The Mission
Gather. Grow. Go
The mission of Gathered Church is to be a family of families; a community of Christians, GATHERED together, who love and serve each other. Jesus said that all people would know us by our love for one another and we strive to have this be our distinguishing feature.
As we love and serve each other we GROW to become the men, women, and children God called us to be. We want to support husbands and wives to develop strong marriages, parents to raise Godly children, and every individual to grow into the callings and purposes of God for their lives.
But we cannot gather and grow, without it leading us to take on God's mission in the world around us. We don't want to just be a community gathered, we want to be a community who gathers; who gathers the hurting, the lost, the isolated, to find the hope and love of Christ. God is a father to the fatherless and He puts the isolated in family. The Master of the wedding feast sends His servants out into the streets to gather all who will come. We must GO! - to our neighborhoods, our families, our workplaces, our schools, and to the ends of the earth - to the regions beyond.
In doing so we create a beautiful redemptive cycle of gathering as a family, growing as individuals and a community, and going into the world so that more can be gathered.
As we love and serve each other we GROW to become the men, women, and children God called us to be. We want to support husbands and wives to develop strong marriages, parents to raise Godly children, and every individual to grow into the callings and purposes of God for their lives.
But we cannot gather and grow, without it leading us to take on God's mission in the world around us. We don't want to just be a community gathered, we want to be a community who gathers; who gathers the hurting, the lost, the isolated, to find the hope and love of Christ. God is a father to the fatherless and He puts the isolated in family. The Master of the wedding feast sends His servants out into the streets to gather all who will come. We must GO! - to our neighborhoods, our families, our workplaces, our schools, and to the ends of the earth - to the regions beyond.
In doing so we create a beautiful redemptive cycle of gathering as a family, growing as individuals and a community, and going into the world so that more can be gathered.
The Vision
Community. Simplicity. Mission
As we built our church these three values guided our process. We first wanted to build a community - not an organization, an institution, or a meeting. This was not to be a church of professional Christians putting on a show for an audience.
We are a community.
We are the church gathered.
We expect each and every member to contribute, serve each other, and take on God's mission in their lives. The congregation doesn't exist to serve the leadership - to be a volunteer recruiting pool to fill the "churches" ministries. And the leadership doesn't exist to do the "work of ministry" so the members don't have to. They do not exist to reach your friends and family for you, disciple your children, and feed you.
Instead the leadership gifts exist to equip the saints for the work of ministry, so they can be empowered to enter the mission fields all around them and take on the callings God has for their lives.
We believe this is the Biblical model for the body of Christ, gathered and sent.
This first value led us to build a church that is simple. Our goal is not to build an impressive organization with all the programs, ministries, and services that modern Christians expect. We want to begin by stripping away all the extras we add to church, in order to get back to the heart of the church gathered. What does it mean to first be a community gathered to worship the Lord? What does it mean to love and serve each other? We strive to answer these questions first.
And throughout each of these values, mission is inescapably woven.
The community of Jesus is marked by mission.
The destiny of each individual is wrapped up in His mission for their lives.
And the purpose of the church is to accomplish Jesus' mission in the world.
Together, in community and simplicity, we hope to build a church that is marked by taking up His mission for us.
We are a community.
We are the church gathered.
We expect each and every member to contribute, serve each other, and take on God's mission in their lives. The congregation doesn't exist to serve the leadership - to be a volunteer recruiting pool to fill the "churches" ministries. And the leadership doesn't exist to do the "work of ministry" so the members don't have to. They do not exist to reach your friends and family for you, disciple your children, and feed you.
Instead the leadership gifts exist to equip the saints for the work of ministry, so they can be empowered to enter the mission fields all around them and take on the callings God has for their lives.
We believe this is the Biblical model for the body of Christ, gathered and sent.
This first value led us to build a church that is simple. Our goal is not to build an impressive organization with all the programs, ministries, and services that modern Christians expect. We want to begin by stripping away all the extras we add to church, in order to get back to the heart of the church gathered. What does it mean to first be a community gathered to worship the Lord? What does it mean to love and serve each other? We strive to answer these questions first.
And throughout each of these values, mission is inescapably woven.
The community of Jesus is marked by mission.
The destiny of each individual is wrapped up in His mission for their lives.
And the purpose of the church is to accomplish Jesus' mission in the world.
Together, in community and simplicity, we hope to build a church that is marked by taking up His mission for us.