Becoming a Movement, Not Just a Location: A Vision for All Saints

Yesterday (August 9), we gathered in our former sanctuary—a space newly revitalized by the Wim W'Him dance company—to reflect on where All Saints has been and where the Spirit is leading us next.

Summary and Key Takeaways: 

The cultural landscape around us has shifted dramatically. Pew Research Center studies show that adult Americans identifying as Christian dropped from 78% in 2007 to 62% today, while adults under 30 are virtually split between those who identify as Christian (45%) and those with no religious affiliation at all (44%). Rather than forcing outdated models onto a changing culture or retreating in fear, we are called to ask: What is God doing now?

The Rhizome: A Root System of Faith In the Book of Acts – 

The church wasn't driven by top-down institutional control; it was driven by the Holy Spirit moving through ordinary believers across homes, neighborhoods, and cities. Instead of picturing a tree with a single visible trunk, think of a rhizome—a root system spreading sideways beneath the surface, popping up vibrant new growth in unexpected places.

All Saints is evolving into a hybrid movement where Jesus is the center—not a building, a Sunday morning schedule, or a single leader. Whether we gather around a table, in a pub, through service teams embedded in the city, or online across time zones, faith is meant to be lived out wherever we land.

Where Do You Fit In? We aren't handing down a rigid, pre-packaged blueprint. We are inviting you to help shape this shared journey. All Saints will always be a refuge for those who believe, doubt, and seek—a place where your hardest questions are welcomed.

What's the Spirit inviting you into? 

1. Listen, watch, and revisit the message by checking out our full recording on YouTube (embedded above) or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
2. Engage with the Questionnaire, here or on the handout you received on Sunday. It's also available in the All Saints App under the "Listen In" tab. Process the six movements on your own time. Sit with it and reflect. 
3. When you're ready, submit your response to participate in whichever way that you feel compelled. Let us know if you'd like to host a small meet-up, serve in your community, or participate in some other way that's less obvious. Fill out our Response Card to let us know how you'd like to be part of this. (available below as well)

Transcripts from the recording (if you prefer to read):

00:18 - 02:46 | Opening Remarks & Recent Growth

• All right. There you go. Getting ready to get started here, so thanks for being with us.
• Thank you for being here in the summertime. Most of my family's here, which is typical, and great guests and OGs. It's just awesome. What I want to do today is really simple: talk about where this thing is going and where it's headed.
• First, I want to give you some updates on how our digital presence has grown. I want to thank Brittani so much for all that she does to help us look good because I can only do so much.
• Our digital presence has exploded this year: YouTube views are up 1,000%, Instagram reach increased by 879%, and we've nearly doubled our Instagram followers along with a 75% increase in podcast listeners.
• Our "Believe, Doubt, Seek" message is our biggest driver. It proves that people are genuinely hungry for a space where they can wrestle honestly with faith. I have handouts for everyone here, and if you're listening live, you can get the handout on our app and website. I want this to be a journal for you to participate in.

02:46 - 05:03 | Movement 1: Our Landscape

• I've put this into six movements. Movement 1 I'm calling "Our Landscape." Let me start with a question: What are we actually doing? We are in our former building—it's beautiful, and Wim W'him has given us free gratis to meet here. It's been quite a change over the past three years going purely virtual.
• The other question is, why are we doing it this way? All of us in here have worshipped together, prayed, taken communion, and sat with each other through seasons of doubt. We've tried, imperfectly but honestly, to make room for people who weren't sure if church was for them. Nothing I say today is meant to erase that or serve as a gimmick.
• But the ground underneath us—as a culture, a nation, and in the world—has shifted. If we don't talk about that honestly, we'll end up building on sand without knowing it.
• Recent research from Pew Research Center shows that American adults identifying as Christian dropped to 62%, down from 78% in 2007. In less than two decades, that's a 16-point drop. Meanwhile, 29% identify as atheist, agnostic, or "nothing in particular." Among adults under 30, 45% identify as Christian, while 44% claim no religious affiliation at all. They are nearly tied. That is a different religious landscape than the one most of us grew up in.

05:03 - 07:10 | Attendance Shifts & Cultural Challenges

• Attendance tells a similar story: only about a third of American adults say they attend a religious service even once a month. Even back when we met every week traditionally, the average person wasn't here every Sunday. Twice a month was a strong showing; once a month was closer to the truth for many.
• That doesn't mean faith faded—more often, life became more complicated as people transitioned from young adults to married couples, parents, and grandparents. Schedules, sports, and relationships shifted how people belong to things.
• There is also a harder piece: for many younger folks, evangelical Christianity has become tangled up with partisan power and Christian Nationalism—the belief that America has a special covenant with God, that real Americans are Christians, and that political power should be used to protect Christian identity. When that takes hold, the Kingdom of God gets confused with the face of a nation. Winning looks like faithfulness, and those who disagree look like enemies. I don't recognize that as the way of Jesus.
• PRRI 2024 research found 10% of Americans hold to Christian Nationalism outright, with another 20% sympathetic to it. Sharing these stats isn't a call to "rise up"—it's to acknowledge reality.

07:10 - 08:59 | Hope in Ancient Traditions & The Hinge Point

• Weekly worship doesn't inherently produce Christian Nationalism, but we can't pretend this happens only outside our walls. Many people haven't rejected Jesus; they've rejected what they watched done in his name, and I understand why.
• What gives me hope is that some younger adults are drawn to ancient liturgy, sacraments, and the mystery of older traditions—Catholic, Lutheran, or high-church experiences. They are hungry for real roots and encounters with God that don't feel manufactured or produced.
• We are at a hinge point in a country whose relationship with faith has changed. The question isn't whether to notice it, but what to do about it. Accepting it passively or forcing old methods on people are both cop-outs.

08:59 - 11:34 | Movement 2: The Rhizome & The Early Church

• Movement 2 centers on my research over the past eight years, which keeps pulling me back to the Book of Acts and how the early church actually moved. We tend to read Acts as an institution getting bigger and more organized, but what actually drove the story was the Holy Spirit.
• The Spirit moved through ordinary people across boundaries, homes, and cities that leaders in Jerusalem couldn't plan or control. It just happened.
• The word I keep coming back to is rhizome or rhizomatic. Think of a tree: it grows from a visible trunk top-down and out through visible branches. Now picture a root system spreading sideways beneath the surface—sending up new growth in unpredictable places (like mushrooms or grass). It retains coherence and one life, but doesn't depend on a single visible center controlling it.
• That image reshapes how we read Acts. The church started in Jerusalem, but persecution scattered everyone. What looked like disaster became the opening of something brand new.

11:34 - 15:31 | Movements Over Locations

• In Acts 8, ordinary believers—not the apostles—spread the message wherever they landed. In Acts 10, the Spirit fell on Cornelius (a Gentile/agnostic God-fearer) before leaders in Jerusalem worked out the theology. God moved first; the church had to catch up.
• When All Saints started, "Believe, Doubt, Seek" was our new approach. Over time, we fell into traditional church settings. But real movement happens when regular people take risks, open homes, share meals, and include unexpected people—just like Peter staying at the house of Cornelius.
• All Saints can become a movement rather than just a location. If Jesus is the center, the building isn't the center, Sunday morning isn't the center, and I am not the center. Leaders equip people; they don't do the following of Jesus for them.
• The church can gather in a sanctuary, around a table, on a screen, in a pub, or while serving a block. Life was never meant to be confined to one address. Gathering is necessary, but faithfulness isn't measured by occupying the same room at the same hour every week.

15:31 - 16:28 | Movement 3: Center

• Movement 3 is "Center." What won't change: All Saints will keep being a place for the curious, the burned out, the exhausted, and the pushed aside—a community for all who believe, doubt, and seek.
• Jesus promised that those who seek will find and those who knock will have the door opened. It doesn't happen overnight, so we let the Spirit work.

16:28 - 18:00 | Movement 4: Shape & Service Teams

• Movement 4 is "Shape." What changes is the shape of our shared life together. Imagine small groups functioning as service teams embedded with agencies around the city—places of real pastoral care where people know what's going on in each other's lives.
• Once a month, we gather as a wider body for teaching, breaking bread, and sharing. We hold onto core practices: scripture, prayer, meals, generosity, hospitality, communion, justice, and mission. No single group has to do all of that in every meeting, but those practices should shape how we live.

18:00 - 19:33 | Hybrid Community & National Reach

• In a transient city like Seattle, friendships stretch across commutes and time zones. A community tied strictly to a building loses people whenever their zip code changes.
• A hybrid model lets people stay rooted wherever they move. People across the country and internationally (UK, Europe) already participate via our podcast and virtual community. We can equip them with discussion guides and prayer practices to gather two or three people wherever they are.

19:33 - 23:33 | Movement 5: Participation

• Movement 5 is "Participation." Participating starts with listening to the podcast, downloading the app, or attending monthly gatherings. But true participation moves us deeper into relationships, practicing the way of Jesus, and serving others.
• Options include hosting a monthly meal, leading a service partnership, facilitating pub discussions, creating teaching materials, caring for kids, mentoring young adults, or organizing prayer relays.
• Belonging doesn't require a formal membership form or financial obligation. People belong by stepping into a shared journey toward Christlikeness with room for belief, doubt, and seeking.

23:33 - 25:08 | Movement 6: Invitation

• Movement 6 is "Invitation." I'm not presenting a finished blueprint for approval; I'm inviting you to build something that belongs to all of us. Sue and Brittany have been hugely helpful in this process.
• One person's vision is just one person's vision, but a rhizome has no single center—it just grows.

25:08 - 28:30 | Re-imagining Church & Biblical Promises

• We must find new ways to gather. The traditional Protestant model (building, weekly service, professional pastor up front) has served for centuries, but it isn't the only faithful form, and it isn't reaching large parts of our culture anymore.
• Isaiah 43 says God is doing a new thing; Revelation promises God is making all things new. "New" doesn't mean discarding history—it means letting new life grow out of ancient promises centered on Jesus.

28:30 - 30:29 | Final Call to Action & Conclusion

• My ask of you: Pray about where the Spirit is at work in and around you. Stay connected through teaching, prayer, communion, and gatherings. Offer whatever gifts or burdens you have without waiting for an official title.
• In three years, I don't want our headline to be a larger audience; I want to hear about people finding their way back to faith, strangers becoming friends, improved neighborhoods, and young leaders discovering their gifts.
• Acts is the story of ordinary people filled with the Spirit becoming a source of hope in a divided world.

30:29 - 31:30 | Closing Prayer

• "Jesus, thank you so much for who you are, what you do, how you heal and connect people. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness, grace, and mercy. Thank you for community and friends. Lord, I ask that you have your way and be the rhizome that we can follow. In Jesus' name, Amen."