The Parable of the Sower: Hearts Like Dirt

I recently spoke with a young man from Chicago, who was living in Chattanooga, TN. He told me that prior to living in Chattanooga, he was allergic to dirt. Now, he spends most of life outside climbing, mountain biking, and camping; and is happier than ever.

The spiritual life is a bit like dirt. Counterintuitively, the dirtier we get, the healthier we may actually be.

The Parable of the Sower compares the heart to different kinds of soil, and the in this parable, the dirtier the dirt, the better the receptiveness the heart has to the Word of God. The soils are described as "by the wayside" (the hard-packed section along the road), "stony", "thorny", and "good soil". Good soil is well tilled, soft, and rich. After a day in the garden one comes back with deep rich soil under the fingernails and all over the clothing. The other soil types typically represent elements that separate the seed from the actual dirt.

This represents how we try to protect ourselves from a variety of elements related to the Word of God itself. The Way-side heart is unconcerned and ambivalent to either the voice of God or the concerns of humanity. Stony, hard hearts have become reactionary and hardened to the struggles and hard truths of life. The Thorny hearts are those whose greeds and personal desires have inoculated them against caring for the deeper values of life. In some bizarre inversion, we who are made from the dirt of the ground, or as others have recently described it, "star stuff", try to avoid contact with soil. We similarly attempt to protect ourselves from other people, hard truths, or the suffering in our world. In doing so, we separate ourselves from a healthy spiritual life. Just like an overly clean child may be a setup for a weak immune system, an overly defensive heart may be a set up for spiritual sickness.

Have a soft heart, be willing to get dirty in this life, and allow for the fact that you just may be wrong about life and are in need of correction from God's Word. These simple principles are evidences of a person ready to receive the Word, and grow in fruitfulness.

“Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

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.

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).

Jeff shares his experiences in Salem with us

Our new friend Jeff spoke on Sunday last week, and blessed us. This week he shares a bit of his story of the experience in Salem during Haunted Happenings and all the outreach activities of The Gathering.

"Our front door - Half a million, that’s 500,000 if you are counting – people that is, that walk by the front door of the “Vault” – a former bank that was here for 200 years and is now occupied by the “Gathering,” a local church. I say “our” because the pastor assimilates people easily into the local body of believers and extended culture of Salem – so for two weeks, it’s been home.

Home includes extended normal conversations with a gnostic quoting random literature, a local witch who comes into use our wifi and loves just hanging out, a nationally known warlock who rides into the building on a Segway, some really smart intellectuals (Boston area has highest concentration of colleges and universities in the world), and a really diverse collections of people who believe a lot of different things or nothing at all – some come for internet, some for lecto divana a form of meditation on our Scriptures – the Bible – some come for Thursday open mic night, or movie night …

… and as I mentioned 500,000 tourists walk by the door and hundreds have sat for Spiritual Readings – simply asking the Spirit of Truth from the Creator to speak to us on their behalf so we can comfort, encourage, and build them up – and hopefully they catch a glimpse of a loving God who really really Loves the people He created. By the end of the month, the Gathering will have touched the lives of several thousand people thru Spiritual Encounters and dream interpretations, hosting kids day at the park, hosting a stage with eclectic choices of artists from opera to country to a Beatles cover band, hosting an Christian band doing Indian fusion and singing about Jesus in Hindi.

Just a question, but how can you find a way to interact with the lives around you? I am not content to go into a building, sing a few praises, to simply do it again in a local house mid-week. A friend of mine bought a house in the inner city of Durham, is rehabbing it as simply a space to have a presence in the community and interact with those who live there – no other agenda but to provide love encounters – and those go both ways. She gets it. I don’t always get it, but I am growing in walking in God’s grace, practicing mercy, and loving people. God’s truths about eternal live, need for redemption from sin, live in the Spirit now, and even the consequences of avoiding God’s love are real – how we as Christians or the “Church” haven’t always been.

500,000 might not pass by your door this month, but who are the 50 or so you pass by and maybe might touch with new love this week?"


Thanks Jeff. We really appreciate you and all you've done. May God bless you in your coming travels. You are always welcome to make your home here for a few days, a few weeks, or however long.

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.

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.

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 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

Solstice, Advent and New Year all offer hope

As the end of the year nears, once again I look back at and consider the things which have happened here at The Gathering.

This year has been most trying, and without a question the single most difficult year of my life, which is saying a lot for those who have walked with us through the last 5 years.  Yet on the other hand, it has proved itself to be a fruitful, and faithful year as well.  How these elements of opposite value can trend together I am not sure, but this is not the first year I have seen struggle and blessing go hand in hand.

The fact that the Winter Solstice, the Advent and the coming of a New Year are positioned so close to one another is the perfect alignment for rethinking life.  The Winter Solstice marks the ending of shortening days and lengthening darkness.  This night points us toward Spring, new life, and dawning of longer periods of light.  It is a birth of hope.  The Advent calls us to consider the place of God in our hearts, and reveals the deepest place of God's interaction with humanity.  It is a second birth of hope.  The New Year completes the passage of a season of life, and enlivens our hearts with the potential for new things.  It is a third birth of hope in this short period of only a handful of days.

How will you re-position your life in order to take full advantage of the grace afforded us in changing seasons?  This is a question I ask myself for this coming year.  May the Lord bless us both with the proper response to this season of transition.

To learn more about The Gathering you may visit us on our website.

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.

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.
       

   
   
Powered by Podbean.com
   

Not a Cult. Really!

No.  We are not a cult, but it does look like it when the ladies all arrive dressed identically on Sunday mornings.

They went shopping together the day before and then arrived on Sunday wearing their Macy's sale purchases.  At least that is what they told me. 

You can see that Heather Leigh in the background did not get the memo, and none of the guys were wearing this outfit - so for now, we are safe.

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.