What to Expect
Consider the four things below as steps along a journey of plugging deeper into the community at Kitsap House.
WORSHIP
Jesus’ public ministry was a place where people heard his Good News, experience healing, awe, and worship. We hope our Sunday morning worship gatherings are just like that. Expect music, meditation on Scripture, conversation, a sermon based on a passage of Scripture, prayer, and communion (also called The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, depending on the tradition), followed by coffee and more conversation. Our music is laid back, acoustic, and easily singable. We build in moments of connection into our worship and in gathering after. The preaching is dynamic, Scripture-based, and practical. In prayer, we look to not only speak with God, but to listen to him, believing he still speaks to us through his Spirit. You can listen to past sermons on our podcast here. There is no dress code, you can wear what you wear the rest of the week. In our current space at RAWW Athletics, we integrate families into the service. This means kids sing with the adults, and at various times in the service kids are engaged with activities and interactions that help them be a part of worship and experience God themselves. We believe the excitement, noise, and energy kids bring doesn’t detract, but elevates our worship. Learn more about how we resource families here.
Waffle Breakfast
Once a month we host anybody who is new-ish to hang out with us at the 703 Residency and enjoy a lunch (brunch?) of delicious but filling waffles (including gluten-free ones) immediately after the Sunday gathering. There is no agenda, no pressure, just a chance to sit around a big table and enjoy conversation and food. If you’d like, we give a tour of the house and talk a little about the history of Kitsap House, but that part is optional. This meal is a simple way for people to get to know the community a little more. See when the next Waffle Breakfast is happening by checking our calendar here.
Welcome Experience
If you’ve come to Waffle Breakfast, we’ll assume you’re looking for ways to get connected and are interested in learning more. So if you’ve been to a Waffle Breakfast, you’ll receive an invitation to a “welcome experience” that will walk attendees through Kitsap House’s leadership structure, beliefs, and vision every quarter. Most importantly, we hope people walk away from this experience with a greater sense of how they can be a part of seeking God’s shalom in their neighborhood.
Commitment to Community
If you’ve been to a Waffle Breakfast and had a Welcome Experience, you might be ready to make a commitment. Many people come from faith traditions that have a membership process. At Kitsap House, we emphasize making a commitment to community so you won’t hear us talk about “membership” per se. A commitment to community involves making vows of faithfulness to Jesus, to his Way, and to his community. Invitations to make this kind of commitment are given at the end of our Practicing the Way course. This course equips folks with life-transforming practices that equip a person to live out the vows they make in commitment to community. You can learn more about this course here.
Community
If you make a commitment to community, you might be wondering what that community looks like. At Kitsap House, we focus on three forms of community modeled after the way Jesus did community. We see that Jesus sent out 70, he discipled 12, and he was vulnerable with 3. These community groups are open to anyone to join, but we hope that those who make a commitment to community are especially equipped and engaged to lead and participate in these groups.
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The 70
Sometimes called a “Table,” the 70 are modeled after the 70 disciples Jesus sent out two by two in Luke 10. These are groups focused on areas of service to the community of Port orchard, including Family, “Shalom” (sometimes referred to as “outreach”), and Worship. These groups meet about quarterly for encouragement, celebrating what God has done, equipping, and commissioning. Preferably, these meetings happen around a, you guessed it, table.
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The 12
Modeled after Jesus’ time of teaching and discipleship with 12 men, a “cohort” is a small group of people that come together for a certain amount of time to learn Jesus’ way and his Kingdom. These cohorts may focus on a topic, curriculum, book, or book of Scripture as their way of learning from Jesus, but also include elements of community and hospitality. Cohorts may meet in homes or at our ministry residence and will last from 10-12 weeks. Check out what studies we resource people with here.
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The 3
Jesus invited three men, Peter, James, and John, into his most private and vulnerable moments. We imitate this with “Pattern Groups,” small communities of 3-4 that meet at least monthly. We expect Pattern Groups to come out of the Practicing the Way cohort, since Practicing the Way is designed to help people develop intentional faith practices. Pattern Groups are formed by people wanting to invite others to wrestle with these practices and share the challenge of grace-filled, faithful living with them.