About ENCS

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 demonstrate the compassion and character of Christ to communities and cultures.

Intercultural

We value and embrace the beautiful diversity of the nations living in Seattle.

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 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 STORY

Every Nation Church Seattle began in 2001 when some friends from Corvallis, Oregon moved to Seattle to start a brand new church. We began as an outreach to the University of Washington and other local college campuses. As we grew, we moved into different parts of the city and began reaching out to people in our communities.

What started out as a few friends seeking God together in a living room has now turned into a 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 in the U-District and 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 are a family on a mission together in our city.

We invite you to learn more about the Gospel and what it means to know, love, and follow Jesus. 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.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

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.
That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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 in power and glory.
That for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
In the baptism with the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of spiritual gifts.
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 damnation.
In the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

Danielle Burkholder

Teaching Pastor

I have had the joy of serving in ministry for over 25 years including campus and youth ministry, church planting, various volunteer roles, Discipleship Director 2015-2020, and in Sept. 2020- Teaching Pastor.

In this role I get to do something I love: be a student of the Bible and work to ensure we teach biblically faithful content that contributes to our church’s spiritual health and growth. Towards that goal I have the honor of working with the Sr. Pastor and our leaders to discern the needs of the church family and UW community and work to serve them with a gospel-centered teaching ministry. It is my hope that everything we teach will contribute to a beautiful work of ongoing transformation reconciling us to God, to one another, and to being his image bearers in this world.

I’m so thankful I get to be part of, serve, and learn from such an amazing church family.

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.

Sebrenia Chowayou

Operations Director

Brittney Wheeler

Worship Director

Jennis Hatakenaka

Communications Admin

I’ve been a part of our staff team since 2018. My job is to work with our leadership team to strategically use our communication platforms. In short, I administrate, catalyze, and support what we do here at ENCS! It's my joy to use my strengths to maximize our connection systems to help people be reconciled to God and his purposes, and be connected and restored in community.

What I love about ENCS is how God has brought together a community of people from all different walks of life, who each uniquely bear His image. It’s great to be part of a church family that aims to love people for who they are rather than just for what they do. I love that we get to grow in love and serve one another as we do life together.

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.