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.

10 Years of Service in Salem, MA

As of June this year we began celebrating our 10th year living and ministering in Salem, Massachusetts. It has been a wild adventure at times, and we are thankful to the people who have blessed us during this season. The following is a press release which has been sent out, and we would love to have you join us as we do celebration 2.0 on Sunday, July 26th. (We will be doing a celebration in honor of some various aspect of our community life once a month for a number of months.)


The Gathering: Celebrating 10 Years of Service in Salem

On July 26th at 10am The Gathering will be celebrating 10 years of service in the community of Salem. The celebration will occur at the church's 10am Sunday service at The Vault - 217 Essex Street in Salem.

The Gathering began in the summer of 1999 with two families from Southern California. From the first year this new church had established itself as an organization dedicated to serving the city of Salem.

In their first October, they provided free live music on the streets of Salem, began to give away free hot cocoa, and offered free spiritual counsel to visitors and locals alike.

From this simple beginning the outreach of The Gathering has grown to include 40 to 50 hours of live music at The Fountain stage on Essex Street each October, organizing and sponsoring the Annual Salem Halloween Children's Day on the Common, serving up to 10,000 cups of free hot cocoa each October, offering free dream interpretation and spiritual counsel to thousands each year, painting children's faces during the city's 4th of July celebration, serving the crowds during the Christmas Tree Burning each January, supplying sound for community events, and collecting and distributing warm clothing to those in need each winter.

The story of this service has appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Morning News, on syndicated radio programs, and across the nation and in the Caribbean in local newspapers.

Pastor Phil Wyman has estimated that The Gathering has contributed $750,000 to the city of Salem and its visitors in the last 10 years in donations, and volunteer labor. "I have been a pastor for 24 years, and I am constantly amazed by the dedication of our church members and the constant hospitality we have extended through them and through our extended Gathering family far and near in service to our community." says Pastor Phil.

The celebration will relive the stories of this service to the community. For more information, you can call The Gathering at 978-744-8444, or e-mail at pastorphil@salemgathering.com.

10 Years!

The Gathering has been in Salem, Massachusetts for 10 years now. On June 21st, we will be hosting a Summer Solstice Fair on the streets near the church with a drum circle, and British Rock from Brittanica. We will tell our story on that Sunday morning service as well.

Then more to come in July, August, September, and... as well.

Come hang out with us on June 21st!

10am - service
noon to 5pm - Summer Solstice Fair
6pm - An evening of thankful reflection