A Letter from our Lead Pastor
Downtown Cornerstone,
2020 was a year we will not soon forget. It was a year defined by a global pandemic, stay-at-home orders, new social norms of masks and distancing, inability to gather as a church, record unemployment, ongoing racial tensions, a turbulent presidential election, a historic double-impeachment, and hazardous wildfire smoke.
Yet, through it all, the Lord continued to abound in his steadfast love and faithfulness (Ps. 86:15).
So, amidst all that 2020 was—and what 2021 may be—we thought it would be helpful to create a digital annual report to recount tangible displays of Jesus’ mercy among us. Amidst the tumult of 2020, it is important to remember what the Lord has done (Dt. 7:18; Ps. 77:11; Ps. 105:5).
Of course, as I often point out, the final fruit of our prayers and labors is not entirely quantifiable. The most important fruit of God’s working through DCC is unmeasurable.
After all, who can measure increased joy in the Lord, or how many persevered through trials, or how many said “no” to a multitude of destructive temptations, or how many hearts were re-captured by the love of God, or how many re-structured their calendar and finances to place God first, or how many saw obedience turn from duty to delight, or how many seeds of the gospel were sown that will bear fruit in our city for generations to come in ways we’d never imagine.
God is at work among us in ways seen and, more often, unseen.
Yet, other fruit is more easily seen and measured. Fruit that is seen is no less spiritual nor miraculous, so it’s fitting to give glory to God for it (1 Cor. 10:31). Some of this fruit-that-can-be-seen is recounted herein for our encouragement and God’s praise:
A Year At A Glance
Evidences of Grace
We Bought a Building!
2021: Looking Forward
Evidences of Changed Lives
Partner with Us
Finances
God is our refuge and strength (Ps. 46:1). He is an inexhaustible fountain of life (Ps. 36:9). He is a God of glory, grace, and truth (Jn. 1:14). In him, and in him alone, do our hearts find the rest and meaning they long for (Jn. 10:10; Ps. 16:11). May he keep us on fire for his supremacy in all things in the year to come (Col. 1:16-17). Let’s lean on who he is and all that he is for us, in Jesus (1 Cor. 3:21-22). His promises are true and they cannot fail (Titus 1:2). He alone is worthy of our days and dollars (Rev. 5:12). What a privilege we have in being part of the greatest cause on earth, together, in our beloved city. Together, let’s continue to ask Him to do what only He can in 2021.
Christ is all,
Pastor Adam
Year at a glance
* These numbers don’t include the countless coffees shared, counseling calls made, and discipleship moments had over the past year.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Evidences of Grace
MILESTONES
We celebrated our ninth birthday as a church. And, we bought a building!
Salvations
We witnessed many friends put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We also rejoiced in 10 stories of God’s grace through baptism!
PREACHING
We began the year with our annual New Year Essentials sermon series, continued our study in Romans, and launched our Walking With God series in the Psalms.
Leadership
We installed one elder and one deacon, with many more in development. We hired three new staff members. We also transitioned two deacons who faithfully served for years.
Membership
We welcomed 70 new members! We (sadly) said goodbye to 40 members, the majority of whom moved out of state.
Discipleship
Over 350 people attended one or more of 21 midweek classes this last year. We also established the first round of our yearly class calendar.
Additionally, over 1,000 people attended a training event we hosted on topics including politics, racial reconciliation, missions, women’s discipleship, mercy, and biblical care.
Communities
Over 430 people participated in a Cornerstone Community. Our communities continued to meet while abiding by Covid health guidelines.
MISSIONS & Church Planting
We invested nearly $300,000 this year in supporting church-planting efforts around the globe. This includes supporting two DCC member households serving in Chad and (soon to be) SE Asia, 13 west coast church planters up, church planting efforts in Tokyo, Turkey, and Brazil (where we fund and train nearly 30 church plants/planters through Restore Brazil and the Planter Project).
Covid Response
We navigated various Covid-19 gathering restrictions and health guidelines. By God’s grace, we did not experience an outbreak.
We livestreamed 44 Sunday gatherings and transitioned for the pandemic season to hybrid gatherings (both in-person and livestream).
We moved most of our meetings and classes to virtual platforms—including four-member meetings, four prayer nights, six newcomers’ connects, 95 class sessions, five training events, and numerous pastoral sessions.
FINANCES
By God’s grace, we met and exceeded our $2.5M budgeted goal for our general fund in our 2019-2020 fiscal year. Because of that, we were able to set aside another one million dollars towards the purchase of our new building!
A new Outpost for god’s unfolding story
Onward
By God’s grace and kindness, and after years of praying, we bought a building in Belltown! A permanent home in the heart of our city is another step towards fulfilling our vision of becoming a faithful gospel presence for, Lord willing, generations to come.
We created the Onward campaign as a tool to share more about the building and how you can participate to see it renovated as our future gospel outpost.
“For it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
2021: Looking Forward
As we kick off the new year, our mission and focus remain the same. We want to see as many people as possible meet Jesus and experience life as it was intended to be, in Him. By God’s grace, there are a handful of God-fueled goals and focuses we are praying for this next year:
Celebrate our 10 year anniversary as a church! (April 4th, 2021)
Plan 52 excellent, edifying, worship-filled, and missional Sunday gatherings.
Continue to navigate ever-changing Covid complexities, while seeking to re-launch key ministries.
Complete fundraising for our Onward campaign and begin remodeling our new building.
Continue to cultivate a culture of relational evangelism.
Grow our culture of discipleship, where every member is growing and helping others grow.
Multiply Cornerstone Communities throughout the city.
Further develop our global missions pipeline in order to reach the unreached.
Love our city to life through tangible, sacrificial, and mercy-filled service.
Continue to develop leaders, including elders, deacons, staff, and ministry leads.
DCC, let’s continue to pray, that in 2021, our lives would be marked by a sincere and pure devotion to Jesus and that more people would get to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8).
“Since coming to Christ at DCC, my life has changed so much. All of my past worries have gotten so small, and Jesus has gotten so big.”
“Knowing that we could bring family members to DCC and that they would hear the gospel was such a source of joy for us.”
“This church will always have a special place in my heart as the church where my sister started following Jesus!”
“The people at DCC took [us] two new transplants who had never experienced true church membership as adults and embraced them.”
“From being baptized to getting married to serving on staff, our DCC family will always hold a special place in our hearts.”
Partner With Us
It is our prayer that all who consider DCC their home church would be relationally connected, intentionally growing, meaningfully serving, faithfully giving, missionally engaged, willingly accountable, and known by a pastor.
“We exist to know Jesus, and to make Him known, for the glory of God and the joy of all people.”
FinancES
Our fiscal year runs from July through June. Click the link below to view our latest year-to-date financial update.
To learn more about ways you can give towards the forward progress of the gospel in Seattle, visit our Giving page.