Karen Ward, from Church of the Apostles (COTA) in Seattle, was a treat to get to know.  She is the founding pastor of this amazing, talented, innovative community of faith.  When she founded the church she said she had wanted to create a church where her unchurched friends could go.

    During our conversation it was obvious that Karen has thought deeply about issues of faith and the church.  She said that a lot of us parse Jesus’s words to get them to say what we want to emphasize.  At COTA she wants to create a balanced picture of ecclesial life.  She made us laugh when she said, “Remember, it’s missio Dei, not missio me.”

    She said at COTA they’re not against converting, but conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit.  She emphasized that they don’t stop working with people because we think they can’t be converted.  She said the missio Dei is larger than the church.  Therefore, her church will happily join with folks in the secular community to accomplish goals.

    We talked about the fact that COTA does not own a building and Karen stated forcefully that there is nothing spiritual or unspiritual about owning/not owning a building.  It depends on the context and, here her pragmatic pastor side came out, what makes the most sense.  Because of the cost of leasing in the area where her church exists, it would make be better in the long term for COTA to be able to own their own space

    She said at COTA’s board meetings they begin by asking,  “How are we doing?”  The measure they use is the rule of life from the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with loving God and loving neighbors.  The leaders in her church recognize that they are flawed and broken (typically a requirement for anyone who wants to follow Christ), but it was refreshing to hear her say that the leaders at COTA are aware of their flaws and brokenness. 

    When we asked what COTA does to form disciples, Karen said that they practice their faith in community.  “We get out there and ‘do it,’ then we reflect, and get out there and ‘do it’ some more.”  She said this course of action parallels the disciples’ high points of life on the road with Jesus.  They were in a constant process of acting/reflecting.  Karen leads by example.  She asked, “How would you know I’m the pastor?  I’m the one who takes the garbage out.”