As we begin this new column about religious life and activities in Kirkland we look back to June 8, 1987 when seven Kirkland churches gathered to worship together and to sign a Covenant Agreement to form an ecumenical parish of support and mutual recognition.
St. John’s Episcopal, Holy Family Catholic, Trinity Lutheran, Kirkland Congregational, Lake Washington United Methodist, Lake Washington Christian, and Holy Spirit Lutheran would not merge, but rather form a loose association that would pray for each other, worship together, foster understanding, share buildings and resources, promote social justice, and seek to serve our community.
The action of these seven churches was nearly unique in the country – there were many examples of two or three churches coming together but not seven!
Now, 25 year later, it is a pleasure to say that the Greater Kirkland Ecumenical Parish is still vibrant and active.
Organizations spawned by the ecumenical parish include Kirkland Interfaith Transitions in Housing (KITH) providing housing solutions for people in need, and Kirkland Interfaith Network (KIN), which seeks to coordinate and strengthen our congregations’ efforts to serve the poor and needy.
The ecumenical parish has built Habitat houses, offered joint VBS programs, and shared building space with each other.
Worship services include the Good Friday Walk of the Cross through downtown Kirkland, Thanksgiving Eve, and Pulpit Exchanges.
Clergy and staff meet monthly for lunch, conversation and prayer.
And, most recently, we joined in the 9/11 Commemoration service held at the Kirkland Performance Center on the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks.
Interestingly, all of this activity and mutual recognition began with a simple lunch conversation initiated by the priest from Holy Family Catholic Church.
Father Jim Dalton invited the clergy from many Kirkland churches to have lunch together in January 1984.
A number of clergy gathered for that first meeting and had such a good time they continued the next month with more people in attendance. Staff members joined in and soon the church memberships became aware of the connections being made between the congregations.
There seemed to be a pent up desire on the part of many of the church members to start talking with people of different backgrounds.
“Let’s seek out what we have in common rather than what divides us,” was a common refrain.
The desire to seek connections with people of various backgrounds continues today; a desire never more evident than at the Kirkland Performance Center on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The Greater Kirkland Ecumenical Parish (GKEP) joined many other churches and faith communities as we came together with respect, good will and civility. Muslim, Jewish, and Christian prayers were offered.
We shared our grief and we talked with hope about the future.
Maybe the next 25 years will include a new sense of mutual recognition and understanding not only between people of differing Christian communities but between congregations of various religions.
It all starts as we get to know each other personally and we discover we have so much more in common with each other than we have difference.
We look forward to sharing ideas, activities, and opportunities for service in future editions of the Faith Forum.
Pastor Michael Anderson is with the Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Kirkland. Faith Forum is an occasional column of the Greater Kirkland Ecumenical Parish about religious life and activities in the Kirkland area.
