Happy Independence Day!

It’s an important weekend to be thankful for the freedoms and opportunities that we share in the United States of America. Maybe more important now than ever. We have so many blessings and if we were not to recognize them it would be just wrong. We need the hope of knowing that, whether Democrat or Republican, we have a lot of blessings and opportunities that we share together.

Leon Patillo, has written a special song for our service and will share it in a debut performance via video. It’s going to really be inspiring. We worship God first and thank him for all that he has done for us. So many have sacrificed a lot to allow us to be one nation under God. We really care about our nation and pray that we can move toward the very best ideals.

Join us this Sunday in person in our Sanctuary or online via Facebook Live, You Tube or Church Apps. It will be well worth your time. You are welcome to join us for the picnic afterwards it is going to be a blast and you being there is only going to make it better! Take part in the pie baking contest. Table games and good food are becoming a tradition for us lately. It won’t take too long but the making of life-long friendships is really worth it.

Please join us this weekend.

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Michael Fernandez

God Made You Great 

In the story of Gideon, remember he was thrashing wheat through a winepress in a pit where he was hiding from the Midianites. This was so he could save whatever food he had to eat since the Midianites stole everything. This is when an Angel of the Lord appeared to him. Listen to what the angel says. “When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” Judges 6:12 

Imagine what Gideon must have felt. In his society, he was a nobody, a zero. His family was the weakest in his tribe, and he was the least in his family. Gideon is saying, “Hey God, I can’t be used! God, you must have me mistaken for someone else. I am a nobody. Have you ever felt like Gideon? Like you can’t make anything go right?  Maybe you are struggling to provide for your family, or to save your marriage, or struggling to keep your job during COV-ID or even struggling with yourself. Maybe you feel like Gideon, just barely trying to survive.  

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Judges 6:13. After Gideon complained to the Lord about all that Has happened to Israel, in Judges 6:14, “The Lord said,” I will make you strong, Go and save Israel, I am sending you!”   

Like Gideon, God made you Great! God is faithful to help us grow even when we feel like we have no faith at all. Now Gideon responds again like many of us do, doesn’t he? “I know I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.” Judges 6: 17  

Even though an Angel appeared to him, & God spoke to him, he still wants a sign. He is basically saying, “Are you really sure you mean me Lord? When we pray the same prayer over and over. Does God listen to us? Gideon is proof He does. God always meets us where our Faith is. We often listen to God, but do we actually hear Him and understand what He wants from us and then actually obey Him? God created you uniquely and Made You Great to be used in the body of Christ.  

Join us this Sunday at the in-person service at 10:30am or online (via You Tube, Facebook Live or church Apps) as we explore this man Gideon and how God took what he offered and made him great! 

By Pastor Tim White

A Father’s Strength

I don’t know about you, but when I think of Father’s Day, I think of something macho. I know that the definition of macho has diversified a lot since the 1980s when I was a young father. In a lot of our macho activities we find women joining us in and loving them … and why not? They are fun. Furthermore, we men are liberated and now macho means reading, research, scientific experimentation, art, handicrafts, plus sports, outdoor life, mechanics, carpentry, etc. Yes, Father’s Day is more about being a father, than trying to be macho.

But if ever there was a time for us to be Free to be Macho this should be the day. I am preaching on Father Abraham, and I know you will enjoy the message. The day will be a lot of fun with exciting activities. It’s a week to enjoy being a manly man and to remember our fathers. We have been blessed by a group of strong men who make this a safe place to create a sanctuary for everyone. Men like Erskine Austin, David Gerzsenye, and many more.

Won’t you join us this Sunday at 10:30am at the in-person service or online via You Tube, Facebook Live or the Church App. Following the in-person service we will have hotdogs and root beer floats, a time to enjoy and celebrate our fathers.

Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Tim White

Becoming a Chariot of Fire

I love the movie Chariots of Fire. At the very beginning it shows people singing a beloved hymn in church which uses the phrase chariots of fire. It is not the theme song of the movie by Vangelis but rather a well-loved time-honored Christian hymn. The words are something like this.

I rise to worship, I stand to acclaim,
The king of all glory, Christ Jesus his name.
I ask you Lord Jesus, fulfill this desire.
Ignite me and make me a chariot of fire.

I think of all the chariots of fire that have blessed our church. And I am humbled, thrilled, joy filled, and enthused. Because in every church, parachurch, and community service organization there are those that are fully engaged and make things happen. I call them Faith’s All-Star Team.

One such Chariot of Fire was Pastor David Gerzsenye. As many of you know, our good friend Pastor David passed away early on Wednesday morning this week. He was recovering from Covid which he caught while on vacation with his wife Pastor Carol. He was looking forward to flying home after spending most of his time in the hospital there. He was still struggling to breathe and had a moment when he could not breathe and passed out and after riding to the hospital in an ambulance. Upon getting to the hospital, he took a few breaths and just slipped away to heaven.

We remember David as being the Singles Pastor at Washington Cathedral with his dear wife Carol. They reached thousands of people in our community with their positive faith to share. I don’t know how many came through the Divorce Recovery Workshops, but I believe it was up in the thousands.

Pastor David was the Men’s Ministry Director and we had so many inspirational retreats under his leadership. He was the Facilities Director for a while. He had been the Youth Pastor for a while and really had an impact on the young people of our church. And of course, he did hospital visits, counseling appointments, and some preaching. Many people cherish the experiences where David was the cook for church’s barbecues, breakfasts and banquets. He was like an army cook and would tease everyone and laugh with us and it just made the experience heavenly.

David loved his kids and his family. He loved his friends and those for whom he ministered to. He truly was one of the Chariots of Fire that made Washington Cathedral a great caring network. We will always remember him.

Our sermon series this summer is “Faith’s All-Star Team” and we will be studying each week the story of one of the great people in the Bible.

I love summer and the voting on Baseball’s All Stars, but it is even more exciting to think about those people who will make the All-Star Commitment of Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Gideon or Deborah, maybe even Pastor David. I wonder who the next All-Stars are to emerge from our church.

Join us Sunday at 10:30 am either in person or online (Facebook Live, You Tube or the Church Apps) to engage in this great adventure.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Beautiful In It's Time

By Pastor Tim White

Jackie and I had the opportunity to drive over to the Tri Cities to visit our parents for one night this week. I just love driving over the Cascade mountains. The drive is more beautiful than I can appreciate. The different shades of green on the mountains, the giant boulders, the snow that still tops the towering mountains, the blue-green lakes, the sparkling, clean rivers, the views of unexplored valleys and the blue-grey sky, are all just absolutely beautiful. That’s just over Snoqualmie Pass. Stevens Pass, the North Cascade Highway, White Pass, the Gorge, are all just dazzling in their beauty. And God made them all with his incomprehensible creativity. They have come through volcanic explosions, lava flows, avalanches, wind, and rain, for millions of years, to become the beauty we see at this moment.

This week I will be sharing from the Book of Ecclesiastes, trying to understand that God makes all things beautiful, in his time. And that’s true of you. God is in the process of making you more and more beautiful until that day when you will be in heaven and glorified by God’s love.

Don’t be caught up in a wrong view of yourself, your family, your community, your nation, or your whole world. And that’s because the best is yet to come, and God does make all things beautiful.

To make this service even more beautiful and inspirational, we will have a time for baptism as part of the service. What a great time to celebrate what God is doing inside someone’s life. He is bringing new beauty, new character, and bringing forth a better follower of Jesus Christ. If you would like to be baptized this Sunday, please email Pastor Michael at michael.fernandez@wacathedral.org. Bring a change of clothes and a towel, to get baptized in the waterfall. It’s a moment you will never forget.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim

P.S. You can even decide while you are sitting in the worship service whether you would like to get baptized. We will have a few changes of clothing and towels for you, just in case.

You can catch the service online via Facebook Live, You Tube or the church app. 10:30am Sunday the 5th. Either in person or online, we’d love to have you join us!

Every Day is a New Beginning

By Pastor Tim White

This Sunday morning, I will be preaching on this fact – every day is a new beginning!  An understanding of this motivational truth will revolutionize your life.  No, I didn’t think of it. It’s from the Book of Lamentations. Let me teach you how to start your mornings with a great devotional time. The music will be beautiful, and your presence is much appreciated. Take this opportunity to bring this balance to your life as you worship in front of a gorgeous waterfall.

What happens in life if you never personally experience new beginnings in life? Well, you will burn out because God is the God of new beginnings. And we were created, as fallible human beings, to need new beginnings.  Without those new beginnings fatigue makes cowards of us all.

Please join us at 10:30 Sunday in person at the church or online (You Tube, Facebook Live or the church App). You will experience a much-needed new beginning.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Tim White

All Things New

What a historic night the Rockin’ the Dream Banquet will be on Saturday May 21st, 2022.
Rhonda and Ted are driving back from Central Oregon to give us a mini concert.  Man, do we miss Rhonda’s music! She will play a medley of hymns on the piano, as only she can do. How blessed we are to have Rhonda minister to us. Eliot and Chelsea will be there to teach us the theme song for this spring sermon series: “All Things New”.  We will also introduce our new Families Pastor, Mark Nsimbi. He is a talented young pastor who is more than we could ever have dreamed of drawing to this job; and he will introduce his amazing wife Anne and their two daughters.

This year’s Rockin the Dream’s goal is to raise, through special gifts, the money to renew our restrooms. This is a top priority for reaching new people. New people want to see an updated restroom which is safe, looks clean, smells fresh, and looks like the church cares.  We can’t have a great caring network with decaying restrooms.  We are raising money for a new fire alarm system as our old one is due for an upgrade and after 20 years - it is time. We are hoping to put in new fresh flooring throughout the church and maybe a new sound system to make a better worship experience. One person has donated $35,000 towards that new system already. We also raise our lease payment for our sanctuary at this time.

When we give to Rockin’ the Dream, above our normal tithes and offerings, we begin to explore that territory.  It’s the vehicle that many will start giving to at first, but for many of us it is the opportunity to investigate the territory of being blessed so that we can bless. Again, our targets for this year are:
1. Bathrooms
2. Fire Alarm System
3. Flooring
4. New Sound System

Come to Sunday service either on-line (You Tube, Facebook Live or church Apps) or in-person at 10:30am we will have exciting news to share from the banquet. We will have an uplifting sermon, beautiful worship and each other. See you there.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Tim White

All Things New

I don’t know about you, but I just love to start over again. I remember when Jackie and I were raising our first baby Elise. All the change of raising a new baby was exhausting. Everywhere we went we had to carry a carload of stuff just for a tiny, 8lb baby. Mealtime and nights would be the same for a couple of decades. Our clothes were all marked with baby stains which pushed us out of the “cool” category. Bathing our baby exhausted us both. And all of a sudden, we had to figure out how to be Youth Pastors with a baby. It seemed impossible. Every morning Elise would wake up long before we wanted to get up, and we would hear her yell out with humor and enthusiasm “Daddy…Daddy.” She called everything daddy - Jackie, me, motorcycles, balloons and kitty cats. But Jackie nevertheless would poke me in the gut with her elbow and say, “that’s you, daddy.” Elise was just so excited for each new day.

The Bible says, “Therefore anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old is gone, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. This weekend we start a new series of messages on how God can renew our lives, our churches and our nation. And that is God’s plan. So please join us this Sunday at 10:30am in the in-person or online services (Your Tube, Facebook Live or church App) for a message our whole world needs to hear.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Listen to Your Mom

By Pastor Tim White

We have the privilege, on our staff, of serving with a young mother. Chelsea Maitland is an inspirational person. Jackie and I love it so much when she talks about her two amazing toddler boys.  She just beams joy, contentment, and hope when she talks about them. And every story about her babies just brings back so many good memories helping us to remember how much we love our kids.

We will honor mothers this weekend. And yes, God speaks to us through mothers…so listen to your mom.

The first women that arrived at the empty tomb of Jesus ran back to the rest of the disciples telling them about a resurrected savior.  We wouldn’t know about Easter if it wasn’t for women who were preaching the good news.

Moms speak to us in so many ways. They tell us to make our beds, to share, to toughen up and never give up. They teach us compassion, kindness, hope and that we are unique and loved.   In the church there are women who don’t have kids and they make us the church by loving those without positive role models.

My mom is Elizabeth Jane Cundiff Saunders White. She has helped form at least half of my personality. If Washington Cathedral is, or ever has been, or ever will be, a great caring network, it is because of my mom. If you didn’t know my mom broke her neck in two places last summer. Surgery presented the highest probability of death or life-long paralysis. She wears one of the neck braces and continues to do the things she has done her whole life. Loving her family and friends is the simple life focus of my mom. The other day I was talking to her and suggested that she does not continue cooking for my dad, doing the dishes or serving so many people. She said,
“Timothy, I have been caring for your dad for nearly sixty years and I am going to continue to be your dad’s best friend and helper as long as I live. And that is all I am going to say about that.”
Allow a mom to speak to you from God - so listen to your mom.

Please join us either in the in-person or on-line service (Facebook Live, Church Apps or
You Tube) this Mother’s Day at 10:30am. We would love to see you in person as we celebrate Mothers.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

By Pastor Tim White

When people are to grow towards becoming the people God designed them to be - first they must learn to listen to the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit is like the wind. You can’t see him, but you can see his impact; just as you can’t see the wind, but you can see the trees, a kite, a wind sock, your hair, leaves or tumbleweeds. God is moving at Washington Cathedral.

On Easter 2020 churches had to close around our nation due to Covid. We scrambled to put our service on-line. And wow what a surprise! We had over 10,000 people around the world watching. Previously the largest service we had ever was the Christmas Service at Meydenbauer with over 6,000 attending. We averaged in that Covid year maybe 600 people a week watching on-line until Christmas where we had 20,000 people watching. We spent a lot of time leading people into a personal relationship with Christ or answering questions and praying with people.

On Easter 2021 we were astonished to have over 40,000 people. And by Fall we were averaging over 10,000 a week. People from Kenya, Honduras, Peru, and Brazil were increasing in numbers worshiping with us. In person numbers were still small but dynamic. But in February of 2022 we had over 40,000 watches on a non-descript week. Finally, Easter a couple of weeks ago over 103,000 people checked in to watch the service. And on Wednesday after Easter the Board voted unanimously to hire a new young family’s pastor who we hope will grow to be our new senior/ lead pastor in the next three and a half years. I will stay around to encourage and have the back of our new young pastor after retiring in the Fall of 2025 but I’m still going to be involved in this great caring network. We aren’t going to announce who our dynamic new pastor will be until he has had a chance to inform his much-loved church, that God has led him to accept a call to Washington Cathedral. But until then let’s all just celebrate that God is on the move.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White