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.

Pub Theology solves world's problems every month

Well, maybe not, but we sure have fun sitting around the table and discussing theology and life. June we discussed the question of "Why?". Our question for the evening was "Why Why?" That is, why do we ask the question "Why?" and why has this question plagued humanity throughout history.

This month we forgot to order fried pickles. That is critical, because we've decided that ordering fried pickles is the solution for world peace.

Here's the gang sitting around solving the problem:

The discussion led to the consideration of the difference between good and bad questioning. We discussed when the question leads us to a place of stagnation, and when it leads us to personal growth.

This month, on July 26th, we will consider the most important event or movement of the 20th century. What is the premier defining event of the 20th century and why? Join us for this consideration on July 26th at The Old Spot.

The Gathering through the year in a glimpse

This year at The Gathering may one day be viewed as the year of blind survival.  We continued in many of the same community outreach projects as we have for many years now.  Christmas Tree Bonfire with the free hot cocoa, Fourth of July face-painting for the kids of the city, the month long Halloween outreach were among the many things we have once again done in our city.

Along with the standard yearly projects The Gathering has seen new faces, written new music for the Advent season, made new friends from far-away places, and like many individuals during this difficult economic season - we have struggled along and yet survived with gentle smiles at the end of the season.

The story of struggle and survival, and of grace in the midst of difficulty is the story of scripture.  It is the story of redemption, which is the story of Christ.  Each of us live through this story in our own way, as God works in our lives over the years.

This year we have stories of blessing which come from those who joined us from afar, and those who are members here at The Gathering.

Taloa Gibson joined us from Tulsa, Oklahoma during the summer and we created a podcast with Taloa reading Bible passages, and singing in his Native American tongue - Choctaw.  Mark and Anthea Searle joined us from the UK during the first days of October outreach, and were a greet blessing to the members of our church with their "More Light" ministry activities.  Mark and Anthea created a wonderful blog about the experience. (user: salem, pass: letmein)

A few of the stories from our Halloween outreach have been compiled here on The Gathering's blog, and include those who joined us from other churches and other states, as well as thoughts from our own gang at The Gathering.

Pub Theology has continued on the last Tuesday of each month with a group from The Gathering as well as friends from outside the church discussing relevant theological issues.  People from every perspective of life have joined us for these discussions, and it continues to be one of ways we network with the people of Salem and share our faith.

Our small church in the heart of Salem, MA continues to be an pilgrimage location for people who travel from afar, and for locals in need of a simple touch from the Lord.  People have found their first touch of God and have experienced His loving grace.  People have discovered an unencumbered and simple Christianity.  People have worked together as a family, and been servants of hospitality to others from around the world, and this is at the heart of this small community called The Gathering.

Our members are learning to serve, to teach, to offer hospitality, and to do this toward all people.  In a city known for its history and its contemporary expression of witchcraft we have had the unique opportunity to accepted by the many different groups in Salem, and still be recognized for our simple unwavering devotion to Jesus.

As this year ends and the next begins we are embarking on a recording project of chants and worship music we have written, and hope to have them available soon in the coming year. 

We recognize that it is many of you:  our friends, family, and fans who help us continue forward in our service.  Thank you for your prayer, and support through 2010.  We are ever indebted to you.

For those who would like donate to help us in our journey of serving the city of Salem you can donate securely online through Paypal on our website at http://www.salemgathering.com

Pub Theology and Easter Eats

Here's what happens this week with The Gathering:

Tuesday we are meeting for our last Tuesday of the month Pub Theology gathering.  The subject will be: Where does faith end and stupidity begin?  It is bound to be a controversial topic - like always.  Join us at The Old Spot - 121 Essex Street in Salem, MA 7pm Tuesday, March 30th.

Sunday is Easter Sunday, and we are meeting 30 minutes earlier than usual for service.  Well actually we are meeting at 9:30am instead of 10am to eat.  It will be a potluck Easter breakfast - bring something to share, and share in what others bring.  The service will actually be starting late due to the fact that we will be feeding our faces.  Look for the actual service to begin around 10:30am.

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.

Last Night at Pub Theology

Slade, Matt the Pirate and Mary the Goth Theologian, James (who had the ultimate statement on entropic spirituality for the evening), Mary the posh bathroom model/salesperson, Tom the chess-king, Elizabeth the violist who keeps us on track, The Prof. Carlos Z. who is heading to Spain tomorrow with 15 students for three months , and myself were the crew for Pub Theology last night.

We started by asking whether our philosophies dictated our actions, or whether it is possible that our experiences and actions informed and transformed our philosophies and theology. Of course, the answer was yes, but to varying degrees with each person. The discussion then migrated to the subject of entropy - I gave the 2nd law of thermodynamics definition of it, to which Slade my fellow anarchist (a title I only half jokingly apply to myself, but that's another long post to be sure, and it is tied to the idea of Christian Freedom, and the activities of God) added his retort on increasing disorder. This then moved to a discussion of spiritual entropy. James kicked this off by stating that unless we worked on serving others spiritual entropy was inevitable. I asked if he would either like to share that at church, or if I could steal it. I prefer the former.

James asked us why we were Christians at one point. That was a rather cool exchange. So often that discussion can be rather canned, but in a Pub it takes on a new life. We were loud, we were animated, we had fun, and we hung out for about 2 and a half hours - Nice.

Pub Theology with The Gathering occurs once a month on the last Tuesday of the month at The Old Spot in Salem.

Another Great Pub Theology

Tonight - May 27, 2009 a group of us met at The Old Spot, just like we do once a month for Pub Theology night.

Topic: Faith and Works how they fit together, and how they determine true spirituality.

Attending: Tom and Mary, Erin and Jim, The Prof. Carlos Z., Slade, Jeff C #3 (he's only the #3 Jeff because it rhymes with C), Mike C, and me (Phil).

Some random thoughts for the evening:

1) Mary and Tom capsized their canoe and lost their phones and wallets, and piles of other stuff, which is now on the bottom of the Atlantic. Somehow the canoe story became an illustration of faith and works. You know - storms of life, how we respond to them....

2) Mary's story about a relative who went to church all the time, but was as mean and cruel as anyone you ever met was a bit chilling.

3) Jim and Erin gave an illustration from personal life which was beautiful, on point, and you can ask them more. :-)

4) Slade called up James 2 first - "faith without works is dead."

5) Tom did not mention Obama until nearly the end of the evening! Wow, now that was restraint.

6) Jeff did not fall asleep. He wanted to I think, but he played the man, and actually was coherent.

7) Mike connected faith without much in works as a type of predeterminism, or fatalism; and works without much in faith as a type of legalism. This made the discussion take a robust turn for the good.

8) We ended by having everyone in a short phrase describe their idea of God's Government: The answers were Federalist Republic, Monarchy, Tyranny (actually something like a Kingdom Monarchy was meant I think), a Government to help the Weak, Anarchy (2 times), a Government run by the Military (Jeff called this a Hunta and laughed), and Socialism (of course this was the Prof Carlos Z., but you knew that didn't you?). So, if this was a democracy then Anarchy was the winner. Hmmmmm...

But, assuming that the government of God fulfills all the deep needs of humanity, and has all the best dynamics of any government we can imagine, then all the good things of all the kinds of government are a part of God's Kingdom, and all the bad elements of all the styles of government are lacking in God's leadership. Somehow that all tied into the topic of faith and works, and we all walked away feeling like the evening rocked.

Okay, I guess you had to be there to understand the Anarchy thing, but trust me it was cool. Peter Rollins gets it, I know that. Thumbs up Pete.

Pub Theology and the Politics of God

Last Night we met at The Old Spot once again. There were eight of us for this discussion on "The Politics of God." It was heated but friendly, and eventually redirected to consider what God wants from us personally. A good time all in all, and Mary saved us from looking like a good ol' boys club.

You can read more on the interactions at one of my personal blogs Square No More.

Pub Theology #2

Pub Theology #2 is happening at The Old Spot in Salem - across from the Hawthorn Hotel. 7pm on Tuesday Evening is the time. The subject of discussion will be the benefits, excesses, harmful results, and purposes behind asceticism. Is it still a practice worth considering? Has it lost it's medieval and brutal interest, or is there something we still might gain from it today? Whadayathink of that for a hot topic!? Hope to see you there.