Questions & Answers
Have questions about the Anacortes Adventist Fellowship - the following discussion might help...
1. Are you an Adventist Church?
The Anacortes Adventist Fellowship is a formally recognized company with the Washington Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists.
2. What are you trying to achieve by starting a group in Anacortes?
The intent is to create an active fellowship of Adventist Christians that can serve & evangelize the people of Anacortes and Fidalgo Island. Many of us have been thinking about starting a group here in Anacortes for several years, but just haven't done so because of a general feeling that the time is not right. For the last fifteen years or so we have been meeting informally under the Fidalgo Adventist Fellowship banner, plus worshiping at Rosario during the summer. In 2009 the group decided to move to the next step and start the fellowship.
3. Why start yet another Adventist Church?
This is an excellent question with multiple answers, especially given the fact that there are many options within driving distance. First and foremost is the fact that there is no Adventist presence in Anacortes and without one our ability to reach the local community will continue to be extremely limited. Second, we are attempting to create a church enviornment that appeals to those whose needs are not presently being met by the other Adventist churches in the area. Third, there are many people in our community who simply cannot afford the time and expense required to travel to a nearby Adventist church in order to be part of a meaningful church family. With traffic congestion and higher fuel prices we expect this to be an increasingly important issue in the years to come.
4. Is Pat Grant the church pastor?
The Anacortes Adventist Fellowship does not have a formal church paster. However, Pat is serving as a lay chaplain. Pat is a formally trained and ordained Adventist minister in good standing, although he is not presently employed by the Washington Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists.
5. What goals are you working towards?
Our current plans are to continue growing the fellowship by: 1) retaining the members we have; 2) reaching out to former Adventists in the area; and 3) attracting new members.
6. How many people have been attending and where do they come from?
At present we have between 70-100 people attending, many of whom are not regularly attending or are formally associated with any local Adventist church.
7. Can I visit or attend occassionally?
Everyone is welcome - whether it is just for a visit to check us out or if you would like to attend occassionally. We fully understand that most people (we included) have many other commitments and would like to participate in the functions of other faith communities in the area.
8. Do you have a children's program?
At the present time our kid's program is limited to two classes - one for younger children and a second for youth. We encourage the older children to participate with the adult programs. Our hope is that over time we can improve in this area, but everyone has to start somewhere. As an option, some people are taking their children to nearby Adventist churches and driving to Anacortes for our church service at 11:20am.
9. Who is sponsoring the fellowship?
The fellowship is partnered with the North Cascade SDA church in Burlington. It is our hope to work closely with the leadership teams both at North Cascade and other local Adventist churches to further the ministry of the Adventist church in Skagit County.
10. How do we contact you?
You can call our chaplain (Pat Grant) at 360-391-5319, or write to us at the following address:
Anacortes Adventist Fellowship
PO Box 627
Anacortes, WA 98221