THE CONSIDER

STORY

A BRIEF HISTORY:

March 17, 2007 marked the beginning of a long journey that would eventually lead to the birth of Sideris Church here in Seattle years later. While working as an accountant for Deloitte, our founding pastor, Dave Evanger, received a phone call that would change his life forever. On the other end of the line was his father, Marc, who could barely manage to deliver the earth-shattering news: "Kim is dead."

Kim was Dave's older sister, 26 years old at the time. She had been hit by a passing semi-truck while cycling with her husband Patrick. Kim was killed instantly.

If you spoke to those who knew Kim, they’d use words like magnetic, supremely gifted, charismatic, uniquely energetic, kind and hilarious. So, why would God remove someone like Kim from this earth so soon? How could this be part of God’s “good” plan?

Her accident occurred on St. Patrick’s Day. Dave was out with friends at a St. Patrick’s day parade when he received the phone call from his father. He ran into the back alley screaming out to God, “NO, NO, NO!” — wailing in pain, denial, shock, anger, and confusion… teetering on the edge of despair.

Dave describes the moments that followed as nothing less than the supernatural intervention from God.

In complete exhaustion Dave shuffled to the ground, when suddenly it was as if the hysteria and confusion were wiped away in a single stroke. What replaced it was a peace and serenity that he had never experienced; his vision turned to a bright white and the dismay was replaced with a clarity of mind that Dave had never before experienced.

In that truly holy moment the Spirit of God delivered a message from his sister. She asked him to take this message to her friends, family, and co-workers. It was like a download of a 15 minute message whose their was this:

“Tell them that they must consider
the condition of their hearts,
what they believed about God,
and most importantly,
to CONSIDER Jesus.”

Kim’s message went on to implore:

“Tell them… Don’t wait to start considering.”

This word “consider” was the center of Kim’s message which Dave shared two weeks later at her memorial in front of the with the 1,000+ souls who attended (you can view full message from the memorial here). To a person, regardless of their current faith identity, they speak of “an unusual power” at work in that room. God was working through Kim’s words.

The deeper meaning behind the word “consider” was first discovered the night before Kim’s memorial service in 2007. As Dave was frantically searching for “better” synonyms of the word, consider. He discovered that the Latin roots which form “consider” were “com” and “sideris” which translate in English to “with” … “heavenly body.”

In the years that followed God continued to compel Dave and others to share this simple yet profound invitation to “Consider Jesus”. First, at the benefit events for Kim’s foundation, which were called the Consider Concerts and happened here in Seattle in 2008 (Showbox Theatre) and 2009 (Moore Theater) and then in the establishment of the ongoing city-wide effort we call The Consider Project (learn more) and then finally through the planting of Sideris Church in 2015.

We would love to have you join the movement that Kim’s message sparked in 2007. We long for a day when every human being in our city and beyond chooses to partake in a genuine act of full-bodied consideration of the person and work of Jesus Christ. We believe this will only happen when we invite and encourage each person to pursue this God-given capacity and privilege in the grace-filled community of the local church.

As Kim said: “Don’t wait another second to start considering.”