We are now a part of the Battleground Community! And will be opening soon! And we’re excited to be here! It’s been quite the journey for us, so below you’ll find a little bit about our history. But first, you might be wondering: what does 6:8 mean? To answer your first question, no, we are not a cult. 🙂 We are a bible-believing church. We try to be interdenominational, driven by Scripture, not the divisions that have cropped up in the 500+ years since the Reformation. The name comes from a Bible verse, Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” That’s what we want to be, a church full of people who act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. (If you’d like to know more about our history, there are a few paragraphs at the bottom of this post.)
Not An Extension Campus
Another question that has come up is: “Are you an extension campus of the church in Hazel Dell?” The answer to that is no. We believe the church is supposed to be local. For the years we were in Hazel Dell, we invested in the Hazel Dell community. That’s because we believe God arranges churches to be where He wants them to be, with specific strengths and abilities for that community. We are doing the same thing in Battleground. We believe God moved us here because there is something unique about 6:8 that God wants in the Battleground community. There are a lot of great churches in Battleground, all of whom we believe God has equipped specifically for their location. And we are excited to see what unique aspects of the Kingdom of God we can bring.
So, we aren’t a campus. We aren’t an offshoot. Our church moved from Hazel Dell to Battleground, and we are bringing with us a group of great people and a lot of years of experience serving the community!
A Church Family
We also strive to be a church family and a church that embraces/supports families. The common thread that leads people who visit our church to stick around is, “it really feels like a family, and I want to be a part of that.” So, just like when you go to visit your extended family, we aren’t really the kind of church where you can sneak and hide in the back. I mean, if you go to your aunt and uncle’s house and try not to be seen, they’re going to say something, right? That said, we also have a lot of introverted people in our church (including our pastor), so we also won’t overwhelm you.
Everyone is welcome. No matter your background. Whether you’re a believer or not, Catholic, Nazarene, Baptist, Wesleyan, Presbyterian, Charismatic, etc., we’d love to have you join us!
“Purple” Church
We consider ourselves a purple church. We did a sermon series on it last year, and we may redo it here in our new community called “Purple Faith” (Click the link to hear sermons from that series). We believe people of all backgrounds should be able to come together under the higher calling of Christ. When you mix red and blue together, you get purple. We want to be that kind of church, where reds and blues come together in unity, setting political disagreements aside for the higher calling of Jesus. We’re not asking anyone to compromise their political ideology. Instead, we’re asking people to make Jesus such a priority that those other issues get put in their proper place.
Ministries
We are currently working on relaunching our kid’s ministry and youth group, beginning in January. Like most churches, we lost people and volunteers over the 2+ years of the pandemic. And just like people are shuffling jobs, people have been shuffling a lot of things in their lives, including churches. That said, we’re excited about the direction we’re heading with 6:8 kids and youth group while also retaining our focus on being a family-centered church.
6:8 Kids
On January 8th, we’ll be launching “6:8 kids” on Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:25. If your kids have been to a VBS in the last few years, it will be a lot like that. We’ll have groups of kids that we rotate through different areas: Crafts, Games, Music, Snacks, and the Bible lesson. Then, we invited families to stay with us for our family service at 10:30. We will be providing childcare for kids from birth through preschool. We also provide activities for kids during the service, seeking to include them in our church life. Because as C.S. Lewis said: “Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.”
Youth Group
On January 8th, we’ll also be launching our youth group. It will be on Sunday evenings from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. We will have some food for the students to eat together. We’ll have fun, build community, learn together, and go to events. It’s going to be amazing!
Coming Events
We have a few events lined up that you might be interested in:
December 2nd: First Friday Kid’s craft and cocoa
Immediately following the Battleground Christmas Tree Lighting.
December 23rd: ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas Eve
Our traditional candlelight Christmas Eve service, one day before Christmas Eve. We do this to help you as a family be able to attend a Christmas Eve service without having to choose between a church event and a family function.
December 28th: Kid’s movie and games
Remember the line from “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”? “mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again.” As parents, we know how restless those days between holidays can be. So, we wanted to offer parents a little break. The Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s day, we will be having an event for parents to be able to drop off their kids for lunch, a movie, and some games. We’ll let them have a lot of fun, try to get all the wiggles and pent-up energy out, and hopefully send them back to you at 3:00 pm, ready for a nice, relaxing family evening.
January 8th, 2023: Soft-Launch
Then on January 8th, we’ll be kicking things off with our soft launch. And you’re invited. We’d love to have you join us. We’re calling it our “soft launch” because things might have to be tweaked a little here and there, and we hope people will be a little more flexible during that time.
March 5th, 2023: Grand Opening
Then, on March 5th, 2023, we plan on announcing to the community our “Grand Opening.” Giving us a few weeks leading up to Easter to get the word out!
Are you looking for a church?
Have you stopped going to church over the past few years? We would love to have you come and give us a visit. If you’d like to talk with our pastor, fill out the contact form, and he’ll be in touch. If you’d rather give us a call, you can reach us at 360-723-5222. Or you can send a text to 360-818-4399.
How We Got Started
6:8 was originally planted as “Northwest Community Church, which later changed its name to “Whipple Creek Community Church.” For the first 30 years of ministry, our church was in Vancouver, WA, before moving to Battleground, WA, in September of 2022.
Where We Are Now
We are thrilled to be a part of the Battleground community. We’re one block off Main Street, on the East side of town. Not only are we in the heart of downtown Battleground, but we’re also close to the High School and a lot of new neighborhoods that are going in!
How We Got Here
In 2019, our pastor started feeling like God might be calling the church to move to Battleground. The leadership discussed it and felt like it wasn’t the right time. Over the next few years, God started opening up doors for our pastor to start building relationships in the community. When we were faced with some financial challenges as a result of the pandemic, we put our building in Vancouver up for sale, trusting that God would guide us where He wanted us. After having a few groups look at the property, a church from Battleground came and looked. They looked a second time and a third. Our pastor pitched the idea of swapping buildings, which is exactly what happened. We moved to town in September of 2022 and are excited to see what God does in the years to come.
Our Vision:
- Unity. The world is too divided. We want to be a source of bringing people together across divides. We see a community that puts political differences aside and comes together for the good of the whole.
- Transformation. We believe Jesus was the greatest person ever to walk the earth. He gave his life to fix what we had broken. He rose from the dead, defeating the consequence of our actions. And gives new life to anyone who believes in Him. We want to see one more person believe in Jesus. Because when someone believes in Jesus, it changes everything.
- Lighting up the darkness. We want to change the world by making a difference from within it, not condemning it from the outside. We see a church full of people who go into their Monday – Friday lives and live lives that shine so bright that it draws people to them.