On Saturday night, October 3rd, God put the fun back into fundraising in Seattle, Washington!
Nearly 200 true believers burst upon our Queen Anne church building to attend our second annual auction (both silent and live) for restoration and rejuvenation of the facility. Restore and rejuvenate are apt words: since my only role this year was as an attendee (who did make one winning bid), I could take in the experience objectively, and can testify that it was we who raised funds that night who were incredibly refreshed, rejuvenated, and inspired. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of so many generous people, we raised over $70,000 that night! It felt like a miracle, far exceeding our expectations.
The “wow factor” cannot be adequately described or explained. Yes, we had the frenetic fun of our auctioneer April Brown (and her cohorts) once again. Kendra Todd, (Picture at right with April) the season three winner of NBC’s The Apprentice, blessed us that evening with some unexpected charm and generosity. And for the second straight year, Kay Nagle Mortimer took the cake for most prolific and fearless bidder. Servants from the church were everywhere, leaving no shortage of food and beverage (I think John Mitchell’s barbecue sliders converted several vegetarians).
But we’ve all seen and attended galas full of glam and glitz. That’s not what this was. Rather, it was full of wonder, celebration, and a deeply captivating kind of faith. This faith emanates from something hard to find in Christianity these days: a true and sincere love for one another in the congregation. This love, kindled by our mutual knowledge that we are merely a gathering of “sinners anonymous”—sinners who need Jesus and each other, grounds the church like stones and mortar never could. I saw from all this that faith doesn’t just move mountains—or church buildings—it moves the human heart to new and memorable places. I think we were all moved last Saturday.
A special shout out to my wife Lynne and Marie McDougall, (pictured at left) who catered all our food—without a kitchen! And a very special thanks to my Associate Evangelist Jay Kelly, whose relentless fundraising vision during tough economic times and tireless love for this “church home” has brought us some local fame (did you see Jay on King 5?), new non-profit grants, and a coziness with the community that lovely (but lonely?) Queen Anne very much needs.
Cheers. And see you next year—check out www.another100years.com.
