At Cascade Church in Monroe, members are encouraged to "love God, love people and live generously;GÇ¥ guidelines that the congregation has embraced and exemplified as it strives to impact not only the Monroe community, but the world beyond.
Giving has always been a priority at Cascade. For every dollar that's collected during weekend services, the church gives 20 percent away, dedicating the funds to either church-planting, local organizations or international missions. Two years ago, recognizing the high church attendance numbers that occur at Christmas and Easter, Lead Pastor Nate Hettinga decided he wanted to take things up a notch.
His mission was two-fold; he wanted to inspire giving through an effort that would accomplish something tangible, and he wanted to change the negative perception that the church is only there because it wants to take something from its followers.
At Cascade, they have a different viewpoint, he said.
"Our perspective is God has something for you; he doesn't want something from you,GÇ¥ Hettinga said.
Cascade members raised around $22,000 during the first special offering event in December 2014, which was used to purchase a new van for the Sky Valley Food Bank. For Easter 2015, they decided to go global, raising around $33,000 for ministry work in Rwanda, an effort spearheaded by Executive Pastor Kirk Gendron.
They held another special offering last Christmas, raising nearly $26,000, which was dedicated to local nonprofit Take the Next Step (TTNS), to help pay for a remodeling project and support TTNS programming.
This year Easter was the congregation's largest special offering yet, raising $101,330 to aid with the ongoing refugee crisis in the Middle East. The Easter offering followed a two-part sermon series called Orange, where Cascade Church partnered with the Wear Orange movement. Wear Orange provided custom orange T-shirts, which Cascade parishioners donned to demonstrate solidarity with persecuted Christians.
The color orange became synonymous with persecution after disturbing video footage released in 2015, in which the terrorist organization ISIS beheaded 21 Christian men. The men, wearing orange jumpsuits, were forced onto a beach and then killed.
The orange T-shirts were decorated with the Arabic symbol for the letter "N,GÇ¥ which stands for "NasaraGÇ¥ or "Nazarenes,GÇ¥ which is a contemptuous word for Christian, Hettinga said. In 2014, ISIS took over the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, ordering Christians to convert to Islam or be killed. They would spray-paint the Arabic symbol on homes and businesses owned by Christians as a way to alert religious persecutors, forcing Iraqi Christians to flee.
As a result of this type of persecution, Hettinga said the Middle East is experiencing the greatest migration since World War II, as refugees flee places like Syria and Iraq into safer regimes, including Turkey and Jordan.
The church has been captivated by the current refugee crisis, Hettinga said, struck by how many Christians are dying for their beliefs. It hit Hettinga particularly hard, as he conducted research for an article published by Converge, a movement of churches for which Cascade is a member.
According to Hettinga's article, in the Middle East, more than 70 percent of Christians have been forced to flee Iraq, while 700,000 Christians have fled Syria since 2011. Presently, at least 100 million Christians are being persecuted for their belief system, and 322 Christians are killed for their faith each month. In North Korea, 70,000 Christians have been imprisoned for their religious beliefs.
"The enormity of need is numbing and overwhelming,GÇ¥ wrote Hettinga. "My heart breaks. I search desperately for a way to help and to lead my church to get involved.GÇ¥
Hettinga found a way through his Orange sermon series, and then on Easter, when he asked the members of his church for their help.
"I think people wanted to do something tangible. Wearing a T-shirt's nice, but when you hear people are suffering for their belief system, you kind of want to do something,GÇ¥ Hettinga said.
Of the $101,330 raised by Cascade, nearly $57,000 came from Monroe parishioners. An additional $10,000 in matching funds was provided by the Converge Cornerstone Foundation, while another national organization, One Day's Wages, provided a $35,000. The money went to a reputable organization called World Relief, Hettinga said, to ensure accountability and good stewardship.
The stark majority of the funds came in on Easter Sunday, with some trickling in after. The overwhelming generosity of the congregation became especially personal for Hettinga the Sunday following Easter, as he was giving an update on how much money had been received. At that point the dollars collected were more than $50,000, plus 33 cents his son donated reflected in the total.
"He had taken 33 cents and put it in a sandwich bag and written "give hope,' which was the name of the offering,GÇ¥ Hettinga said. "So I'm giving that number to our congregation and it hits me ' my dude's number is represented on the screen because it just so happened that there was a 33 cent total.GÇ¥
Hettinga said it really made an impact on his son, because it seemed to prove that every single donation, no matter how large or small, makes a difference.
Hettinga, his wife and 70 other adults, who came from Northshore Community Church in Kirkland, planted Cascade Church in Monroe in 1997. Initially located in the heart of Monroe's industrial area, the church moved to its current location on Fryelands Boulevard in the early 2000s. In 2008 they purchased the warehouse next to their main facility, which has allowed them to provide more services. The campus includes a commercial kitchen, coffee shop and gym, and is a hub of activity.
They currently provide care to roughly 2,000 worshipers, with around 1,200 people attending each week.
Cascade Church enjoys being a community church, hosting numerous local ministries and programs, including a foster care support group and the TTNS Growing Together program for young moms.
In 2015, the church dedicated space to Cascade members Julie and Kevin Hanford, who opened a children's boutique called the Treasure Chest. The Treasure Chest provides clothing, books, toys and shoes to the families of fostered and adopted children, who are able to "shopGÇ¥ in the boutique for free.
The church campus is used regularly by several dozen ministries.
"What I always say is, if this is a 20-year carpet, I want it wore out in ten,GÇ¥ Hettinga said. "This building is always being used.GÇ¥
Cascade believes that everybody needs Jesus, said Senior Associate Pastor John Reynolds, and it's important to find a church that's a good fit for the individual.
"If Cascade's that fit, we love that and want to be a part of that,GÇ¥ Reynolds said.
For more information about Cascade Church, visit cascadechurch.org.Photo courtesy of Cascade Cascade During Pastor Hettinga's "Orange" series held at Cascade Church in March, church-goers donned orange T-shirts to represent religious persecution faced around the world.
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