Taproot Church

Mission and Vision

Taproot Church desires to live the simple mission of Jesus stated in three driving values. The first and foremost of these three is to be Rooted in Christ. Jesus is everything and all things all the time, therefore our primary mission and vision as a community of Christ followers is to be always going deeper and further into His love for us. Jesus prayed just before His crucifixion that we would be "one" with Him and each other (John 17).

The second driving value of Taproot is to be Rooted in Community. The authentic fellowship of the saints is a beautiful gift God has given to us and we treasure it deeply. SOMA Life, our small groups ministry, meets throughout the greater Seattle area through out the week facilitating intimate friendships, authentic worship, and local neighborhood mission. The community of Taproot is a group of servants striving together to give all for the glory of Jesus, therefore our membership philosophy is that members of Taproot covenant to give not get, commit not consume, serve and not sit.

Thirdly, Jesus was sent into the world to embrace lost souls within their cultural framework and die for them. Being Rooted in Christ and Community means that a natural result will be our church rooting itself in the culture. Taproot unashamedly embraces the souls of this generation and the culture they live in without compromising the saving message and truth of Jesus Christ.

Whether you're a seasoned saint, a skeptic with honest questions, or a desperate soul just looking for answers, we love Jesus, each other, and you so feel welcome to check out our Sunday services or visit on of our SOMA Life groups and get rooted!

SOMA Life

Taproot prays to be a church of small groups—not a church with small groups. Sadly, much of Christianity is based completely around an hour long Sunday morning experience. Though we value the corporate gatherings of Sunday mornings highly, we see the great need for the body to be together and grow together more often and more intimately.

SOMA is actually the greek word that the New Testament uses for our English word "body". We've turned the word into an acronym that serves as a compass pointing our small groups in healthy directions.

S is for service focused on the community of faith that one is committed to.

O is for outreach. Each SOMA Life group endeavors to be a sent force into their neighborhoods and workplaces incarnating and living out Jesus' mission to humanity.

M is for mirror. Paul would say we are all reflecting the glory of God. As the moon reflects the light of the sun our small groups endeavor to sit in the light of Jesus through study, prayer, worship, meditation, and conversation thus shining brighter and brighter.

A is for authenticity. In our plastic, high-speed society it's hard to discern who's real and what's real anymore.

SOMA Life facilitates deep relationships that provides real community, transparent answers, and secure friendships. Feel free to visit any of our groups any time.

Contact Jim for more info.

Membership

Membership at Taproot Church looks very different than what most "membership" concepts might conjure up. To become a member of Taproot is to subscribe to our set of beliefs and be called to serve and commit with this local body of believers.

We offer membership classes quarterly where one can learn about our basic beliefs, our mission philosophy, the structures and government of our church, and our hopes and dreams for the south end.

To become a member one is saying I want to commit not consume, give not get, serve not sit.

Contact Jason for more info.

Our Name

Our name is really rooted in our history. Taproot is a "replanted" church. For 44 years under the faithful ministry of Pastor Gib Martin this fellowship was known as The Trinity Church.

Down to around 40 faithful folks, Trinity Church knew that God had something new in store for them as Pastor Gib was retiring. With much prayer and seeking of the Lord it was decided that the church needed a complete overhaul, in essence to "replant" it. Dan Braga was called by the Lord as the guy to spear head this new work in the south end.

At dinner one evening with a friend of the church who was a wine connoisseur Dan had an amazing conversation about what makes great wine. The conversation revolved around the vineyard.

"To make great wine one must have great grapes. Vineyard keepers have developed a process where a vine is planted and begins to grow. The vine begins to produce fruit and make grapes. Then suddenly, seemingly without reason, the vineyard keeper takes away all the food and water from the plant. On top of the soil the plant slowly begins to shrivel, fruit drops away, and the vine goes into survival mode. Underneath the soil though the roots are going deeper and deeper, spreading wide and far in a desperate search for water and food. Then, just as the plant is about to give way and die, the vineyard keeper returns with abundant water, fertilizer, light and food. The root system of the vine is strong and far reaching now. This," said the wine connoisseur, "makes the best wine from the best grapes."

For Dan it was a parable that reflected the church he was now shepherding and it served as confirmation that God is doing His work still in miraculous ways. Taproot Church comes from a long history of ministry in the south end with deep and far reaching roots and now is moving forward as God pours out His Spirit upon us in fresh and exciting new ways.

Because Jesus is the God of restoration, renewal, and rebirth we are convinced that the next 50 years of serving Him will be more fruitful than we could ever imagine.