Sunday, November 24, 2013

Baptisms, Bugs, Bikes, Bottled Water, and the Bible



(This Week at The Gathering - September 2013)

On Sunday, September 8th, we celebrated 9 baptisms and re-affirmations of faith. We also welcomed 7 new people as members of The Gathering. (Pictures attached))  One person, Elizabeth Rundle (mother of 4 and wife of Mike Rundle whose van broke down en route to The Gathering from New York) came forward out of the grateful thanks to God for the many ways that she and her family have been blessed through the ministries of The Gathering. Mike and Elizabeth are meeting with Pastor Carrie weekly to work on conflict management and budgeting in order to stabilize their family situation. With the help of Ken Heaton from Easter Seals of Miami Valley, Mike is going for a job interview this week.

On Sunday evening, we welcomed 20 people to our monthly Wesley Love Feast. We brought our folding chairs, bug spray and bottled water out into the Gathering Community garden and formed a circle to lift up our praise and testimonies to God, prayers for our community and to collect an offering for the poor. In addition to the many people who rode by on bikes or drove past, one man named Tom who lives behind the church decided to leave his front porch and “go and see what these people were doing.”  As a result, Tom met 20 new friends and is looking forward to coming to The Gathering for the first time this Sunday.

On Thursday, September 5th, Pastor Carrie received a check through the Middletown Community Foundation in the amount of $20,000 for the purchase of a 2010 Ford F350 12-passenger van. The van is a gift from the Patrick family and will help us provide transportation to The Gathering on Sunday mornings, our Celebrate Recovery service, Threads Clothing ministry, Seedlings children’s ministry, and assist people with transportation to job interviews. Additional donations through the community foundation will pay for insurance for the year and a sign for the van. The van will be unveiled on Sunday, September 15th. (Pictures to follow)

As The Gathering moves into the final quarter of the year, we are looking forward to a new class called Faith and Finances which was presented by the Chalmers Institute. This class is a Biblical financial management class that is specifically geared to those at or below the poverty level. Beginning in October, Pastor Carrie will offer a 6-week sermon series called, “It’s All His” that teaches biblical principles for money management and giving. Following that series, we will hold support and mentoring groups that will help couples and families stabilize their finances and increase their giving to The Gathering in 2014.

We continue to thank all of you who support us with your prayers and giving as we watch God perform miracles every day at The Gathering.

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