The fast-growing Island Church puts a charismatic spin on spirituality.

“Fresh coffee. Warm muffins. Eternal life.”

The newspaper ads for Island Church are not what most people expect from a church. And that’s exactly the point.

“This is not a stuffy old church, like people are used to seeing church,” said Al Doyle, a parishioner who helped with the ads. “We have a lot of fun at church, and it was important for us to convey that to the community.”

Sunday worship services are held in the commons at Woodward Middle School, with a rock band playing on the stage and the lights turned low. The words to the songs are displayed on giant screen, amidst scenes of rolling waves, so that members can sing along, some with eyes closed and arms stretched heavenward.

There’s not a candle, cross or stained-glass window in sight when senior pastor Grant Brewster steps before the congregation to pray and preach. No flowing robes for him; he wears street clothes.

The congregation has an old-fashioned church down the street, but it’s not big enough to hold the 200 people who show up for worship on Sunday mornings.

So the building is used as a church office and teen center for the congregation’s burgeoning youth ministry, led by Leighton Harder, which has grown from seven kids to 50 in less than two years. Plans are under way to install a half-pipe skateboard ramp in the building.

Through its hip ad campaign, youth activities and music, “We’re trying to attract those who are interested in knowing more about God,” said Brewster, who shares the ministry with his wife, Jenni.

“Church is not about a building, it’s about what happens inside of it,” Brewster said. “What a church needs is the presence of God. You can go to some churches and not feel a thing. In others you really feel something. I’m passionate about the presence of God.”

And members are passionate about their church.

“A lot of people say to me, ‘Oh, you go to the church with the really cool advertising,’” said Lisa Vogt, whose husband Jared is a bassist in the church band. “But what I really like about our church is the pastor, who has a vision for the future and is willing to think outside of the box, to do things a little bit different way.”

Brewster, his wife, and 21-year-old daughter Rebecca, were visiting church friends in Portland, Ore., two years ago when they were invited to meet with the governing board at Bainbridge Alliance Church, which was looking for a minister.

The family had been planning to go to Africa, where the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination to which they belong has a strong missionary program.

“It was like we had known these people all our lives – a divine connection,” Brewster said. “It was like we had come home to family. We loved them and they loved us. Two weeks later they asked me to be a minister.”

Since the Brewsters arrived in 2002, membership at Island Church – shorter and catchier than the Alliance moniker – has grown steadily, “becoming a bustling growing place, attracting lots of families with children, which is really cool,” Vogt said.

The minister gives credit to God, the power of the Scriptures, and the warmth of his flock, all of which make visitors want to stay.

“Jesus said he would build his church, so my role is to grow people, and Jesus will grow the church,” he said. “I want to help lead the people into a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. If I do that, the rest will take care of itself.”

Despite its contemporary look and feel, Island Church rejects modernity as a guide for living.

Members hold the Bible to be the infallible Word of God, a guidebook without error and the key to righteousness in word and deed. The church teaches that Jesus Christ died for the sins of mankind and that all people must believe in him and seek forgiveness to have everlasting life.

Since the church rejects the influences of modern culture, issues of debate that have caused convulsions in other denominations – such as gay marriage and homosexuals in clergy – are not an issue here.

Those ideas are flatly rejected as non-Biblical, while some more liberal-minded Christians would disagree.

Before Brewster gives his sermon each Sunday, he and his congregation hold their bibles aloft and recite the following:

“This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess: My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. I am about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living seed of The Word of God.”

Coming from the charismatic tradition, Island Church also encourages “the gifts of the Holy Spirit” such as prophecy, speaking in tongues, words of knowledge and mercy, believing that these gifts as outlined in the Bible are available and relevant to believers today, the pastor said.

“People should be open to receive those gifts,” Brewster said. “When people commit their lives to Jesus, inherent is the desire to serve, and God has given us gifts that we can be of service to others. It is my job to empower people to use those gifts.”

Bainbridge Island resident Vivian Burnett and her husband Bill were going to a church in Kirkland until they found Island Church and discovered it was a good fit.

“What drew us to the church is that it is very Bible-based,” Vivian said. “The preacher teaches just what the Bible says. Island is a church where Jesus Christ is central, in the worship and the preaching.”

Brewster said that Christians who follow the faith as outlined in the Bible are wisely availing themselves of God’s “operating manual.”

“I believe the Bible, literally,” he said. “I believe it’s relevant today, although our culture is changing. If we follow it, if we live by it, we will live a fruitful, fulfilled and significant life. For me the Bible is the final authority and Christianity is simple: loving God, loving others.”

In a recent sermon, based on the theme of Thanksgiving, Brewster encouraged his members to tithe 10 percent of their income as a means of spiritual discipline and service to the church.

“There’s one reason we should tithe: It’s bibilical,” he said. “God uses how we handle money as a test to see how we handle spiritual riches. When we are faithful and obedient, God does the work.”

“Jesus was a giver,” he told the congregation. “He was poor and he gave so that we could become rich.”

*****

Great Commission

Island Church is a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, which puts a major emphasis on evangelism.

The movement was founded in 1884 by the Canadian-born Presbyterian minister A.B. Simpson, who eventually left his pastorates in the U.S. to “preach to the unchurched and neglected masses,” around the world. His first mission was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Island Church adheres to Simpson’s commitment to the “Great Commission” and has “planted” new churches abroad to “advance God’s Kingdom.”

Last year members collected $110,000 in two months to build a church in Ghana; this year they gave $46,000 to build a church in the Hunan province of China.

“The people in this church are just incredible,” Pastor Grant Brewster says.

The members gave generously, he said, even though they themselves could use a bigger church of their own. The congregation has outgrown its little church at 9624 Sportsman Club Rd., built in 1921. That structure now serves as the church office and youth center. The congregation worships at Woodward Middle School down the street, but a larger church is foreseen.

Island Church is one of 2,000 C&MA churches with 350,000 members in the U.S., according to the church and scholars. But with 2.5 million members in 40 nations, and 1,100 missionaries around the globe, its largest growth is outside the U.S. in keeping with its founder’s vision.

Simpson’s teachings were influenced by five religious movements that ultimately contributed to the rise of the denomination, scholars say. The Holiness movement centered on sanctification and conversion, and emphasized the importance of developing a deep spirituality by welcoming the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The divine healing movement professed that Christ could heal illnesses and maladies. The evangelization and foreign missions movements came from New Testament teachings to “go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” And the Lord’s return movement predicted and prepared believers for Jesus Christ’s return to Earth.

All of those elements remain central to the C&MA denomination today. The denomination’s website stresses that it maintains a “big tent” stance in doctrinal matters, “encouraging believers of diverse backgrounds and theological tradition to unite in an alliance to know and exalt Jesus Christ, and to complete his Great Commission.”

– Rhonda Parks Manville