About ENCS

OUR STORY

Every Nation Church Seattle began in 2001 when some friends from Corvallis, Oregon moved to Seattle to start a brand new church, led by Pastor Bruce and Carol Fidler, and Nik Harrang, our first campus missionary. We began as an outreach to the University of Washington and other local college campuses.

What started out as a few friends seeking God together in a living room has now turned into an intercultural and intergenerational community church made up of people from all over the greater Seattle area.

Since that first Sunday we have met in community centers, other church buildings, and even a movie theater! Now, we currently meet on Sundays at our ministry HUB within the U District and are grateful to be a part of this community.

Where we meet, however, is not nearly as important as why we meet. We don’t believe that the church is a building — rather, we believe people make up the church. The church is not merely an organization, but is first and foremost a family — a living, dynamic community of believers united in Jesus and living on mission with Jesus. We like to say, “We are a family on a mission together in our city.”

We invite you to learn more about who Jesus is, and what it means to love and follow Him within a diverse community of believers who are still learning how to love God and others.

No matter where you are on your spiritual journey — whether you are looking into the Christian faith for the first time, or whether you have walked closely with God for decades — we invite you to join our community, grow in Christ and get on mission with us in our city.

OUR IDENTITY

Christ-Centered

We focus on the words and work of Jesus Christ as the center of our lives. He is the foundation and cornerstone of everything we do.

Spirit Empowered

We live dependent upon the presence and power of the Holy Spirit for the Christian life and ministry expressed through spiritual giftedness.

Socially Responsible

We act in ways that demonstrate the compassion and character of Christ to our communities locally and globally.

Intercultural

We value the beautiful diversity of the nations living in Seattle and embrace the gift of learning from each other in community.

Intergenerational

We celebrate all stages of life, honoring the older generations and reaching the younger generations.

missional

We intentionally seek to share our lives and the life-changing message of the Gospel with our friends and family, neighbors, coworkers, and classmates.

OUR MISSION

To honor God and make disciples of Jesus Christ who love well

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
(1 Timothy 1:17)

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:18-20)

“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
(Mark 12:28b-31)

What does our discipleship look like?

We believe our discipleship should look like the ministry of Jesus which is summed up in a simple word: “restoration.” Jesus came to restore people to a relationship with the Father, His people, and His purposes by proclaiming the good news of the gospel, healing hearts, bringing freedom to those who are captive, and by comforting those in pain. The result of this kind of discipleship is people growing and becoming like oaks of righteousness, rooted and grounded in God, and able to restore others to fullness in Christ.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
(Isaiah 61:1-4)

OUR VISION

Can you imagine a place that every person can come to each week, where they could experience the love of God through an intercultural, and intergenerational spiritual family, where the consistent presence of loving leaders will shepherd and pastor them, a place to eat together, celebrate together life’s victories and support each other in life’s challenges, a place to pray with others who know them, a place to discuss Scripture and apply the Gospel’s deep implications for our daily lives, a place to share needs, to use your gifts, and serve one another practically, and a place to bring friends and neighbors who we are praying for, reaching out to and are open to exploring Christianity, so that they too can experience the love of God?

Then it could be said of us that John 13:5 is really true: “they will know that you are my disciples by your love for another.”

This my friends is an ACTS 2 COMMUNITY:

Our vision is to give every person the opportunity to experience the love of Jesus through an Acts 2 community.

From the beginning of the church in Acts, those who accepted the Gospel were baptized, added to the church, and began to devote themselves to new habits and practices as Christ followers. They formed smaller communities that caused them to grow spiritually, emotionally, relationally and numerically.

We believe that the same devotion to shared life and Biblical practices as expressed in the Scripture like the early church and carried forward by generations of Christians, will not only spiritually shape us into healthy disciples of Jesus in our day and time, but it will help us build the kind of loving community that we are confident to invite our neighbors, coworkers and classmates to into.

To this end, we will aim to build, grow and multiply Acts 2 communities throughout Seattle and the world so that we can give every person the opportunity to experience the love of Jesus through an Acts 2 community.

OUR AFFILIATION

Every Nation Church Seattle is a member of Every Nation, a global family of churches and ministries. Since being established in 1994, Every Nation has been making disciples, training leaders, and planting churches on six continents. Today we are located in over 80 nations.

Every Nation exists to honor God by planting Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, socially-responsible churches and campus ministries in every nation.

Learn more here: www.everynation.org

OUR VALUES

The Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to "guard the good deposit... with the help of the Holy Spirit" (2 Tim 1:14). Like Timothy, every ministry has a good deposit that must be guarded. As an Every Nation church, our core values articulate for us the good deposit we as a ministry must guard together, lest they be lost.

Lordship

Because Jesus is "King of kings and Lord of lords," we believe that the whole-hearted submission to God's will and his word is the starting point of the Christian faith and the foundation of all spiritual growth. (Colossians 2:6)

Evangelism

Because God's heart is to reach the lost, we're passionate about preaching the gospel and doing ministry in a way that engages people outside of the Christian faith. We seek to build churches primarily through evangelism, not transfer; through birth, not adoption. (John 3:16, Luke 19:10)

Discipleship

Because we're called to make disciples, our primary focus is establishing biblical foundations, equipping believers to minister, and empowering disciples to make disciples - not conducting meetings, facilitating programs, or building buildings. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Leadership

Family

Because we're called to establish churches and campus ministries in every nation, we're committed to a culture of empowering leadership. We're intentionally multi-generational, and we deliberately create opportunities and platforms to develop the next generation of leaders.
(2 Timothy 2:2)

Because the family is the foundation of and validation of ministry, we refuse to sacrifice our marriages and our children on the altars of temporal success. And because we believe that God has called us to be a spiritual family, we embrace community, reject the idea of disposable relationships, and choose to walk in love, respect, and unity. (Psalm 127:1, 3)

OUR BELIEFS

We embrace and adopt the Nicene Creed, Apostles’ Creed, and Athanasian Creed.
In addition,

We believe... the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:13)

We believe... that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

We believe... in the special creation of the universe as indicated in Genesis. (Genesis 1; Nehemiah 9:6; Isaiah 42:5; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17)

We believe... in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood. In His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return to power and glory. (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:18; Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Matthew 24; Mark 16:19; John 14:2-3; Acts 1:9-11; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Hebrews 9:28)

We believe... in the creation of humanity in the image of God and in the rebellion of humanity as recorded in Genesis; our total spiritual depravity and inability to attain divine righteousness. (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12, 18)

We believe... that sin is a transgression of, or falling short of, God's standard in action, thought, and character. All sin breaks relationship with God and others. All individuals are born with indwelling sin that affects our sense of identity, motivation, affection, volition, and actions. The results of sin include separation from God, from each other, and death. (Romans 3:10, 23; 6:23; 14:23; James 4:17; 1 John 5:17)

We believe... in the salvation of sinners by grace, through repentance and faith in the perfect and sufficient work of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection by which we obtain remission of sins. (Romans 5:11; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12, 22)

We believe... that for the salvation of the lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential and by whose indwelling the Christian is united to Christ and enabled to live a godly life. (John 3:3; Romans 8:9-10, 13-14)

We believe... in the necessity of water baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to fulfill the command of Christ. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38-39; 19:1-6)

We believe... in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a distinct aspect of the Christian foundational experience with evidence such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, empowerment to witness, to conquer sin, and to live a holy life. (Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-17; 10:44-48; 19:6)

We believe... in the exercise of spiritual gifts mentioned as evidenced in the early church. (1 Corinthians 12-14)

We believe... in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of judgment. (1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 19-21)

We believe... the Scriptures alone are authoritative to define what it means to be human, image bearers of God in all areas of life, including marriage, family, sexuality, morality, and ethics. (Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:24; Exodus 20:1-21; Matthew 5:17-20)

We believe... the Scriptures define marriage as the covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. The importance of this union for the family, the church, and society requires that we support a Biblical view of marriage. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:8; 1 Corinthians 7; Ephesians 5:21-33)

MEET THE TEAM

Perry Burkholder

Lead Pastor

I love Jesus because he changed my life at 14 years of age and I have been following Him ever since. (It’s a great story, I would have to tell you sometime.)

My ministry days began at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I was first discipled through a men’s bible study and local church involvement at King’s Park International Church. It was there I started a campus ministry that has been running for over 25 years, fell in love with college ministry, and met my amazing wife, Danielle. Together we spent 10 years doing college and youth ministry and then 5 years church planting in Scotland.

It was May 2009, when my wife and I along with our 4 kids, moved from Scotland to Seattle to join this incredible church family.

I love the PNW and am happy to call this place my home. My marriage, family, church and the city continue to disciple me in the ways of Jesus, and I am thankful that I get to love, serve and lead alongside such incredible and diverse people.

My role is first and foremost to be a Christian who follows Jesus in the everyday stuff of life, secondly, loving my wife and children, and third, leading the elders, leadership team, and church to fulfill the mission of Jesus- honoring God and making disciples who love. Together we are reaching, reconciling and restoring people to Christ, and that is one incredible adventure.

Jovy Gamiao

Connections Pastor

I joined ENCS staff team in 2017. My job is primarily to oversee a team of leaders who ensure ENCS congregation is established and rooted in love as a disciple of Christ discipling others through developing a strong, healthy and growing community groups and community group leaders.

What I love about my work is experiencing God’s power and wisdom displayed through working together as a team. Interdependence reminds me that following Jesus is not a solo sport, but it is following Him along with others.

I love being part of ENCS. It is always a taste of heaven not only when we gather together, but also when we express our love to God by loving one another. It comes in myriad of ways as we are a multicultural and multigenerational church.

Marcus Smith

Children & Family Ministries Director

Hi, I'm Marcus, and I'm honored to serve as the Children and Family Ministries Director at ENCS. I joined the team in August 2023. In my role, I have the privilege of nurturing an environment that supports parents through the journey of discipling their children.

What drew me to ENCS initially was its warm sense of family and the genuine care that everyone here extends to each other. This church is where I found my faith and was saved, and I've been part of this loving community for over a decade.

It's a joy to be part of a place where we strive to honor God and make disciples of Jesus Christ who love well.

Jennis Hatakenaka

Operations Director

Brittney Wheeler

Worship Director

RRutanña Lanphear-Ramirez

Campus Missionary

I began my internship with ENCS as a student in 2019. In my job I engage students with the Gospel and Christian community, establish them in core biblical principles, equip them to minister to their peers and family, and empower them to disciple others. In other words, I help university students to fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:19-20.

I was drawn to ENCS because I saw love for God translate to relational discipleship. Arriving as a college student in 2017 I needed this kind of community. Now beyond college, this multi-generational family has become my own because of their commitment to see the Gospel preach to every generation in all nations.