #2 above) was also the creative ministries coming out of Spokane like the major initiative of Total Health Spokane – that will receive a substantial sum each year from the grant. Other creative ministries that have grown from the fruitful ground of Spokane and UCC is God’s Closet, His Travelers, STEAM Ahead @ Discovery Junction, the “Get Connected” Disaster Response booklet and others outreaches like Dinner with the Doctor and the Journeys.

Creative, stand-alone ministries and outreaches alone would not have merited the grant – especially in a metro area of only one-half million.  Rather unique and creative ministries, as well as pastors and members and conference departments in alignment and collaborating with the goal of a “church planting movement” comprise the combination that secured the grant.

Renew Spokane named and tagline adopeted.

Renew Spokane - Restoring Hope, Healing, Community

A paid position of Communications Coordinator was filled with Damen Therkildsen. Damen maintains the Renew Spokane website, social media, and works with the local churches on their digintal presence needs. 

Renew Spokane website and social media presence established. 

Leaders of VBS in the Park, a spin-off ministry from STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) Ahead @ Discovery Junction from Spokane Central Church, were happily surprised last summer when many refugee children showed up for the evening program. Each evening Pastor Gerald Haeger visited with a newly-arrived-to-the-US Congolese father of three of the children attending. The last evening the father surprised Pastor Gerald with these words, “Your seventh-day Sabbath is correct! My wife is a Seventh-day Adventist. We should study together.”

In December the family attended Central Church for the first time. And Gerald began Bible studies with the Congolese father. 

Also a Burmese young boy from a refugee family attends SS each week (God’s Closet contact). For years Gerald has studied with the father who is also married to an SDA. In fact, April of 2019 a Burmese SDA pastor from the East Coast planned to fly out to visit with this man – in a phone conversation the East Coast Adventist Burmese pastor discovered this man is a pastor of a different denomination. No wonder he is cautious about changing denominations. Then COVID hit and the trip was cancelled. But this story is God’s story and His timing. His son still attends Sabbath School every Sabbath morning.

Last summer three health coach clients came to the commencement program for four Total Health Spokane volunteers who were completing 12 months of service.  One of the clients took the microphone and told the whole church, “I don’t believe in God, but I believe in goodness!” She went on to praise what the health coaching had done for her and her health. 

Another client asked the pastor for the date of the grand opening of the North View Church so she could come back and support the church. These clients demonstrate the first steps in the purpose of health evangelism – to building friendships with people in our own community. Relationships? Is this not a key goal if we are to touch and change lives?

3. For eight weeks during the summer months His Travelers, UCC’s young adult Children’s Ministries team, supported children’s programing. One emphasis, quality advertising, brought the greatest numbers of children ever!  All four week-long STEAM Ahead programs (two LegoRobotics, an art class, and a cooking class) were filled!

Last Summer three Syrian children attended all of the summer STEAM Ahead programming. The mission field has come to Spokane!  (Note: this is the family referenced in text from Gayle Haeger at the beginning of this report).

Without volunteers of all ages ministries struggle to exist – and retirees are pure gold! “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” 

Over a 10-day period the volunteers of Renew Spokane met with over 300 people to hear their perspectives and listen to the needs of the community. Most people were drawn in by the Shine 104 booth, the local radio station that plays uplifting and encouraging music for the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene metro area each day. This gave the Renew Spokane volunteers a doorway into the lives of the community after they visited with the crew at Shine. Read more here: https://www.renewspokane.org/fair-surveys

On October 24 the Better Living Center and North View Church partnered with dentists and other volunteers to provide a free dental clinic that served 29 clients. “It would be hard to find a more grateful, open group of people,” reports Pastor Joe Reeves. Many of the patients in the post-care station responded to prayer with tears and gratitude, lingering long, and asking spiritual questions. 

In the bitter cold of December on location at the Better Living Center which houses a large food pantry, Linwood Church members twice a week manned a Christmas gift table totaling gifts valued in the thousands of dollars. This was no ordinary gift table, but one where parents could choose gifts for their children, selecting from pre-wrapped gifts, or parents could wrap the gifts with paper and bows supplied.  And recognizing the importance of dignity for the parents, the gift cards will be signed by the parents or guardian.