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.

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.

Coming Up: Last Weekend of Halloween Outreach in Salem, MA

Update on happenings at The Gathering
October 26th, Two-Thousand Eleven in the year of our Lord.

The last four weekends we have held outreach events at The Gathering. Hundreds of people have experienced gracious words of blessing, and received interpretations to dreams. Teams of "prophets" have spoken words over them. This is Halloween in Salem. Our small church has become a major player in setting the tone of Halloween events in the city because of our location, and because of the fact that the city has graciously allowed us to use the fountain on Essex Street to help set a tone of fun and blessing.

Free Hot Cocoa has been active and serving up cups by the thousands on the weekend. Fair Trade Cocoa has been served as a message about the necessity of breaking away from slave dependent sources. We were able to serve out of biodegradable cups for the first few days, but the cost has been prohibitive for doing this throughout the whole of the season. The costs for serving free hot cocoa have increased almost four-fold since choosing the fair trade method, but we are committed to the purpose and its important message. Deep, deep thanks to Carrie Erwin and Paul Drake for making this cocoa service run smoothly. You rock like organic beans.

The Fountain Stage is now moving into its fourth week of music on the streets of Salem. Christine Cooper the Welsh Celtic Fiddle Champion, and storyteller was on the stage and performed from The Vault. She is now a favorite of some locals. Aradhna was here for a weekend concert and brought Christina worship music in Hindi, and some of the best musicianship we've seen here. Paul Duffy, Sarah Van Wyk and others brought us good music over the last few weekends on the Fountain Stage.

Dream Interpretation and Spiritual Readings were happening over the last three weekends. We saw some physical healings when people were prayed for. Gracious words of encouragement brought tears of joy to many people. Many were encouraged in their search for God and truth. This is what the heart of our investment into the Halloween season of Salem is about. It is our desire to impact as many of the 500,000 people who visit Salem in October as we can. The only way to do such a thing year after year is to make sure that Christians are embedded into the fabric of events like this, and that we learn to work with leaders of the events in ways which are beneficial to the event itself, and sensitive to the culture around us. John Harding from the Northshore Bridge Church and Carlos Zeisel from The Gathering will continue to help lead these outreach projects.

This last weekend friends will be joining us from around the US. Allen Henninger is here now from LA. Dennis Huxley is returning. More friends from Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, California, and Texas are coming as well.



College groups from Boston are joining us for outreach, and will walk the streets dressed as monks offering free blessings. The last two years, these events have greatly blessed hundreds of people. A Youth With a Mission Team has asked to work with us this year, and Pastor Phil will be training them in how to minister in unique environments like Salem, MA with large numbers of Witches and other types of Neo-Pagans.

April Alario has been attending a school of ministry at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and will be coming home to lead all night prayer as well. If you are interested in joining the all night prayer contact us and let us know.

Please join us in prayer for this last week of outreach as we seek to serve people from Friday through Halloween Day (Monday).

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

Friends create great open mic start!

Yesterday I posted about the friends of The Gathering creating a weekly open mic night each Thursday at 8:30. Well, musicians were playing 3 song sets from around 8:30 to 12:30 last night, and throughout the evening about 50 people attended.

Chris, Dr. DK, Big MC LargeHuge did a great job of pulling this together. Thanks guys. You are awesome.

We Have Friends! Rock On!

Friend can seem like such a distant and benign term in the world of Facebook and distant, sometimes only "virtual." Lately, "friend" has been meaning something else to me, and some of us at The Gathering. Our little church, has a rather large mission in the city of Salem, and we are parked smack in the middle of downtown able to interact with visitors and locals with regularity. October (of course) with it's 500,000 visitors makes us one of the most active little churches in the world.

That is all to set the stage for the story of our friends.

Lately, money is tight. Okay, that's an understatement. It is always tight, but lately it is brutally tight - like many of us are experiencing. So much so, that there is concern about the ability to maintain our mission in our current location at The Vault.

Enter stage left our friends. People who are either very new to this little church called The Gathering, or friends in the community who simply like us are concerned, and want to help us out so that we can survive here and do well.

Tonight, some of those friends - those people simply "liked" are proving that friendship and liking are more than a distant facebook phenomenon. They are beginning a weekly Open Mic at the Vault to raise a few bucks to help us out. So to, Dr. DK, Big MC LargeHuge, David Gerard and the initiating force of all this - Chris! Thanks. You guys are awesome.

See you tonight guys, and to everyone else - hope to see you there too.

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

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.)

End of the Year at The Gathering

There are far too many friends we have made in the last 11 years to mention, but if you are one of those who has been a part of this ministry - thank you.  May blessing return upon you in great abundance.

The Gathering has been serving the city of Salem, MA since 1999. During this last decade we have developed into one of the most unique missional communities in the United States.


Why?

For the entire month of October we serve the community of Salem, and the half a million visitors who come for Halloween experiences. The Gathering has become one of the top spiritual experiences in our city.

We train and equip Christians from around the world to help serve in mission alongside us teaching them to serve creatively during America's kooky, second largest holiday of the year.

We have made friends with the Witches of Salem (and in fact Witches around the world) without compromising our Christian faith, and we have trained thousands of people to navigate living their faith authentically in a post-Christian world.

We have been meeting for the last 4 years in a prime location in downtown Salem, allowing us to better serve the community and the tourists who visit here.

Our Most Challenging Year Yet?

Financially this has been our most challenging year, and we are entering the new year in our most vulnerable position yet. If you have been blessed by the work of The Gathering, or have participated in the outreaches we have been doing for the last 11 years in Salem, MA would you consider helping us as the New Year dawns?

The year before us will perhaps be our most challenging yet, and we may not be able to continue as we are currently serving without your help. You can give through paypal by following this link.

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.

Even More Stories from Halloween Outreach '09

Here are three more tales from the October Outreach in Salem, MA. May they bless you as much as the people who were involved in them.


The experience I had at Salem was one of the most challenging times of my life. I tried to force the Lord to work through me and give each person the kind of experience that I wanted him or her to have. The Lord revealed to me the absolute need to trust in Him. Without His Spirit working through me, I am capable of nothing. The times that the Lord chose to use me as his instrument were so powerful, yet humbling. I realized that the encounters were not for me, but were meant for the benefit of the person sitting in front of me. Feeling the love the Father has for his people was so overwhelming and is something that I will never forget.
-Liz Koch
Intern Streams School of Ministry

A young woman came to our team looking to have a re-occurring dream interpreted.  She had dreamed several times over the last ten years about snakes in her bed.  It would terrify her so much she would jump out of bed screaming.  She admitted that she is generally terrified of snakes even in the natural.  We felt the meaning of the dream was simply that her general fear was so great it was ruining her rest.  Upon sharing this with her, she began to open up to us about her fears.  She seemed to have a great deal of trust in us even before sharing the dream but as we talked further her trust grew.  After talking through some of the sources of her fear, she explained to us that she has recently left the Mormon Church of which her family is still heavily involved and even has family ancestry that can be traced to Joseph Smith, the father of Mormonism.  Upon her sharing this, a marvelous shift came in the atmosphere.  Though her experience was marked with harassment for leaving Mormonism both from the people in her life and from the spiritual realm, we suddenly saw in her a courageous and bold seeker of Truth. And in that moment we watched as her concept of God transformed before our eyes.  He went from being a dictator that cruelly demanded things of her to a great big Goodness that Loved her immensely and knew her intimately! The Presence of God became so heavy and sweet as we communicated this to her that all of us were moved to tears.  I found myself filled with awe as God revealed to all of us (including this precious woman) what He felt about her.  It was truly an honor to meet this over comer and to encourage her that, contrary to what others may have pressed on her, she is on the right path as God draws her into her destiny!
-Ali Carter
Staff Streams School of Ministry


It’s October 31 Halloween and the streets are packed with more people than ever. As the night goes on our lines get so busy the wait become about two hours to receive a spiritual reading or dream interpretation. After ministering all day I begin to break down our tents and a man walks up to me. He asked if I could interpret a dream for him. To be truthful I was far too tired and weak to help him but I still agreed. He started by telling me that he had an experience 25 years ago that he has not understood since he has had it. He said others tried to interpret it but did really understand it. Their interpretation didn’t really stick with him. The Dream started out with Him in the back seat of a cop car in hand cuffs. There was also a cop car in front of him. From the side he saw a Buffalo charging the cop car in front and hit it with extreme force. He was so excited and continued to encourage the buffalo to hit the car. Soon the car was off the road and destroyed. A moment later the buffalo was charging the car he was in but just before it hit his car the buffalo changed into the most beautiful Native American women he had ever seen. She stood next to him with a love readapting from her that he had never felt before. He said this love changed him. It was like he tasted of something that was not from this planet. Since that day he has never forgot the Love he felt. He also told me that since then he has never felt a love so real and fulfilling. This man had given me tremendous favor to speak into his life. I then began to tell him that the Holy spirit had given him Justice where he was imprisoned. I was able to share a visitation I had years ago that was very similar to his experience. I told him how God wanted a relationship with him. He wanted to give him the Love he felt from the Native American women. This story taught me a lot, when I am weak and tired God has those he wants to touch. This man had waited 25 years for a interpretation and it amazes me that Jesus touched him so powerfully that 25 years later he was still searching for the answer.
-Lance Carter
Staff Streams School of Ministry