Sundays at 10 AM on Inglewood Hill Road
Sammamish Presbyterian Church meets at 22522 NE Inglewood Hill Rd in Sammamish, Washington. Each Sunday, the sanctuary fills at 10:00 AM for a contemporary worship service that blends music, prayer, Scripture reading, and a sermon from the pastoral team. The service typically runs until about 11:30 AM, and Communion is observed on the first and fifth Sundays of each month. A livestream is available each week for those unable to attend in person, and listeners can hear the service in many other languages through Wordly translation by scanning a QR code at the door. A recent order of worship included "Be Thou My Vision" as the opening song, "Only a Holy God" and "Simple Kingdom" after the welcome, a children's dismissal for SPC Kids, commissioning prayers for deacons and elders, the sermon on Amos 6, and closing songs "Clean Water" and "Way Maker," followed by announcements and a benediction.
Visitors arriving for the first time find guest parking near the main entrance, with greeters ready to answer questions and a coffee station just inside the doors. There is no dress code; people come in everything from jeans and t-shirts to more traditional Sunday attire. The Kids' Check-In station is just to the left as families enter the main gates.
"Love All, Everywhere, Like Jesus"
The church's motto, set in large type across the top of its home page, gives shape to everything that happens at SPC. The full vision reads: "We are a faith community that is an active part of God's work changing lives and communities throughout east King County and around the world." The mission sentence that follows is drawn from Matthew 22:37-40, the call to love God with heart, soul, and mind and to love neighbors as ourselves. Below the vision and mission sit seven stated values, each anchored to a passage of Scripture:
- The Holy Spirit as the power for transformation (Acts 2:1-4). SPC believes the Spirit is the ultimate power for changing lives and communities and intentionally creates experiences and environments where that work happens.
- Apprenticeship to Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30). The church encourages everyone to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do as Jesus did through an intentional set of spiritual practices.
- Mission to the non-member (Matthew 6:5-14). The faith community exists for the benefit of those outside it, seeking to create shalom by listening and responding to spoken and unspoken needs.
- Radical hospitality (Isaiah 58:6-10). SPC welcomes people just as they are, working to embrace the local community in all its God-given diversity.
- Justice, mercy, and humility (Micah 6:8). In partnership with God's Spirit, the church works to end injustice and suffering.
- The sent people of God (Matthew 28:16-20). SPC strives to encourage and equip every member to live faithfully the "other six days" of the week, at home, at work, or in their neighborhood.
As a Presbyterian congregation, SPC points visitors to the Statement of Beliefs of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for its formal theological grounding.
A Teaching Team Led by Jake Medcalf
Senior Pastor Rev. Jake Medcalf preaches most weeks and carries the overall vision of the congregation. His recent sermon arc has walked through a series called "The Chosen," using key moments from the show by the same name to explore parables and healings in Jesus' ministry, including the woman at the well, the healing of the leper, the paralytic lowered through the roof, and the sheep and goats of Matthew 25. Rev. Kelly Hostetler serves as a pastor and preaches regularly; she led the closing of the "Holy Spirit" series and preached "Message to Pergamum" in the Revelation series, and shares in the regular pastoral announcements. Tyler Easley, now Pastor Emeritus, returns to the pulpit periodically, including the "Message to Thyatira" sermon and the Palm Sunday "Great Commission" message from the "Way Forward" series.
Becca Philipsen and Eliana Maxim preach in the series rotation, and guest preachers such as Rev. Dr. Jerry Sittser, Dr. Jeff Lincicome, and former Interim Pastor Tom Dabasinskas round out the teaching calendar.
Worship leadership is now anchored by Chelsea Maitland, who joined SPC as Director of Worship in summer 2026. She came from Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Everett, where she led a short worship service, community event, and meal for families, and previously served at Redwood Falls Church, Bethany Community Church, and Bellevue Presbyterian Church. She leads the team that shapes the musical life of the gathered congregation each Sunday.
The lay leadership of the church includes a session of nine elders - Rob Danforth, Alexa Meissner, Ann Bongiani, Jon Weinstein, Keri Binsacca, Greg Robinson, Craig Lee, Denise Knopp, and Dave Castillo - elected by the congregation to three-year terms. A board of deacons - Lauren Anderson, Diane Buck, Linda Joyce, Lyn Langdon, Ali McKerlich, Sara Cupp, Nancy Beckham, Josh Berg, Kelly Brench, Heather Choco, Scott Nally, James Fischl, Lindsay Brady, Mike Hunter, Tom Escobar, Lisa Thompson, Don Burke, and Chrissie Rouse - serves alongside the elders, providing care and practical support to the church family.
Children, Students, and Family Life
SPC Kids serves infants through fifth grade each Sunday with age-appropriate Bible teaching, worship, and hands-on activities in a safe, fun environment. Nursery care is available for the youngest attendees. The Check-In Area sits just to the left as families enter the main gates of the building. Each summer, Vacation Bible School is a highlight, celebrated from the pulpit as a milestone for the children's ministry.
Student ministry gathers middle and high schoolers (grades 6 through 12) throughout the week. On Sunday mornings, middle schoolers meet in "The Box," the youth room, for their own teaching, while high schoolers are welcome to sit with the adult congregation in the main sanctuary. The student ministry runs an active calendar of camps, small groups, and service projects. Each summer, high schoolers head to YoungLife's Malibu Club in British Columbia for a week of zip-lining, waterfront adventures, themed events, and time with leaders and friends. Middle schoolers head to WyldLife's Crooked Creek Ranch in Colorado for horseback riding, theme days, and adventures. A spring Middle School Mission Lock-In sends students into the community to serve; recent participants partnered with The Sophia Way, a women's homeless shelter in Bellevue, where students sorted donations, hung clothing, packed snacks, and deep-cleaned the facility, while taking a late-night McDonald's run, playing laser tag, and hearing from guest speaker Chris Scott on living as compassionate humanitarians.
Each spring the church celebrates graduating high school seniors. Before they leave, the seniors sign a pillar inside The Box, a tangible reminder that they have helped shape the community and will always be part of it. The church's prayer for each graduating class is that wherever God leads them next, they will remember that they are deeply loved, they belong, and their foundation is in Christ.
Women's, Men's, Small Groups, and Care
SPC offers a full slate of adult discipleship paths. Women's Ministry provides Bible studies and events designed for women at every life stage. Men's Ministry gathers men around shared study, accountability, and service. The church's stated goal, articulated from the pulpit, is to have 900 people meeting weekly in growth groups, transformational cohorts that SPC plans to launch across the congregation beginning in the fall of 2027.
The Care and Prayer ministries complement the small group network. A prayer chain of staff and lay volunteers receives requests submitted online and prays personally for each need. The church maintains a prayer room that is available throughout the week, and the prayer calendar includes monthly prayer services and occasional nonstop days of prayer. Stephen Ministers also walk alongside people through extended difficulties.
Sending Students and Adults to Tijuana
Each summer, SPC sends high school and college-age students, along with adult leaders, to Tijuana, Mexico, in partnership with DOXA. The TJ mission trip centers on home-building for families in need. In a recent summer, thirty-one SPC students and young adults joined nine youth from Tijuana, leaders from DOXA and its local ministry partners, and three families whose new homes became the focus of the week. Together the team hauled gravel, swung hammers, painted, shared meals, and worshipped alongside the families they served. The trip, as the church described it, was about far more than construction - relationships were built across languages and cultures, students served, learned, worshipped, laughed, got incredibly dirty, and experienced the joy of giving their time and energy to others. Love Builds was both the theme and the story God wrote through people on both sides of the border.
A second global partnership takes a team to Constanza in the Dominican Republic with Kids Alive International, which operates seven schools and three residential homes in the country for children who have experienced abandonment or abuse. The team helps with construction, maintenance, classroom assistance, tutoring, and simply being present with the kids, while translators supplied by Kids Alive bridge the language gap. Constanza sits about 6,000 feet above sea level in the mountains, a milder climate than the capital.
A Network of Local Partners
Closer to home, the church runs a robust local mission network:
- Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank: SPC members volunteer regularly to provide quality food, hygiene items, and emergency supplies to neighbors in need, with a special emphasis on healthy and fresh local produce.
- KidVantage (formerly Eastside Baby Corner): the church supports this organization that provides essential care items to children experiencing economic insecurity, systemic inequities, or family disruption.
- World Relief: members help furnish permanent housing for newly arrived refugee families, with an Amazon wish list for household goods and move-in assistance coordinated by SPC volunteers.
- Issaquah Meals: SPC volunteers prepare and serve the community meal at Issaquah Community Hall on the second Thursday of every month, gathering in the SPC kitchen from 2:00 to 4:00 PM to cook before heading over for setup, service, and cleanup from 4:30 to 6:00 PM.
- VOICE Mentoring: an in-school mentoring program that pairs adult and high school volunteers with students across all 26 Issaquah schools.
- Tools 4 Schools: a backpack drive each fall benefiting the Issaquah Schools Foundation.
- ESL tutoring: SPC partners with other churches and individuals to provide English language practice for adult learners.
- Team World Vision: members train for the Tacoma City half or full marathon while raising funds for clean-water projects around the world.
- The Sophia Way: the church's middle school mission lock-in deep-cleans and stocks this Bellevue women's shelter each spring.
The Sammamish Block Party, hosted in cooperation with the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce, draws families, neighbors, and community partners together for food, games, music, and conversation each summer.
Online Life, Sermon Library, and Giving
For those unable to attend in person, the Sunday service is livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, with full services and individual sermon videos available for replay. Recent sermon series include "The Chosen," walking through key moments of Jesus' ministry; "Letters to the Churches," a tour through Revelation 2-3; "Holy Spirit," looking at the Spirit's character and work; "Lent: The Rhythm of Eremos," on solitude, silence, Sabbath, fasting, and prayer; "Advent: Mothers of Jesus"; "Nehemiah"; "Surprised by Hope: Hope in Practice"; "The Other Six Days," on faith and daily work; "Practicing the Way"; "Origin Stories," on the early church in Acts; "Being Mortal"; "The Way Forward"; "Exodus: Love Leads"; "1 John"; and seasonal Advent, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Holy Week, and Memorial series. A sermon podcast is also available on Spotify.
Online giving is available through the church's portal, by texting any amount to 1-833-784-0265, or by check or cash in the Sunday offering plate or church office. The church also accepts gifts of stock or mutual funds held for more than twelve months (with potential tax deduction up to 30% of adjusted gross income), IRA qualified charitable distributions of up to $100,000 for donors 70½ or older, and donor-advised funds, with instructions for each option posted on the giving page. Members can view and download their giving statements by logging into the church's Member Portal.
Visiting and Connecting
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 3 PM. The address is 22522 NE Inglewood Hill Rd, Sammamish, WA 98074. The main phone line is 425-868-5186, and the main office email is mainoffice@spconline.org. Giving questions can go to giving@spconline.org.
Visitors and newcomers are encouraged to stop by the Welcome Desk in the lobby, fill out a Connect Card or Prayer Card online, or sign up for the weekly e-newsletter to stay current on events and opportunities. Prayer requests can be submitted online at any time. For a first visit, the church asks only that guests come as they are, allow a few extra minutes to find parking near the main entrance and check in children at the Kids' Station, and expect a warm welcome from a congregation that is convinced God's love is meant to extend through every neighborhood in east King County and across every border.