Denominational lines being erased, says evangelical church pastor

Senior Pastor Dr. Joseph Fuiten could look out during last Sunday’s music education program at his Cedar Park Assembly of God Church in Bothell and be fairly certain Catholic families were among the participants.

For the popular program draws people from “all kinds of churches,” he noted.

And “families go where the children are happy,” he said. “So if you take care of children and youth, you will also get adults.”

The mixed gathering helped illustrate Pastor Fuiten’s point that denominational lines are fast diminishing as Christians seek churches that serve their particular needs, even going to more than one church to fulfill them. The needs might revolve around their children, their marriage or spiritual help for themselves, among other things, he said. “They’re going to eat at the restaurant that serves the meal with the flavor they like.”

In a phone interview with The Catholic Northwest Progress, Pastor Fuiten said he agrees that Catholics are being drawn to evangelical churches such as his, although the evidence is anecdotal rather than statistical.

And what is an evangelical? It’s a belief that takes a “high view of Scripture particularly,” he said,
“that the Bible is the inspired word of God, and our rule for faith and practice.”

The pastor said it’s true that evangelical churches can train their future leaders more quickly than can the Catholic Church. His church, for example, currently has 29 students in its Spanish Bible school training for ministry. In approximately two years they’ll be ready for an apprenticeship-type position.

But he said he hasn’t seen any evangelical churches in the area using Our Lady of Guadalupe to attract Hispanic Catholics. Nor has he seen churches offering “look-alike” sacraments.

“I’m not sure what look-alike sacraments are,” he said. “Obviously, we participate in the eucharist, and it would be quite similar, I suppose, because it’s the same thing; it’s the holy eucharist.”

The pastor said it’s true that some evangelical churches carry an anti-Catholic bias. But just the opposite is the case at Cedar Park. “If you are a Catholic and you come here, you’re going to hear your faith spoken of well,” he said.

With a membership of approximately 2,000, Cedar Park Assembly of God is built on the “Cathedral Church Model,” where all the ministries in an area share common characteristics, such as governance, finances and spiritual mission. Cedar Park boasts eight branch churches, six schools, a counseling center, sports league, a thrift store and other ministries.

“People ask me, ‘How are we different from the Catholics?,’” Pastor Fuiten said. “I say, ‘Well, the fact is that we’re probably 95 percent the same. You could talk about the five percent, but you could also talk about the 95 percent – which is what I prefer.”