New Here

We exist to know Jesus, and to make Him known, for the glory of God and the joy of all people.

Our Story

We love Jesus. We love Seattle. We want Seattle – from the avenues to the alley ways – to love Jesus. This mutual love triggered a small group of people to begin praying about planting a new Jesus-loving, Bible-believing, gospel-centered church in the heart of downtown Seattle. In the spring of 2010 this vision began to materialize. We gathered a launch community. We developed our vision, mission and values. We prayed, served and shared the gospel. Many moved downtown. God went before us in supernatural ways. Our communities multiplied. People met Jesus. Then, on April 3rd 2011, we marked our birth as a newly forming church in the heart of downtown Seattle. Every church is planted at some point, we just happened to be in 2011. Our prayer is that God would use DCC to sink the roots of the good news of Jesus Christ deep into the heart of this great city. We invite you to join us as this story, His story, continues to be written. “O Lord, [we] have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known…” (Hab 3:2)

Our First 5 Years

In 2016, we celebrated our 5th birthday as a newly-forming church in the heart of downtown Seattle! Jesus has been exceedingly kind to us. We prepared this video to remember and celebrate God's faithfulness to us:

Sunday

Downtown Cornerstone is primarily a people, not a place. We are real people, asking real questions, worshiping the real God. We gather together on Sundays at 10 am to worship through song, the preached Word, and the Lord's Supper. Each service is usually 90 minutes long and includes a 45-minute sermon. Dress is informal.

We are a diverse group of people with many different tastes and backgrounds. Whether you already follow Jesus or are seeking to know what that means, you can expect to receive a warm welcome.

Directions & Parking

Our address is 2333 Western Ave, Seattle, WA 98121. Click the map below for directions and parking options.

Families and first-time visitors may park at no cost in the lots located next to and across the street from 2333 Western Ave (purple shaded area on map) until 1:30 pm. In addition to the free street parking around the building, parking validation is also provided for everyone parking in the Bell Harbor Parking Garage (located at the blue shaded area on the map or at 2323 Elliott Avenue); please bring your ticket with you so we can validate it in the Commons.

Taking the bus or light rail is also a great option if you live in one of Seattle’s outlying neighborhoods. To find the best public transportation routes, just enter your starting location into Google Maps here to see the best available routes to 2333 Western Ave.

Cornerstone Kids

We are committed to partnering with you to joyfully teach and model who God is and what He has done for us. To learn more about our CKids ministry and grades currently offered, visit our webpage here. Children of all ages are also welcome to sit in the main gathering with their parent or caretaker. A comfortable nursing area is available for nursing mothers near the main entrance.

Vision and Values

Our Mission

We exist to know Jesus, and to make Him known, for the glory of God and the joy of all people.

Our Vision

We envision thousands of people from every corner of the city united under a new identity in Jesus and sent to love, serve and challenge the city…and the cities of the world. Out of personal gospel renewal, urban renewal will flow, as the very spiritual, social and cultural fabric of Seattle is redeemed. To achieve this, our prayerful aim is to create a movement of autonomous gospel-centered churches in every neighborhood of the city. Through the city, we'll reach the world.

Our 10 Core Convictions

Our 10 Core Convictions help to capture the essence of who we are as Jesus’ people in Seattle. They don’t say everything (see our Statement of Faith for that), but they do help create culture-making categories that clarify who we are seeking to be as Jesus’ people. These convictions are a simple summation of how the Scripture describes what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

God-Centered: Defined by God

Jesus-Treasuring: Abiding in Jesus

Spirit-Empowered: Indwelt by the Spirit

Bible-Saturated: Governed by God’s Word

Prayer-Filled: Dependent in prayer

Mission-Driven: Relentless in mission

Disciple-Making: Devoted to discipleship

Church-Focused: Dedicated to the local church

People-Loving: Welcoming every neighbor

City-Renewing: Committed to the city

To learn more about our 10 Core Convictions, check out our sermon series titled First Things.

What We Believe

Statement of Faith

I. God's Revelation: The Bible

God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both the record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error (inerrant and infallible) in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.

Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; John 16:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Revelation 22:18

II. God: The Trinitarian Godhead

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.

Genesis 1:26; 11:7; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:1-2,14,18; Romans 8; Hebrews 1:8-9; 1 Peter 1:2; Revelation 1:5-6; 22:3

III. God's Son: Jesus Christ

We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

John 1:1-3,14; Acts 4:12; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 1:27-30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:17; 4:15; 1 John 2:1

IV. God's Spirit: Holy Spirit

We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

John 16:8; Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 1:13-14

V. God's Creation: Men, Women, and Marriage

We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways.

Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 5:22-33

VI. God's Judgment: The Fall

We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g. physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.

Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:10-18; 3:22-23; 5:12; Ephesians 1-3,12

VII. God's News: The Gospel

We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is “Christ died for our sins . . . [and] was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).

Romans 10:9-13; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:3-4; 15:19; Ephesians 2:20; Colossians 1:20

VIII. God's Work: Justification

We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them— all to the praise of his glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer. We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We believe that a zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.

John 6:43-47; 6:63-65; 10:25-30; Acts 13:48; Romans 5:1; 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-10,12; 2:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:24; Revelation 5:9-10; 13:7-8

IX. God's Reign: The Kingdom

We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith, and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit, enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.

Matthew 5:13-16; Mark 12:31; Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19

X. God's New People: The Church

We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.

Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:6; 2:14; 2:19; 1 Timothy 3:15

XI. God's Sacraments: Baptism and The Lord's Supper

We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, in the name of the Father, and Son, and Spirit; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried and risen Savior, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership, and normally precedes participation in the Lord’s Supper.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be observed by his churches until the end of the world; that it is to be observed by the eating of bread and the drinking of the cup; and that it is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge, and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.

Matthew 26:26-29; 28:18-20; Acts 2:37-41; 22:16; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

XII. God's Future: Restoration

We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his indescribable holiness, and all things will be made new.

John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 2:15

This confessional statement is adapted, in large part, from the Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition.

Elder Affirmations

In addition to our Statement of Faith, which outlines the essential tenants of the Christian faith, we also hold to the following secondary theological distinctives, which we call our Elder Affirmations. While they are not essential to salvation, we believe these are clearly taught in Scripture and should therefore be embraced by God’s people. Our depth of worship, our joy in the Lord, and our unity in the Spirit are best served by valuing and embracing the whole counsel of God, as revealed in Scripture. That said, we do not believe this is an exhaustive list, nor do we believe that every part of these must be believed in order for one to be saved or even to be a part of DCC. Yet, we joyfully hold and teach these truths, calling on others to search the Scriptures to see if they are so (Acts 17:11).

I. The sovereignty of God’s grace in saving sinners

We are reformed in our theology. We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe, language, people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them, not based on foreseen faith but unconditionally, according to his sovereign good pleasure and will.
We believe that through the work of the Holy Spirit, God will draw the elect to faith in his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, graciously and effectually overcoming their stubborn resistance to the gospel so that they will most assuredly and willingly believe.
We also believe that these, the elect of God whom he gave to the Son, will persevere in belief and godly behavior and be kept secure in their salvation by grace through faith.
We believe that God’s sovereignty in this salvation neither diminishes human responsibility, including the call to personally repent and believe in Christ, nor marginalizes the necessity and power of prayer and evangelism, but rather reinforces and establishes them as the ordained means by which God accomplishes his ordained ends.

John 1:12-13; 6:37-44; 10:25-30; Acts 13:48; 16:30-31; Romans 3:1-4:25; 8:1-17,31-39; 9:1-23; 10:8-10; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Titus 3:3-7; 1 John 1:7,9

II. The empowering presence of the Holy Spirit

We are charismatic in our affections. We recognize and rest upon the necessity of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit for all of life and ministry. The Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son, whose primary ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He also convicts unbelievers of their need for Christ and imparts spiritual life through regeneration (i.e. the new birth).
The Spirit permanently indwells, graciously sanctifies, lovingly leads, and empowers all who are brought to faith in Christ, so that they might live in obedience to his inerrant Word. We do not believe a “second baptism of the Holy Spirit” is necessary for salvation, but rather encourage believers to live by the Spirit by stewarding his gifts for the glory of God and the good of his people.
The model for our reliance upon the Spirit and our experience of his indwelling and empowering presence is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who was filled with the Spirit and dependent upon his power for the performance of miracles, the preaching of the kingdom of God, and all other dimensions of his earthly ministry.
The Holy Spirit, who indwelt and empowered Christ in like manner, indwells and empowers his people through spiritual gifts he bestows for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ. These gifts are divine provisions apportioned variably by God’s will, vital to spiritual growth and effective ministry, and are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.

Matthew 3:11; 12:28; Luke 4:1,14; 5:17; 10:21; John 1:12-13; 3:1-15,34; 14:12; 15:26-27; 16:7-15; Acts 2:14-21; 4:29-30; 10:38; Romans 8:9; 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-13; 12:28-31; 14:1-33; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Galatians 3:1-5; Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:18

III. The complementary roles of men and women

We are complementarian in our practice. We are deeply committed to the equality of men and women, with men serving as responsible servant-leaders in both the home and church. Men and women are created in God’s image and are, therefore, equal before God as persons who possess the same moral dignity, intrinsic value, and equal access to God through faith in Christ.
Men and women are equally recipients of spiritual gifts designed to empower them for ministry in the local church and beyond. Therefore, men and women are to be encouraged, equipped and empowered to utilize their gifting in ministry, in service to the body of Christ, and through teaching in ways that are consistent with the Word of God.
While husbands and wives are both responsible to God for the spiritual vitality of the home, God has given the man primary responsibility to lead his wife and family in accordance with the servant leadership and sacrificial love characterized by Jesus Christ.
This principle of male headship should not be confused with, nor give any hint of, domineering control, which is explicitly forbidden. Rather, it is to be the loving, sacrificial, and protective care of a godly man who humbly lives under the loving authority of Jesus Christ.
We believe the office of pastor-elder (terms used to refer to the same office, along with “overseer”) is restricted to gifted, called, and qualified men. The pastor-elders are granted authority under the headship of Jesus Christ to provide oversight of the church. Further, only biblically qualified men are permitted to teach/preach the Word of God in the corporate assembly for the building up of the body.
We understand the Scriptures to teach that men and women can serve in the office of deacon, along with all other roles that do not exercise the spiritual authority of a pastor-elder.

Genesis 1:26-27; 2:18; Acts 14:23; 18:24-26; 20:17-36; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-7; 4:11-16; 5:17; 2 Timothy 4:1-4; Titus 1:5-9; 2:3-5; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 Peter 5:1-4

IV. The baptism of believers alone

We are baptistic in our polity. We believe the New Testament teaches that baptism is intended only for those who have placed a living trust in Jesus (i.e., believers’ baptism; aka credobaptism) as a sign of our union with him and participation in all its effects, along with his people. While we may, in certain cases, welcome a convictional paedobaptist into membership, all DCC elders are required to be convictional credobaptists.

Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:37-41; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:11-12; Ephesians 4:4-6

Member Covenant & Church Constitution

We are an elder-led and congregationally-governed church with a covenanted membership. Our Member Covenant is a summary of the Christian life described in the Scriptures and our agreement, by God’s grace, to carry out these responsibilities within the context of our church, for God’s glory, our joy, and the good of others.

Our church governance procedures are outlined in our Church Constitution.

For more information on church membership, read more here and join our Foundations class.

Annual Report | 2022

Our latest annual report recounts the evidences of God’s grace to us over the past year and shares our prayerful goals for this next year. Click here to view the report.