ABOUT VPC
WHO WE ARE
Volunteer Park SDA Church is a Seventh-day Adventist church rooted in the heart of Seattle, seeking to be a faithful expression of Jesus Christ in our city and sharing the everlasting gospel.
“Seventh-day” points back to our belief in God creating us, and gifting Sabbath to us all. “Adventist” points forward to our joyful anticipation of the soon return of Christ. Simply stated, we are a people created by God, who strive to live like Christ, whilst awaiting His soon return.
OUR VALUES
EXPERIENCE GOD
We strive to experience God in our weekly gatherings. There are many ways this happens; one is through the united congregational expression of worship. The mediums are the spoken word, the sung word, and the petitioned word. Through all of these expressions we stand opened handed for God to fill us. Having been filled, we leave ready to be agents of God's goodness in the week to come.
LOVE OTHERS
We take seriously, Christ's distillation of all holy scripture — namely, love of God and love of neighbor. We order the life of our community around Groups that meet in homes and other locations around Seattle. In those moments gathered together, we believe that opportunities to practice loving one another are created. God as Trinity is a community, we affirm the divine basicity of being in community.
SERVE OUR COMMUNITY
Service is the fruit of experiencing the goodness of God and being rooted in the soil of community. We provide service opportunities for all. There are opportunities for service within the walls of the church, and outside the church. We are motivated by Christ who spent more time in service than He did in sermons. For a world in need, actions matter just as much as words.
WHAT DO ADVENTISTS BELIVE?
Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as the only source of our beliefs. We consider our movement to be the result of the Protestant conviction Sola Scriptura — the Bible as the only standard of faith and practice for Christians.
Currently, Adventists hold 28 fundamental beliefs that can be organized into six categories — the doctrines of God, humanity, salvation, the church, the Christian life and last day events. Put another way, we believe that God loves, creates, redeems, inhabits, transforms, and triumphs. In each teaching, God is the architect, who in wisdom, grace and infinite love, is restoring a relationship with humanity that will last for eternity.
OUR ROOTS
The pioneers of Volunteer Park SDA Church organized as North Seattle SDA Church on Sept. 6, 1886 and chose as its site the vicinity of 2nd and Thomas, in Belltown, which then boasted Seattle’s only broad sidewalk.
In May 1920, the church moved to 1707 Boylston & Olive, and became Seattle Central SDA Church. Following a fire on Feb. 23, 1963, the property was sold and the current building at 1300 E Aloha was purchased from Burril C. Johnson. On Feb. 27, 1965, two years after the fire, the first service was held in our church. Since then, we have sought ways to serve our city and be part of its vital existence.
OUR LEADERS
Volunteer Park SDA Church exists because of its dedicated volunteers. They serve both up front — through greeting, music, scripture, prayer, and preaching — and behind the scenes — through service planning, technology, meal prep, building maintenance and event planning.