500 years ago today, a German monk proclaimed the Church was not acting as it should and with pen, paper, a nail and a hammer - set off a ripple which would soon turn the tides of how people interact with their faith in Christ. Luther's famous 95 Theses outlined his disgust with the Church to sell "indulgences", which were offered as ways to get family members and loved ones out of purgatory (of which he pointed out, is not even mentioned in scripture). His action, in some

For the past four years Light Up the City has been privileged to host Q Commons Seattle, we are now passing that privilege on to our friends in Bellevue- with Marketplace Church in Bellevue. Join us Thursday, October 26, 2017, from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, as we gather at Resonance at Soma Towers to learn and consider how to advance good in Bellevue. What is Q? Q is a two hour live event that will educate Christians on how they can bring hope and leadership to their communities i

Federal Way is a city of about 96 thousand souls in South King County- who are very passionate about their city. On October 1st, congregations in Federal Way came together to serve their city with the 5th annual We Love Our City. When the group in Federal Way started this endeavor five years ago, they took a practical approach, asking people in the city, “How can we serve you?”. This year the serve day expanded from those initial steps to engage: parks were cleaned up, scho

In May of 2017, the interns of Serve Seattle, an urban ministry internship program for young adults associated with Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, gathered with local volunteers and community resource partners to host the first Bridge event under the I-5 Bridge, at the cross streets of 6th and Columbia. Jenna Dubas, a second year intern with Serve Seattle and co-director of the Bridge, explains, "When it comes down to it, the idea of the Kingdom of God is so important in my

Gathering as the Church in West Seattle When you are an unknown, tiny church plant with very few resources, you wonder how you can ever make an impact in your big (and growing) city community. That was the reality when we began New City several years ago. Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, I received an invitation from David Fairchild, the lead pastor of Trinity West Seattle, to participate in a joint Thanksgiving prayer service. I gladly accepted. At the joint service,

We had a great final Quarterly for 2017 with the topic on Homelessness. Paul La Rose from Seattle's Union Gospel Mission emphasized that homelessness is not a resource issue, but a relational issue. We heard from a panel of guests, their different backgrounds of engagement with homelessness in their neighborhoods; and we had a time of prayer and reflection let by Maggie Breen of Seattle University. This was our final Quarterly which centered on the six issues we prayed over t