I’m getting pretty pumped up about what is happening in the Gathering Church.
Here are some things I saw happening last Sunday:
1. Friends bringing friends. It’s great when we’re having such a positive experience together that we want to share it with our friends. And we know that our friends will meet others who will welcome them and immediately include them in the life of the church.
2. People who visited returning, excited about what they can experience with God and with others. It is good to see how quickly some of the newest people feel like they belong, as they are some of the last to leave.
3. Families doing church together. Since the beginning of our worship service includes the whole family, and the service follows with lunch together, families stay together and mix with other families – as families. It is no small thing to have the privilege of meeting children as well as adults. An extended family is extending.
4. Conversations happening all over the place. I love church being more than a crowd sitting, listening to one person. Our meal together gives us so much opportunity to speak and listen to one another.
5. Relationships growing. I hear people asking questions of each other, exploring life circumstances, current situations, concerns, hopes. The follow-up question to a hope or circumstance shared the week before is the best evidence of relationships being built.
Something special is happening and it is great to be part of it.