The Gathering began as a dream, a vision and a call. The dream was that new generations of people would gather together for compelling worship, meaningful study in community and service to the world. The vision began to emerge three years ago for a new church in the city of St. Louis. The call was born by God in the heart of Matt Miofsky, a young United Methodist pastor. He and many other missional-minded people began to have conversations in January 2006 about what a new church might look like. The result of this dream, vision and call was the formation of a new community of faith called The Gathering.

The name was chosen because in the New Testament the Greek word that we translate as "church" is ekklesia. It literally means an assembly or gathering of people. We believe the church is a community of people committed to following Christ together.

In the summer of 2006, the community took over an old sanctuary building on McCausland Ave., at the edge of the city near the community of Maplewood. It is a diverse and eclectic area, with universities and industry, restaurants and shops, old homes and new condos. Worship was held for the first time on September 17, 2006.

In the past two years, The Gathering has seen dramtic growth. A blossoming children’s ministry has developed, missional commitments to Kingdom House and Centenary CARES, a growing small group ministry for adults and the addition of professional staff. Due to the excitement and passion within the community, the need for a second worship service became apparent. In August of 2007, The Gathering introduced a second worship service (9:00 am and 10:45 am) on Sunday mornings. On September 28, 2008, the Children's Ministry expanded and is now offered during both worship services.

Our community reflects the wonderful diversity of our neighborhood. We hope you will be a part of the emerging history of what God is doing through our new community.