Currently the Church of Tukwila contains perhaps 15-17 congregations.  It is hard to ascertain the exact number because some congregations (especially new, non-English ones) may be operating beneath the radarscope.  Among the existing congregations there is quite a variety in terms of size, age of congregation (both in terms of its existence as well as in its members’ age), ethnicity, style of worship, and target group (ranging from some having a specific group being targeted to others with no particular target).  In addition, there are some significant “parachurch” ministries operating in Tukwila, although they might better be understood as multi-congregation extensions for specialize ministries.  Examples of these include the Riverton Place (a branch of the Union Gospel Mission that disciples men coming out of addiction), Child Evangelism Fellowship, and Young Life. 

There is also quite a bit of diversity in terms of awareness of, and interest in, the building of the Church of Tukwila.  From December 2002, through June 2003, a group of eight pastors and ministry leaders from Tukwila participated in a Strategic Leadership Institute [SLI] course designed for pastors.  Meeting two consecutive days for seven months this group has had an intense desire to see the various congregations/ministries of Tukwila work together to advance God’s kingdom.  Relationally, their hearts have been knit together through their extended times of praying and sharing their lives.  Theologically, they have studied together and been made more aware of the biblical call to unity expressed in the city-church.  Evangelistically, they have met with different community leaders to begin building bridges between the churched and unchurched communities, with a desire to see the Church of Tukwila be a servant to the city.  As an outgrowth of their SLI experience, these pastors have also been meeting weekly to share about their ministries and pray for the city.  While excited about what the Lord is doing in their lives and the vision He is bringing to them, they are aware that other pastors in Tukwila have not shared their SLI experience.  It is their deep desire to not only develop relationships with all the pastors in Tukwila, but also be sensitive to other moves of the Holy Spirit occurring in the city. 

Since the SLI was launched from a series of prayer/share meetings in the fall of 2002 attended by more Tukwila pastors than just those who were able to invest their time in the SLI, it is hoped that once SLI is over, the SLI group can again be connected to a greater number of Tukwila pastors/ministry leaders.  In fact, such efforts are already underway.  At the same time, it must be acknowledged that there are other Tukwila pastors at this point who are either unaware of the movement to connect the congregations together or perhaps aren’t interested.

In addition, another significant aspect of what is developing is the emergence of intercessory prayer groups.  Within some congregations are those who have a great burden to spend extended times together in intercessory prayer for the state of the Church in our city as well as the city itself.  In recent years there have been various prayer adventures, including prayer walking and prayer driving the streets of Tukwila.  While many of these focused times of prayer have involved intercessors within a particular congregation or ministry, there have also been some gatherings bringing together folks from different congregations in Tukwila. 

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