Written by Erik Henrickson

I have the honor of sharing an update with you about a group of people I care very deeply about in West Seattle. My name is Erik Henrikson and I serve Jesus as his campus administrator in west Seattle. My goal in writing today is to share how Jesus is expressing himself through the welcome team.

Who is the welcome team?

The West Seattle Welcome team is comprised of volunteers serving in greeting, ushering, communion, financial stewards, security, hospitality, information, and our resource center. This team is made up of 85 volunteers and growing.

Why does the welcome team exist?
Our mission as a Welcome team is to live for Jesus as a part of MHC | West Seattle a city within the city: knowing the culture of hospitality in Seattle, loving people through coffee, greeting, ushering, security, providing resources and information, and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus.

How is Jesus working through the Welcome Team?

There are many ways Jesus is working. One way Jesus has shown his redemption is through the man Ken Trimble. Ken currently serves as a welcome team coach and I want you to meet him today because he is a redeemed man who is now seeking to redeem others. If you knew Ken 10 years ago you would have not recognized him. Ken shares his wife and kids would pray regularly for him during those years.

Ken wrestled with bitterness towards his father, being a workaholic, man- pleasing, passiveness, anger, and many other sins all because he rejected Jesus. In 2004, God allowed Ken to have a heart attack. Ken re-evaluated many things in his life as a result of his life being threatened and dedicated his life to Jesus. In his own words, “After being on the fence for many years God shook me off on April 13, 2004 when I had a heart attack.”

Ken Trimble now expresses Jesus regularly through serving on the Welcome team. Ken takes an active interest in the spiritual health of leaders and shepherds our hospitality and usher leads through praying regularly for them. Instead of being focused on his own desires, Ken is striving to understand what Jesus is calling him to be and do in West Seattle. I see Jesus expressing himself through Ken, calling a redeemed man to redeem others in West Seattle.

Today Ken is regularly connecting with people from the community on how they can know Jesus and serve him with their time and talents. Ken’s favorite scripture is “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

Our prayer is that many will repent of their sins, just as Ken did, and received a heart of flesh. Ken is more deeply satisfied in Jesus then he ever has been.

How can I support the Welcome team in West Seattle?
Please pray God grants many to repentance and faith in West Seattle. ( 2 Timothy 2:22-26) Please pray we suffer and teach others well, not withholding the grace and love of Jesus. ( 2 Timothy 2:1 ) Please pray for workers in the harvest and volunteers on all of our WS teams. (Matthew 9:37) Email Erikh@marshillchurch.org if you’d like any more information or you want to explore a place to serve.

Who are the welcome team leaders you can specifically pray for?
The Lord has blessed us with many gifted Leaders.

• Ken Trimble, Dave Sasslin, and Don Ramsey serve as welcome team coaches and take an active interest in our welcome team leads and their spiritual health.
• Rick Krebs and Steve Coulston serve as our security leads and lead the security effort in West Seattle finding ways to protect the family.
• Angela Hyde, Mckenzie Ellis, and Larra Galvin labor as our hospitality leads and creatively strategize ways to express love through coffee and drinks to our community.
• Katie McSharry, Cathy Chang, and Pete Wagner serve as our greeter leads and lead our greeting effort by intentionally looking for ways to connect you to Jesus and community.
• Kelly Delehanty, Pete Morales and Kari Schuler serve as our Usher leads and lead our ushering effort to ensure you find a seat in our Sanctuary. It important to connect you to others in the family, ( which may be closer to the front), instead of allowing you to become a loner in the back.</li
• Special thanks to Heidi Tiel and Brianna Stuart who have served many months in ushering and have recently retired for a season of rest.
• Meilee Lim and Larrisa Fee lead our information desk and strive with their teams to equip you with everything you need to know about MHC , serving, and getting connected to the community.
• Kelly Wade, Genevieve Ramsey, Yvonne Bateman, and Carlos Lacayo lead our resource center effort. They labor to provide the best resources available in our bookstore.

Please pray God fills each of these men and women with grace, truth, and widsom to fulfill the call of Jesus.