The City Church on 132nd Avenue Northeast started out in 1992 with a core group of 21 people whose first service in Bellevue drew 40 parishioners, according to Jude Fouquier, a church elder.
The growth of the non-denominational evangelical organization has skyrocketed since then, and a congregation of what has turned into a mega-church has reached approximately 6,000 people who attend services not only in Kirkland, but also on the Sammamish Plateau, Seattle's Central District and Belltown neighborhood, as well as near the University of Washington campus, he said.
Headed up by Pastors Wendell Smith and his wife, Gini, The City Church members come from different ethnic backgrounds; they're rich, poor, young and old, male and female, Fouquier said. "And so we believe in diversity because it's a true representation of God's kingdom."
Parishioners also come from Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist and Shintoist backgrounds, he said. "But the thing we have in common ... we all have come to a relationship with Jesus Christ."
That belief is common in Christian churches, but Washington state is often described as one of the least church-going areas of the country. Fouquier thinks that's great because, he said, that means there's "more fish in the sea."
But he credits The City Church's belief in a personal faith in God for drawing new followers. "And we believe that people are searching for that, even in the midst of incredible affluence," Fouquier said. The search, he added, is prompted by "a hunger in their heart and soul for a personal faith."
So why not cut out the middle man if faith is based on a personal relationship with God and Jesus? "It's one thing to sing in your shower," he said. But going to listen to the Boston Pops orchestra with hundreds of others is different, Fouquier said by way of analogy.
"We absolutely believe there's something about doing church together with a community of people, that life should not be lived alone ...," he said.
Americans often speak of individual rights, Fouquier added, "And I think we've lost a sense of community." But City Church is really for the community, the community of believers, he said. "We take care of our members." Beyond that, people in this country often move to different cities and need a sense of family, according to Fouquier.
Jennifer Kraker, another founding member of the church, has another take on the phenomenon. "People in Seattle want their good news," she said of a literal translation of the word gospel. "So I think that's why the church has grown."
Wendell Smith's son, Judah Smith, works with younger church members at the UW location, and he has his own theories about why evangelical groups like The City Church are so popular.
"If you look at what's happening nationwide with young people, I think there's an overwhelming sense of emptiness, an overwhelming sense of wanting something that's more real than what they've had," he said.
What's happened is that the Baby Boom generation has raised children with the instruction to do whatever feels good, according to Smith. That includes the belief that anti-establishment attitudes and free love will solve everything, he said.
"And basically it's left a generation wanting more. Their parents sold them something that just doesn't work anymore," Smith said. What's left, according to him, is a fundamental question of are they creations of God? "And in colleges right now in American ... students are coming back to the Bible, ironically."
The church has reached a critical point right now, but the main theme of sermons at The City Church is not apocalyptic end times, according to Smith.
"We rarely preach apocalyptic messages from the campuses of the The City Church," added Fouquier. Still, he added, the church is prepared apocalyptically.
"For example, this beautiful facility on Rose Hill is a Red Cross shelter," Fouquier said. The church also helped out with victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami, he said.
On the other hand, Fouquier shied away from the question of whether The City Church is political. "We believe it is the responsibility of every citizen who's member of the church, that they should vote," he said.
But parishioners are reminded of biblical principles rather than directed to vote one way or another, Fouquier stressed. The chief duty of City Church members is to pray for those in authority, he added.
Some mega-churches in the Puget Sound region have run afoul of zoning regulations because they're so large, but that's not the case in Kirkland, according to Sean LeRoi, an information specialist with Kirkland's planning department.
"We've met the (zoning) challenge," Fouquier said. "That's why we do simulcasts," he said of weekly in-house-produced television coverage of services at various campuses of the church.
The broadcasts reach an estimated audience of 25,000 people, and Judah Smith's work on the broadcasts has netted him an Emmy nomination, Fouquier said.
Smith said he reaches an audience of 30,000 with podcasts.
Internet connections aside, The City Church is obviously meeting a need, according to Don Argu, president of Northwest University, an Assemblies of God school in Kirkland. "People are interested in having a moral compass in their life," he explained.
Mega-churches such as The City Church are successful, Argu added, because they have reached a critical mass. He also brings up a point about church statistics: The argument that Washington state is one of the least church-growing states in the country is based on findings by the National Council of Churches, which is made up of mainline denominations, Argu noted. "Their numbers have been declining for years."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or (206) 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
