Faith Lutheran Church sits on 18th Avenue NE in Seattle's Meadowbrook neighborhood, a quiet residential stretch of northeast Seattle near Lake City. The congregation's identity is summed up in a single line that runs beneath its name: "As followers of Christ, we learn to love and live to serve." Members are "an intentionally inclusive community," welcoming people of every race, nationality, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, and ability. The same welcome is paired with a land acknowledgment recognizing the church's location on the unceded ancestral home of the Coast Salish peoples.
A Congregation of Word, Sacrament, and Song
Worship at Faith gathers on Sunday mornings at 9:45, both in person and via Zoom. The service follows the ancient liturgies of the western Church, the pattern of Word and Sacrament that Lutherans have preserved for centuries. Scripture readings center on the Gospel texts for each Sunday of the Church Year, and the liturgy shifts with the seasons, giving shape to Advent, Lent, Easter, and the long Sundays after Pentecost.
Faith is, in its own description, "a great singing congregation." Voices are joined by a variety of instruments, and a long roster of worship stewards and leaders of all ages serves each week. Every baptism is a community celebration. Communion is offered as a regular part of the Sunday liturgy, and people of all ages, including children, are welcomed at the table to receive either the bread and wine or a blessing.
Children are not separated from this rhythm. The church encourages families to worship together, and soft toys, coloring bags, and children's bulletins are available at the back of the Sanctuary for those who need them. A Cry Room at the rear of the Sanctuary gives parents a quiet option when younger children need a break.
Pastor Shannyn Fuerst and a Shared Story of Grief
The pastor of Faith Lutheran is the Rev. Shannyn Fuerst, who came to the congregation in 2016. She grew up in the Midwest with two older brothers and an identical twin sister, earned a BA in Elementary Education from Luther College, and completed her MDiv at Luther Seminary with an emphasis in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry. Before her call to Faith she served a congregation in Iowa for six years.
Pastor Shannyn has a particular love for children, youth, and family ministry, and a passion for collaborative leadership. She coaches ministry leaders in holistic health and models self-care and self-compassion for the congregation. An avid backpacker, runner, skier, and weightlifter, she shares her life with two dogs, Lucy and Millie. Her husband, the Rev. Jeremy Fuerst, was also a Lutheran pastor, and during the pandemic the two congregations collaborated in online worship and shared programming. In September 2021, Pastor Jeremy died in a mountain climbing accident. The grief that followed reshaped Faith's shared leadership, deepened the congregation's care for one another, and marked a turning point that taught the community not to run from hard things.
David Buice and a Music Ministry of Singular Range
The Music and Worship Director is David Buice, who has served Faith since October 2017. His training in organ took him from the University of Alabama through Converse College to the University of Oregon, and his harpsichord studies continued at Oregon under John Hamilton. Before relocating to the Pacific Northwest, he was Performing Artist-in-Residence at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta and Harpsichordist-in-Residence at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, and he served as Minister of Music at Church of the New Covenant in Doraville, Georgia.
Buice made his New York City debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art playing the Museum's historic 1830 Appleton pipe organ, and became the first solo harpsichordist presented on the Met's exclusive Patrons Lounge Recital Series. His solo recordings include a harpsichord recital on a concert instrument built for him by Richard Kingston and a lautenwerck recital on an instrument by Anden Houben. At Faith he directs the Music and Arts Ministry, leads weekly choir rehearsals on Wednesday evenings in the Sanctuary, and presents solo keyboard and chamber concerts in the Sanctuary throughout the year. Archived programs include organ concerts, harpsichord recitals, and an organ dedication recital; recent seasons have featured a Lautenwerck Christmas and a harpsichord dedication concert.
Faith Formation: Sunday School, Confirmation, and High School
Faith's faith formation program is built around the worshiping assembly rather than separated from it. Children from age three through fifth grade attend the first part of worship with their families, then follow the children's sermon to a lesson or activity with teachers, and return to the sanctuary in time for communion. The model was reshaped after the pandemic, when leaders recognized that energy levels and attention spans had changed, and chose a rhythm that honors both learning and the time of young families.
Confirmation begins in sixth grade and typically culminates with the affirmation of baptism in ninth grade, though the congregation notes that some youth choose to start later or take more time. The program centers on Lutheran concepts, intentional daily practices, relationships, and what the church calls "hard meaningful questions." High school youth gather around service projects, pizza discussion nights, and fellowship activities, and are invited into every aspect of church life and leadership.
Adults: Bible Study, the LiVE Project, and What's Next
Adults at Faith have several layered options for study. A Wednesday morning Bible Study meets on Zoom at 10:00, and a second weekly Bible Study meets on Tuesday evenings at 7:00, with no registration required. Ruth Circle, a women's Bible study group, gathers on the third Thursday of each month at noon, also on Zoom. Another Bible study group meets twice a month through Faith Lutheran Church Women, the same group that makes quilts and assembles School and Baby Kits for Lutheran World Relief.
Faith is one of the congregations in the Northwest Washington Synod's LiVE Project - "living into vocational engagement" - a free program for Faith members that nurtures Gospel-centered life, companioning conversation, communities of practice, and creative spaces. From the LiVE class "Interrogating Privilege," a group of fifteen members launched an ongoing conversation called What's Next, which now meets on the fourth Monday of each month via Zoom. Book resources include Megan Asaka's "Seattle from the Margins," and the group partners with the LiVE Project and the NW Washington Synod.
Faith in Action: Blood Drives, Winter Shelter, and Ailanga
The congregation's outreach is organized under the umbrella "Faith in Action." Three times a year the church hosts blood drives, and a Donation Station collects items year-round for organizations and shelters around greater Seattle. Each winter, Faith hosts several months of Lake City Partners' Winter Shelter, providing a hot meal and a warm place to sleep for guests without shelter. Benevolence dollars, which the congregation budgets each year, are divided with 30 percent going to the Northwest Washington Synod, 20 percent to the ELCA, and the remaining 50 percent split among five organizations selected by nomination and balloting, with $2,000 reserved for the Social Concerns Committee. Recent benevolence partners include Lake City Partners Ending Homelessness, Compass Center, Elizabeth Gregory House, University Food Bank, Ailanga, and Bridge of Promise.
The Ailanga partnership is the congregation's longest and most personal mission relationship. In the summer of 2004, seventeen students and chaperones traveled to Tanzania at the invitation of the Ailanga Lutheran Junior Seminary. The trip launched a partnership that continues today; teams return to Ailanga every two or three years. The relationship is described in the congregation's own words as the discovery that "we are bound together by the hopes and dreams we have for our children."
Stewardship: Many Doors for Giving
Faith's giving page is built on a single sentence from Martin Luther: "Stewardship is everything we do after saying, I believe." Members can give online through a Vanco giving portal, by check mailed to the church office, through their bank's Bill Pay system, through the Vanco Mobile app, by Venmo to Wallace Powelson at @GiveNow-FaithLutheran, or by transfer of stock through a dedicated Fidelity Investments account. Donations can be directed to the Operating Fund, the Organ Fund, the Faith Family Fund, Winter Shelter, or as a Memorial. The congregation also welcomes Qualified Charitable Distributions from individual retirement accounts.
Visiting Faith Lutheran
Sunday worship begins at 9:45, with fellowship to follow. The service takes place in the Sanctuary and on Zoom, and the bulletin is posted online in advance. People of all ages participate as worship leaders. Children are welcome in worship and at the communion table; soft toys, coloring bags, and children's bulletins are at the back of the Sanctuary, and a Cry Room is available. Weekday offerings include ten-minute morning devotions on Zoom each weekday at 7:00, weekday yoga, Tea Time on Tuesday, Wednesday Bible study and choir rehearsal, the Thursday Ruth Circle, and Friday Coffee Fellowship.
The church office is at 8208 18th Avenue NE in Seattle. In-person office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; the office is closed on Fridays. The Office Manager can be reached at 206.317.4631 or office@faithseattle.org, and the pastor is available at pastor@faithseattle.org. The council president is Linda Mihalov.