Pastor Phil Wyman looks back at 2015 at The Gathering

2015 joins the previous couple years as part of our crazy years of transition. We have taken an epic wilderness journey into becoming a gathering of house (and pub) churches. This year (perhaps) has been even more of a wandering than any previous year of our existence. Then again, having mapped territory no one before us had ever mapped in our work in the city of Salem, maybe it was just another crazy year, but we keep following the Shepherd who leads us on.

2015 started off with a surprise. At the end of January, I (Pastor Phil) ended up with a sudden attack of back pains, which could have been measured on the Richter Scale. By February, this turned into an extended hospital stay and the discovery that the pains had nothing to do with pulled muscles or slipped discs. Rather, a strep infection was found in my blood stream, and pockets of that infection had settled inside my spinal column, and scarier yet, inside my heart. I was effectively down and out from late January until May, and although I was home for much of that time, I was connected to antibiotic drip systems six hours a day, which looked like a medical version of the “Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch.” And, fortunately, like the Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch it worked and wiped out the infection.

The church, and our local friends were wonderful during this time. They brought me food, lots of probiotics, and reminders of love. Boxes of nerds arrived from our geek friends, balloons from bartenders, and meals that made a hospital visit seem less of a drudgery. One of our home-groups even held a service in the hospital room one Saturday morning. I did not feel as badly, as my critical condition, and so I became a bit squirrely, and wandered the hallways playing my guitar and singing to people. This turned out to be enough of a hit, that some of the night crew cheered when I returned for a second visit, and then apologized for being excited to see me back in the hospital again.

Somewhere in this time, our now weekly home and pub groups gathered together for a grand meeting of eating and sharing and I was hooked to my Holy Hand Grenade, and they made it all happen, while I sat like a happy papa and looked on.

The Holy Hand Grenade worked just in the nick of time, and while the church had been meeting and doing its weekly activities without me, there had also been a UK Festival Outreach, which had been in the planning for 6 months. Two days before I was to fly to the UK, and meet Dennis there, I received the doctor’s clearance. So, off I flew to Wales with oral antibiotics in hand. There we built an art project at BurningNest; we worked the doors and debates at a philosophy festival; and we ministered to the 23,000 hippies, hipsters and all around seekers at Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice.

Of course, as October rolled around, we were back on the streets of Salem during our one million visitor month with live music every weekend, and hundreds of friends from around the country joining us for ministry. We bought pizza for some of the homeless youth and elders who like to hang around our stage, we interpreted dreams, we shared the love of our Lord Jesus with locals and visitors alike, and we simply created a presence of acceptance and love during a weird and wild holiday season in our unique city.

Between the time in the hospital and the frenetic pace of Festival outreach from Summer through Fall, this year has seemed like a blur, and does even now as I look back in the rearview mirror.

The hospital stay and prolonged downtime was perhaps a forced sabbatical of sorts. I was able to complete a book I had been working on for a few years, and Burning Religion is now self-published and online at Amazon.com.

Despite all this, we bought ice cream for the kids at the park on the Point in Salem during the summer, and we joined the World’s Largest Eye Contact Experiment in October.

Please keep us in your prayers. Getting back into a regular pattern of spiritual life as a body of people has not been easy, but we continue our ride into Bethlehem and appreciate every person who remembers our labors.

If you would like to help support the mission of the The Gathering, which has moved from a local expression of innovative mission, to something beyond the boundaries of our own country, you can do so at our website --> salemgathering.org. May your Christmas, your Solstiee, your Hannukah, and your New Year be blessed.

Closing out Lenten - 2 weeks to go: Thoughts on false poverty

"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."

I can not help but wondering if we are perhaps even more twisted than those who were the focus of Jesus' critique in the above passage in Revelation 3. The Laodicean church saw themselves as rich and without need. Christ saw them as spiritually destitute and at the edge of an eternal rejection: to be spewed out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

In the United States, most of us live in relative riches compared to much of the world. Even those of us in poverty are doing better than a majority of the world. Yet, as a common crunch comes upon the middle class of America, driving it downwards, even those of us who are doing well are feeling the downward spiral, and are panicking. Still we remain the rich of this world. Could it be that we who are rich in comparison to the rest of the world are beginning to see ourselves as poor, and through our sense of poverty claiming ourselves to be spiritually rich?

The Laodiceans knew they were rich and attached that richness to their spirituality. Could it be that we think we are poor, when we are really rich, and that we are attaching our false sense of poverty to the belief that our poverty makes us spiritually rich? Are we actually one more step removed from spiritual richness than even the Laodiceans were?

Let us finish the days of Lent with a proper sense of our place in the world: Most of us in America and Western Europe are economically rich compared to much of the world, and most of history. Yet, we see ourselves as poor, because commercialism has sold us a silly picture of success based upon the greed of a 2 year old who hasn't grown out of the "mine" season of life.

Do we know that we are rich? Or do we pretend we are not? Do we assume that God has a special place in His heart for us because we have falsely assumed that we are "poor?"

As we all know, God does have a place in His heart for the poor. Let us evaluate ourselves properly. Let us not press close to the gates of the poor if we do not belong there, but make a place for those who really do belong there.

Perhaps our true place is that we are liars, who like Ananias and Sapphira pretend we are poor. Perhaps our true place is that we are Laodicaens who are rich in pocket, and poor in spirit. Perhaps we are like Solomon whose wisdom in this world brought him a most disastrous idolatrous condition.

This is Lent. It is the season of our introspection. We are found in our enemies, and in the greatest failures of the faith.

Jesus without strings: a look back at 2011

Having a church in Salem, Massachusetts is considered by some to be adventurous enough by itself. Having that church downtown along the historic walk which all the visitors follow, and in the midst of the plethora of witchcraft shops, haunted houses and Halloween knick knack shops, is even more adventurous. Making friends with the Witches, the musicians, the artists, and the homeless in Salem is downright dangerous - or some believe it is. But, Jesus lived dangerously, and we expect that following His example might occasionally have the same adventurous results.

This year there have been some new and adventurous things happening at the church.

There is a a Open Mic every Thursday evening, and a group of local musicians have made the event a regular experience, and it has become a place some have found a home away from home.

Our creative style of outreach reached out as far as northern Nevada this year. With a team from around the US, we led an art installation at the Burning Man Festival. Like Salem, Burning Man is a strange and crazy place. A video of our project, with interviews from the people who came to experience it can be found on Youtube.

Like each of the last 13 years, October was a wonderful time of outreach and stories of redemption. People came from far and wide to minister with us once again - from Texas, California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the UK were just some of the places represented. The Vineyard, the Association of Bridge Churches, the Assemblies of God, Youth with a Mission, and people from Baptist and Episcopal churches were just a few of the groups represented. Our desire to become a place for people of all Christian traditions to minister in a unique post-modern, post-Christian environment is becoming more and more of a reality each year.

We believe in Jesus without strings.

The Gathering has also experienced a little growth. New faces, new people, and a sense of excitement with it.

Melissa and Jodi are re-starting the Women's Bible Study on Tuesday evenings. Ian has been recording the services and posting them on our Facebook page. The worship team is an amazing group of musicians, and help make the Sunday services both comfortable and fun. (The song link is Pastor Phil leading worship and Ian says this song sounded like an Irish Pub Song, because we were laughing at the fact that Jonathan stumbled on his way to the piano.)

Thousands have been touched in a variety of ways this last year through our outreach projects here in Salem, and now as far away as Nevada.

Many of you have been part of the support of our unique missional community over the years, and our thanks and appreciation go out to you. May the Lord bless you abundantly this Christmas Season, and in the New Year.

If you would like to help our small church with an enormous mission continue reaching the world with the message of God's abounding love in this coming year you can give securely online on our website.

Salem Outreach 2011

This was a fast paced month with every weekend busy with outreach, visitors from distant places who joined us for ministry, and some wonderful results in the busyness of it all.

The month started off with Mark and Anthea Searle joining us from Cheltenham, UK. They walked with some of the people of our church through "More Light" ministry sessions, and taught a short workshop on the basics of the ministry.

Dennis Huxley was here on that second weekend as well, and would return every weekend - even staying for a full eleven straight days at one point. In the end Dennis was with us in Salem for more days than he was home in Rome, NY.

John Harding joined us from the Bridge Church in Ipswich and led a couple local teams through Dream Interpretation and prophetic outreaches at The Gathering.

Andy Gamble joined us from Pennsylvania on four different weekends, and brought people with him - lots of people with him - and different people each week.

Brandon and Grace Crummer helped lead teams in Dream Interpretation, prophetic ministry, and healing prayers. Matt Keating joined us from Ohio and brought a team with him on the fourth weekend. We were also joined by Jamie Dickson from Crave Ministries, a YWAM missions team, and a variety of people who flew in specifically to join us: April Alario, Alan Drake, Christopher Gaston, Allen Henninger, Peter Parkas, Debora Spotted Eagle, the Matthews family from British Columbia and Enrique who is from Honduras even joined us during his travels across the US.

Here are a few highlights, and strange events from the month:

Enrique tells the story of his interaction with a man with a severe case of arthritis who was prayed for by one of the prophetic ministry teams. He started off with constant pain which he described as "10" in severity, and in a few short minutes of prayer was experiencing painless freedom.

A man from Philadelphia sat in to receive ministry from one of our teams, and told them that he returns every year to Salem specifically for this experience. His wife was not quite as zealous as he was about the experience and wondered at her husband's zeal.

A number of people made solid steps toward walking with Jesus. They made confessions of faith for the first time, and asked for more information on how to get involved with the kind of outreach we are doing. Deliverance prayers were offered at length for people struggling with depression, or temptation to fall into old habits or lifestyles, and by the end of the month a whole crew of friends was part of our little circle at The Gathering.

To make such festival evangelism work properly it requires hard work, creativity and sensitivity.

I can not thank the members of our small church enough: Joyce, Jeff and Diane, Rennie and myself put people up in our homes throughout the month. Carlos organized the crazy schedule of visiting friends. Paul and Carrie handled organizing the massive task of serving free hot cocoa next to our outdoor stage. Jane was there just about every day, making food and filling in wherever she was needed. David helped run the sound on the stage, and performed a couple gigs as well. Jodi helped arrange a concert with the worship band Aradhna, and it was a smashing success. These are just a few examples of the hard work necessary to put on such a large number of events in the month of October.

The creativity this year seemed to be flow beautifully and naturally. Christopher Gaston brought dozens of his pictures to give away to people who came to us, and personally signed them. The music from our outdoor stage was exciting and the number of local bands who show unbelievable talent was striking. Ian Bennet worked hard on video taping responses from some of the people who came to minister alongside us, and soon we will putting together a video of some of our work here in Salem. April joined the festivities by dressing the part, and came in costume as "the fire of God." These are only a few of the creative expressions found this month at The Gathering.

Of course, there is always a necessity for sensitivity. In a small tourist city with over a dozen Witchcraft shops, and a tourist season dedicated to Halloween, one must be sensitive to many things. The Gospel is in its own right offensive enough at times, but there is no reason for us to add to the offensiveness by either rudeness, or a lack of understanding the cultural dynamics we are facing. During the last week we were faced with blaring bull horns and preachers standing outside the church shouting to the crowds about their sins, and telling that they were going to Hell. As every other year, we try to help them see that there might be a better way to reach people, and often we do so in vain, but occasionally some of them understand our concern. This year was as crazy as usual on the final few days of October, and some of our new friends who had just decided to follow the Jesus Way were themselves quite offended by the antics of the noisy street preachers.

Such are the challenges and the joys of ministering at the Haunted Happenings festival in Salem, Massachusetts in October. Please keep us in prayer as we seek to help those who are now recently following Christ to grow in their new faith.

Too many stories to tell. More coming soon, and videos as well.

Update on The Gathering

The Gathering: an update on activities, outreach, finances and life.

Hi Friends!

As is the case for many of us in these wild times, The Gathering is going through wild times. Changes, challenges and gloriously wonderful experiences.

The Gathering has never been, since our inception, church as usual. Our friends are unique, our way of doing things is open and invites questions and responses, our outreach is innovative in this unique and world-famous small city, and our location is even weird and wild. We have had a great group of people involved in our lives over these first 12 years of our existence, and are thankful for every one of them. We would not be here without you. Each, and every one of you who have made this home - even for a season.

Here is the latest in brief:

• new faces are appearing almost every day at The Gathering
• an outreach to Burning Man is coming up in less than a month
• we have a new member - born today
• finances are as tight as they have ever been

Okay, that's the short of it. Here's the longer version:

New Faces from The Vault Alarm! Open Mic Night each Thursday

Thank you Chris Reiss, Dan Kupka, Will Spreadbury, and David Gerard. These four guys have been instrumental in starting an Open Mic night at The Vault. It was the brainchild of Chris Reiss, and Dan Kupka added his skills and influence and the first night 50 people showed up. It is quite fun to see the community arrive at The Vault and experience some fun, music and friendships. It's not a church service. It's not  a evangelistic outreach. It's just a community event, and our friends are enjoying it. After three weeks some of them like it enough to check us out on Sundays or at the Lectio Divina early Thursday PM service, and of course everyone is welcome to everything we do - but never pressured!

Burning Man Outreach

Matt the Pirate and Pastor Phil are headed to Burning Man deep in the Nevada desert. They are part of an art installation team which was Pastor Phil's crazy idea. They (along with other team members from around the U.S.) raised $5,000 on kickstarter.com, and will be erecting pillars in the desert which will be used to allow people to meditate and listen for "the voice of the Spirit." Please keep this project in prayer. They are hoping to film it and turn it into a short film documenting the voices people hear today.

New Member - Aria Marie Bennett

She was born to Ian and Brittany Bennett at 2:48 this afternoon. Yeah!

Finances

Many people have been asking how we are doing, and if we are still surviving. The answer is we are still here, and believing that we shall be able to increase to a place of stable financial support. So far, so good, but like many people in our country today the belt is tighter than usual.

Our space has allowed us to do things most churches only dream about in regards to reaching a community. In fact, many churches have joined us over the years to help us serve the city of Salem and it's 500,000 visitors. We have been able to hold this spot in a strategically beneficial location on behalf of many others over the years. Yet, it has not been without great cost, and just as it has been at some other points in the past our finances are crucially tight.

Our location and our unique and creative ministry have become a model for thousands of people over the years, and we are dependent on the prayerfulness and support of others often, because our church is so small; but our dream, our mission, and our work has been so large.

If you have been blessed by The Gathering over the years - please keep us in your prayers, and if you are able, we are most indebted and thankful for your financial support.


Blessings in most abundance upon you, and the God of Grace give you rest for your soul,
Pastor Phil

Burning Man Art Project

Pastor Phil has designed and is leading a team of artists to build an art installation at Burning Man at the end of August. Below is a video prepared for the project fundraising, which will give you an idea of what it is like:



David Gerard, one of our own from The Gathering has provided an ambient music meditation CD to help raise the funds for this art installation.

Consider helping to support this project, and keep us in your prayers.

Pastor Phil

Left Behind: The Party! May 22nd - rough draft poster

Good Friday Service 2011

Good Friday musings at The Gathering today:

Gathered by candle light around the reproduction of the celtic cross from Drumcliffe, Ireland.

"Cast a cold Eye on Life on Death, Horseman pass by" These are words upon the grave stone of William Butler Yeats who is buried in the graveyard at the church in Drumcliffe, Ireland. They were not a focus of our time together tonight but they do highlight some of our thoughts.

We talked about the revolution which is the cross - a revolution which eventually shall overthrow all the Kingdoms of this world through a violent sacrifice of love.

Jew and Gentile, Church and State, You and I are responsible for the death of Christ.

Heather Leigh asked a what if question - what if the end was not determined or known by God, but it was big chance He was taking? This is a great Good Friday question, because we are faced with that same question every time we are forced to live out the revolutionary nature of the cross of Christ.

We also talked about the dead tree which the Lord was hung upon, and how it seems to speak of this earth day. The dying Creation was used by humanity to torture and kill the shepherd of the earth. How apocalyptic can it get?

David Gerard helped organize the service - thanks David.

The Halloween Cleanup: Stories to Come

This morning the last Essex Street evidences of Halloween were loaded onto a flatbed truck.  A man named "Wind" and myself loaded scaffolding from the Fountain Stage onto the Lynn Ladder and Scaffolding truck.  This is the hard mark of the end of Haunted Happenings events for me each year.  It's not really over until the stage rolls away down the street - not to return for another 11 months.

This is also the time I look back and reconsider the events over the last month, tells the stories, and publish the adventures.

From the first weekend on Saturday, October 2nd the crowds were heavier than usual for the beginning of the month.  The final weekend Saturday crowds were estimated at 40,000 by the police and 60,000-70,000 on Halloween Night.

For four weekends we ran live music on the streets of Salem, we sponsored the 15th annual Salem Halloween Children's Day, we had teams of people doing dream interpretation and "spiritual readings" for four weekends, we gave away free hot cocoa, and hosted the international photography project WDYDWYD? by asking people "Why do you do what you do?" and taking pictures of them with their answers.

People who have served alongside us this year came from as far away as Cheltenham, England and Caernarfon, North Wales to as close as Beverly, Massachusetts.  Many of these people are writing their stories and sending them to us so we can share them with you in the upcoming days.

For now you can see a few favorite moments from our barefoot monk in residence - Jeff Gentry on his blog.

If you would like to see pictures from the Salem news and read about the Halloween season from the perspective of the city newspaper go here.

3 weeks of Outreach and one last week to go

October is the busiest month of the year in Salem, Massachusetts.

This is also true for our little church, which is situated on the red lined Heritage Trail in downtown Salem.  In the last three weeks we have set up a stage, hosted live music from local entertainers on it, organized and ran a Children's Day event on the Salem Common, given away free hot cocoa, offered free dream interpretation and "spiritual readings," and have hosted the international photography project "Why Do You Do What You Do?"

Visitors have come from near and far to participate with us in outreach.  Included in these participants are John Harding and the gang from the North Shore Bridge Fellowship; Mark and Anthea Searle from the Cheltenham Bridge Fellowship in Cheltenham, England; The Streams Ministries internship from New London, New Hampshire; Danette Strandell (a fellow Burner)  from St Joseph's, MO: our longtime friend Dennis Huxley from Rome, New York; another fellow Burning Man outreach team member Alan Drake from Dallas, Texas; and of course the wonderful people from The Gathering.

On Saturday, October 16th we held the 15th annual Salem Halloween Children's Day.  For the last 9 years we have been in charge of it, and sponsor the day with the help of Domino's Pizza.  We organize it, promote it, and run it on the day of the event.  The event is one of the few large events in the city of Salem in October targeted to reach the children of Salem.  This year we were almost rained out.  Instead we were winded out - which meant the wind was too strong for some of our large rides to make an appearance, but we still held the costume parade, and thanks to Brian O'Maerlaigh we just had some plain old fun with the kids on the common.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of people were touched by the personal ministry of the spiritual counseling we offer for free from The Gathering, and from our location near the music stage near the Peabody Essex Museum.

Hot cocoa began its service this last weekend, and at least 1,500 free cups of hot cocoa were passed out on Saturday and Sunday thanks to the teams from The Gathering of Jeff and Kellie Gentry, Carrie Erwin, Rachel and Jonathan Meharry, Paul Drake, Elizabeth Steadman, Joyce Greer, Chris Dugan, and Linda Quadros.  (Hopefully I got everyone!)

Local musicians performed on the stage,and they included:  Paul Duffy's group from the Front Street Coffee House Open Mic Night, Via Perkins, Sarah Van Wyk, Yvan Pierre Marlier, Lily Press and her husband Simon, Black Dog Brother, The Dejas, Clay Ventre, Julian Baptista, Deb Crosby's Talent Show, and Honour Havoc.

The stories of people who were deeply touched by the personal ministry of our spiritual counseling teams came from the interns at Streams Internship, our own members at The Gathering, and our visitors like Dennis Huxley.  Dennis commented that this might have been the most significant weekend of the last 4 years of visiting he has been a part of.

Along with the Spiritual counseling we have been taking photos of people who are answering the question, "Why do you do what you do?"  This project was started by Tony Deifell at Burning Man about 7 years ago.  I met him at Burning Man this year, and asked if we could do the project in Salem during the Halloween festivities.  Thanks to photographers Deborah Twombly, and Ben Corey, we got to the artistry of WDYDWYD? this last weekend.

People who do not have a Christian background have been touched by the gentle guidance of God's Spirit.  We work hard to bring blessing to everyone whether they are Christians, or of other spiritual persuasions, or even perhaps no spiritual persuasion at all.  With the belief that God loves all people regardless of their beliefs we are attempting to show the love of Jesus without bias, and it has been having a positive effect on all who come our way.

Special thanks goes out to The Gathering members who have provided a place for people to stay, and food for the spiritual counselors.  Thank you Rennie Treantos, Joanne Joyce, Carl and Melissa Nystedt, Joyce Greer, and Jeff and Diane Menasco.

This is a short report on the activities of outreach during the last three weeks here in Salem, MA.  Your prayers, and of course, your support in even a small way help make all this possible.  If you would like know more go to The Gathering Website.  There you can make a tax-deductible donation, or find our email address and sign up for our ministry mailing list.

First Weekend of Outreach in Salem, MA

October 9-10 marked the first weekend of outreach and community service by The Gathering during this 2010 October season.

The Fountain Stage held 4 hours of music in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday.  Via Perkins from Salem State College was the first performer.  I met Via some months ago while she performed at Gulu-Gulu cafe, and decided we needed to get her great voice and engaging personality up on the stage.  I didn't realize that she was part of the Christian club at Salem State, and her songs were about relationship with God.  So, I was surprised by the wonderful spiritual motif of her music, and impressed by the crowd's interest.  Sarah Van Wyk is a gothic/classical/industrial music with themes on prayer and seeking God - Sarah will be back, including Halloween Night.  These are just two of the artists who played this weekend.

On Saturday afternoon John and Sabrina Harding brought a encounter team from the Bridge Church in Beverly, and they interpreted Dreams and held spiritual encounters Saturday afternoon and evening.

Mark and Anthea Searle have joined us from the Cheltenham Bridge Church in Cheltenham, England.  They shared "More Light" ministry with us, and have been holding spiritual counseling sessions with people from our church.  They have also joined us for Dream Interpretation and "Spiritual Readings." 

We have had people share dreams with snakes, or the death of loved one's, and those who shared their dreams felt encouraged, relieved, and helped toward a deeper relationship with God.

Danette Strandell joined us from Missouri Saturday Night.  Danette and her husband Tom are starting a church in St. Joseph, MO.  She led us through communion on Sunday morning, and joined us in outreach on Sunday afternoon.

Jeff MacDonald, a reporter for a Christian publication has been talking with us over the last few days, and learning about our outreach.  He has been talking with myself, Danette, Mark and Anthea, and the people we minister to.

This is the first of four weeks of outreach.  Next week we will run a Children's Halloween Festival on Saturday the 16th - Hopefully we won't be rained out.  Stay tuned for more information through the week.

What we do, and why we do it each October - a podcast

People want to know what we do each busy October here in the city of Salem, and why we do it.  The month is now upon us, and so here is a description of the events we are involved in, and a few reasons for doing them.
       

   
   
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If this is a dream you identify with, and you'd like to help support our work, consider becoming a partner with us. You can help through donations and prayers and/or joining us.

October in Salem (a podcast)

This is a short description of what it is like visiting Salem in the month of October.  Some people think of it as "the world's largest Witchcraft festival."  That's not an accurate description.  So, you might want to get a feel for what it really is like.
       

   
   
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Pastor Phil on Doug Paggit Radio talking about Witches and Salem

I (Pastor Phil) did a 8 minute spot with Doug Pagitt on his radio show while in Washington DC at Wesley Methodist Seminary at the Transform East Conference.  Here's the embedded YouTube video of the show.  We don't actually look like we are facing each other in this interview, but that's the angle of the cameras.

Our buddy Ben preaching this Sunday

Ben Corey is the speaker this coming Sunday morning.  He joined for outreach this last October, and was a perfect match with the wold encounters, which occur every Haunted Happenings season.  You may remember Ben from his connection with us in October, are if you have been a part of the Emergent Cohort, you may also met Ben.  Then again you might also remember Ben from the short clip below which was part of a series I created at my Square No More site asking for definitions of the Emergent Church.  Here's Ben again - don't miss him on Sunday morning. 



I'll be with our friends at CotC in Carsbad, CA and Tom Conlon is there doing a concert as well - hmmmmmmm...traveled 3,000 miles to see Tom who lives in the town next door - funny.

What's in the narrative? Help define our Church! Please!

During the counsel meeting on Monday evening there was a discussion on the narrative we weave around who we are as a church.  Otherwise, what is the best way to describe The Gathering.  This was not an easy thing to do.

It was not easy, because we do so many things outside the box of traditional church life.  Yes, we have Sunday morning services, and Sunday evening services.  Yes, we have people who donate their money to help support The Gathering.  It keeps us in a church building on the main thoroughfare of public foot traffic in downtown Salem - well, at least our hearty little band is trying to do that.

BUT (yes I used the taboo big yelling letters, because it is a big but):

• We also get involved helping with community events (still good so far). 
• We organize a large missional outreach to the 500,000 visitors and the locals who spend their time in downtown Salem every October (still easy enough to fathom).  
• We have taught hundreds of people to do this work in a post-modern, post-christian setting (now we are stretching and looking like something which would be defined as "parachurch" - otherwise not church but helping it).  
• We have become a place for missionally minded people to travel and work on a volunteer vacation - a type of pilgrimage of their faith, and we put them up in our homes! (okay, now we are stretching the boundaries of description!).  
• We have become a location for a number of city events, and want to see this increase as well. (and I know some churches do that, but it has not been my experience that a lot do it.)
• We have been growing in the number of social justice educational activities we perform (now that adds a new twist).  
• And we have befriended people not normally attached to typical evangelical or pentecostal churches - like witches, GLBT, atheists, and whoever typically doesn't like doctrinally conservative Christians (and I don't know what to do with that myself - except appreciate it a whole lot).

So Jeff Gentry described who we are as Open Source Christianity.  Well, that went over great with people who understand social networks and other computer jargon.  Joanne doesn't have a computer at home, and some others only just use their email.  It was a great way to say that everyone involved has something to share and contribute to the life and definition of who we are, and it describes well the fact that we are a place for others to come learn and also share.  Yet the terminology only works for the social networking and computer elites among us, and those who are growing up with this stuff (except even Melissa was lost in the Open Source narrative.)

So I suggested the abbey narrative.  Perhaps we are like the old abbeys, which became the center of community life for a region, places for the poor to be received, centers of worship, places of pilgrimage, training grounds for new ministers of the Gospel, and sending centers for missionaries.  This narrative works well for those with a knowledge of church history or a background from orthodoxy, but for evangelicals and those not brought up in church an abbey seems like a big old church building, which at one time had monks in it.  Today you visit, and throw a couple bucks in the kitty to keep the pretty old building from falling apart.

So, the question is:  What narrative works best to describe this crazy community of faith?  Is there a good and accurate one - one making sense to young and old, educated and uneducated, those with a background in church and those new to Christianity alike?  Or must we use multiple narratives to describe who we are:  the Open Source and abbey Christianity, and a few other descriptive story lines as well?

Do you have a narrative to describe us?  Is there an illustration from church history, everyday life, car repair, garbage retrieval, or knitting to define us?  If you have ideas send please comment below.  We-a needs-a the help-a! (Pentecostal accent applied to the last line.)

The Gathering: Offering Peace, Welcoming Pilgrims, Pursing Gospel Mission

More than a Local Church: A Community Peace Project, a Pilgrimage Location, a Gospel Mission.

Over the last couple months The Gathering at Salem has been engaged in some of the most innovative and culturally appropriate missions work to be found in the United States.

Every October a half million pilgrims pour into our city to celebrate Halloween, experience alternative spiritualities and party with their friends. Every year we welcome these guests by extending hospitality, offering spiritual counsel and inviting them to experience the incredible grace of God. We could not maintain this mission without the hundreds of people serve beside us throughout the season, or without your generous prayer and financial support.

The rest of the year we continue to impact our city through community service, events designed to reach the city of Salem with lovingkindness, which we believe God has expressed to us through His Son.

Although we have been serving the Halloween pilgrims for 11 years, the last 3 we have had the great privilege of serving them from The Vault – a unique location at the very heart of the city. Since The Vault is a “safe place” for people to experience the hope of Jesus, our location has magnified our ability to introduce the city and its pilgrims to the mission of God.

Over the course of these 11 years, hundreds of people have expressed a desire to meet God, and we have helped them to meet Him. Tens of thousands have been counseled about spiritual issues as we teach them to know the voice of God. They have been served free hot cocoa, entertained by live music, and been blessed freely by our roving "monks." They have received apologies for the times when churches may have hurt them. They have learned about some of the most compelling challenges to social justice in our day, and we have all been gently touched by the Gospel of Love.


Preparation for the Coming Season:

Now, we move into the quieter Winter season. We will gather cold weather clothing for the poor. We will serve the families of Salem with music, and free hot cocoa during the holiday season, and we will create opportunities to meet the community in discussion groups and events in The Vault.


Our small church has become a place, which has been utilized for evangelical mission and social service by dozens of churches and hundreds of individuals each year. Our little group has sacrificially responded to make this mission a reality, but we are in need of help from our friends and those who believe in our mission in order to be able to continue the mission.

Would you consider helping to support the work of The Gathering at Salem this season by offering a one time gift, by joining list of friends who support us monthly and pray for us as we serve both our city and its pilgrims, perhaps with an offering at your church on Sunday morning, or adding our mission to the list of missions your church supports throughout the year? We are confident that God has placed us in Salem for such a time as this and we would deeply appreciate your support.

Letter to Our Friends and Partners

Greetings Friends,

It is impossible in the space of a short post to communicate the number of ways The Gathering reaches out to the city of Salem, MA, it's 500,000 October visitors, and the people seeking out alternative spiritualities like Witchcraft and Paganism. There is no other location in the world with the unique opportunities which have been provided to our small church. Our website says it well: We're a small church with a big mission.

Pastor Jeff Gentry blogs about some of our activities at his site: http://gentry13.blogspot.com/

• We will serve thousands of people free hot cocoa, and this year Equal Exchange has joined us to help serve Fair Trade (that means not produced by slaves) Hot Cocoa.
• We will personally minister to a couple thousand people in spiritual counseling opportunities, and they will stand in line to sit down with us.
• We will train people to understand and communicate with the unique culture around us in Salem, MA.
• We will help sponsor 350.org's sustainability event day on October 24th.
• We will provide the largest free outdoor entertainment venue in the city.
• We will take people through an experience of death and afterlife to allow them to consider the ramifications of eternity.
• We will send people onto the streets dressed as monks to offer free blessings.
• 7/24 prayer will join us for two nights of prayer at The Vault.

... and yet, there is still more happening.

Please consider praying for us each day this season. We are dependent upon the good graces of God, and freedom of His Spirit.

Also consider joining us as partners in support of the ministry at The Gathering. We have recently set up a paypal link on our website which allows you to set up a monthly debit from your account. Some of you have asked me about this in the past, because you wanted to give regularly in an automated manner. You can find the link to this partner support page here:
http://www.salemgathering.com/Friends_of_the_Gathering.html

You are our friends, our acquaintances and a large part of our success. Thank You.


Salem (Peace) to You,

Pastor Phil
The Gathering at Salem
217 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970

Gathering Update, Oct. '09

I just finished building the duck house for our five "girls," only to find out that the five female ducks we have been raising since they were one day old are not all girls. Despite having them "sexed" before they were sent to us, one of the girls turned out to be a boy.

Last week the hot water heater in our house gave up the ghost, and leaked all over the basement. $800 later all is well - everything except the checkbook.

The stories which come from home mirror the stories of life at The Gathering. We are on the verge of the most fruitful season of the year - October is almost upon us, and we will start an extremely hard working time of planting the seeds of a harvest of grace and peace.

Like our growing ducks, new life springs up around our ministry each year in October. Like the one boy duck, who we thought was a girl this new life comes with surprises, and does not look like we expected. Like a new hot water heater this outreach comes with a cost.

Unless you have visited Salem, MA in October you can not imagine the potential for touching people with God's love. Over the last 30 years Salem has grown into one of the foremost destinations for people who enjoy Halloween, and for those who are interested in alternative spirituality with 500,000 visitors coming in the month of October.

Often Christians have avoided the festival, believing that the ground was "too hard" for effective outreach. But, 10 years ago we arrived in Salem, and felt that we had a responsibility to touch the multitude of celebrants with the Good News of God's grace and love, and we were surprised to find a welcome reception for the Gospel amidst the October crowds.

So it is that we have found ourselves with great favor in the city - partially due to the interactive, fun and non-confrontational approach we take toward the Halloween season.

Our festival outreach has grown to serve well over 5,000 people in face to face interaction each year, and another 40,000 to 50,000 people who experience our festival and live music events. It has been noted by local Christians, even by the politicians and most surprising to us - even by the Witches - that the work of our church has been influential in establishing an environment of peace, which had not existed 15 years ago during October in Salem. These are a few of our activities this year:

• Hosting Children’s Day – which provides low-cost food and family friendly entertainment for about 3,000 people
• Participating in innovative evangelism by offering P(s)alm Readings from the ancient, mystic wisdom of the scriptures and donning monks robes to go out 2 x 2 offering free blessings to thousands of people
• Serving 8,000-10,000 cups of free hot cocoa throughout October as an act of hospitality
• Partnering with organizations like Not For Sale – a non-profit that speaks out on behalf of the 27 million people who are currently in slavery today (see http://www.notforsalecampaign.org )

Our small church has been a sacrificially serving and giving group of people, and because of the sacrifice we have been able to support this prime location where we meet in downtown Salem. From this remarkable place so many people (Christian and non-Christian, both from near and far away) have benefited.

It is this time of year in which we typically feel the pinch of financial stress. But this year has been more stressful than most, and we have seen a difference between the giving and the bills, which amounts to about $8,000 deficit over the summer. Like our deceased hot water heater, there has been a rather quick financial leak in the house of the Lord here at The Gathering this summer, even in the midst of a continued surge of God's warm grace and power.

In the past it has been many of you, our friends, who have been part of the sustaining dynamic, which has allowed us to retain this outreach location in downtown Salem. On a daily basis I am reminded of the power of this place. The doors are opened and the passing people (both locals and visitors) wander in to talk, to ask questions, and they consistently find a combination of peace and amazement here.

Please join us in being a part of this life-changing, year round outreach. Especially at this time we need your help in prayer, and in giving. You can join our partners in giving by visiting us at The Gathering Website.

This year Church on the Coast, and Oasis Bridge Church from Carlsbad, CA; The Movement from San Marcos, CA, The Northshore Bridge Church and Harbor Light Church from Beverly, MA; Streams Ministries from Lincoln, New Hampshire; Dennis Huxley and Friends from upstate New York; the Massachusetts branch for Not for Sale (an international anti-human slavery movement) and Allen Henninger from Pasadena, CA should be among the many who join us to help reach Salem and its 500,000 visitors with blessings and good news.

How Green is God? Pub Theology Discussion

Tonight was a bit o' Pub Theology lite, but that doesn't mean that discussion points weren't thoughtful, and observant.

Some points from the evening:

Elizabeth made note that texts from the Old Testament such as the sabbath rest for the land, and God's call to man as caretaker over the earth seemed to mark a distinct call from God for humanity to care about this planet, and therefore it was evident that God cares. Yet, she noted that it is not as easy to find a Green theology in the New Testament. Jesus, and the apostles who write the epistles appear to aim the primary concern at our behavior toward one another almost at the exclusion of the previous OT commands which might have been somewhat more focused on caring over the earth.

Carlos had just returned from lengthy walking trip through Spain. In his discussions with Spanish farmers (mostly Catholic) he found that they considered earth safe farming techniques (organic farming, and the avoidance of over poisoning the land) to be part of what it means to live a life of Christian faith.

Adam noted that he had grown up with some particular biases which now followed into a consideration of the current trends toward a Green lifestyle. he does not own a car now, and uses public transportation. He is careful about using energy at home, and consequently has a low carbon footprint. Nonetheless, as a good evangelical he does have the opinion that there is a chronic and irredeemable problem with the world. If it is gonna burn, he wonders how much effort saving it is worth.

Now this led to a short description of different eschatalogical views by me. I quickly and simply outlined pre-millennial, post-millennial, and a-millennial views of millennium and how these worked either toward, or in opposition to developing a green theology. Without going into the discussion here, and assuming many of you readers will understand the distinctions it was observed that a pre-millennial position naturally leans away from a green theology, and since most evangelicals are of a pre-millennial disposition it is problematic for the evangelical church to develop a concerted effort toward limiting our carbon footprint.

Mary noted some of the scarier elements of the science behind global warming. We discussed the idea of "saving the earth," and playing devil's advocate, I posed the question "who or what are we saving it for?" - especially if we have a pre-millennial theological position. If its all gonna burn how can we really do anything anyway?

Carlos suggested that we are saving it for our children. Adam mentioned that if the rapture was to occur they would miss that future anyway. I ended by noting that at the very least our society believes that true spirituality cares about saving the earth for our children and grandchildren, and a church that does not care does not appear to be serving humanity. Mary had noted earlier in the evening that some of the things evangelicals believe make a green theology nearly impossible to develop.

Although the evening highlighted this fact, we were a greener thinking group than might have been discussing theological issues when I first joined this Christian tribe 30 years ago.