Cedar Park Church
16300 112th Ave NE
Bothell, WA 98011

p: 425.488.3600
e: info@cedarpark.org

Service Times:
Sundays:
9am, 10:45am, 6pm

Radio Show Times
7:00am KLFE 1590AM
7:30am KGNW 820AM
9:30am KCIS 630AM
10am KKOL 1300AM

Employee Email

The Developmental Concepts of a Cathedral Church

Cedar Park has become a Cathedral Church. Even though people think of a “cathedral” when they hear the term “cathedral church,” the concept has nothing to do with the structure or size of the building, but everything to do with building a ministry. Simply put, a Cathedral Church acts in an inspirational and supervisory capacity over a variety of ministries designed to serve the wider church and community. It takes its name from the major church of a geographical area from which smaller parish churches and ministries were organized and directed. In Cedar Park’s context, we are a church that serves and supports other ministries beyond what is commonly experienced in smaller local churches.

A Cathedral Church is different from a Local Church

When most people think of a local church, they think of a worship service, Sunday School, and a youth program. There might be a variety of other programs, but the emphasis is upon the traditional programs of the church. We think like this because this is our experience in the Evangelical world. If we reach deeper into the Christian experience, we find a very different kind of church being dominant for the past two thousand years. All over the world, in every context, we find examples of what I am calling the Cathedral Church. A Cathedral Church is also a local church but its essence reaches beyond those traditional programs. It is concerned with the fullness of Christian ministry within a geographic area. It is concerned about the Kingdom of God in every aspect of ministry that is Christian. Sometimes I tell people who live in the Seattle area that a Cathedral Church is a local church that also happens to be Crista Ministries.

When Cedar Park planted Redwood Hills Church, it was acting as a Cathedral Church even though we did not retain any actual supervisory capacity with that Church. On the other hand, when we took on the ailing Northshore Church, funding it and directing its ministries, that was a classic function of a Cathedral Church. When we established “The Chapel at Cedar Park” as a liturgical service we were acting like a Cathedral Church. In fact, many of the broad range of ministries that we currently have fall within the description of a Cathedral Church. Ministries that serve more than the local church could be described as functions of a Cathedral Church.

Among the ministries of our church that help define the Cathedral Church are:

Cedar Park Christian Schools with Campuses in Bellevue, Bothell, Totem Lake and Everett.
Chapel of the Resurrection Funeral Home and Cemetery
The Chapel at Cedar Park
Cedar Park Family Church in Lake Stevens
Cedar Park Northshore
Cedar Park Counseling Network
Mechanics Ministry
Chapel of the Resurrection Wedding Ministry
School of the Arts
Summer Day Camps
Cedar Park Athletic Association

The distinguishing characteristic of each of these ministries, the thing that helps them define the Cathedral Church, is the fact that they serve the wider Christian community and act as an outreach to non-Christians as well.

Incidentally, with the exception of the branch churches, each of these ministries is a fee-for-service ministry. That is, the greatest part of the budget comes from the fees paid by those using the service. If we think only of the finances, we could even say a branch church is funded mainly by those who participate in its services. The fee-for-service financial approach offers considerable possibilities for further development and expansion. I believe one of the most dynamic elements of our future, and the part that will provide much of our growth, will be the development of new ministries using this approach. In the current fiscal year more than two-thirds of our total budget will be in the area of fee-for-service.

If we correctly understand the difference between a local church and a Cathedral Church, we won’t mistakenly use the characteristics of one to evaluate the other. What I mean by that is if a local church is not a Cathedral Church it is no discredit to that local church. They have their calling we have ours. On the other hand, Cedar Park is not measured by the number of people it puts into the sanctuary on Sunday morning at the Bothell campus. That is certainly one part of who we are, and an important one, but that is not Cedar Park. Our Cathedral Church is happening seven days a week almost twenty-four hours a day. People often ask me about the size of Cedar Park. I always answer, “It depends on when you count them.” I know what they mean. Because they don’t know who we are, they tend to think of us as a local church so they want to know how many are in the Bothell Sanctuary on Sunday morning. I think of us as a Cathedral Church so I think about the people we minister to every week. If we counted all of those, we are over 5,000 strong. I refer to that as our ministry circle. Those in our ministry circle are those who participate in our ministries on a regular basis.

Please browse through the pages at the right, or you may want to continue on by reading Pastor Joe Fuiten's essay on Widening the Outreach.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES