Sending Forth // M-Note 3.15.25

I firmly believe that the success of a church rests not just on the people who are reached and invited to know Jesus, but the leaders that are formed and sent out to multiply that work in the world. Two years ago, The Gathering felt a strong call to develop pastors who were interested in starting new churches. This led to the creation of our Church Planters Lab, and last year we welcomed our first two fellows in that lab: Pastor Morgan Goymer and Pastor Aaron Carter. Alongside them, our long-time worship director Ryan Hebel was ordained as a deacon last year and began pursuing his growing interest in starting a new community. For the past nine months, we have spent a lot of time learning together. They have gotten to participate in all aspects of The Gathering’s ministry, and they have spent time praying about where God is calling them to serve.
 
I am excited to announce that the Bishop has appointed all three of them to start new communities. Pastor Morgan will stay at The Gathering and lead our exploration of a new Metro East site. Pastor Ryan will also stay at The Gathering but shift from his position as worship director and now lead our exploration of a West County site. In July, Pastor Aaron will be appointed to start a new multicultural United Methodist Church in St. Louis County. We will support this new project, and Pastor Aaron will stay connected to our church as this new community gets started. All three of these projects are extraordinarily exciting! It is rare for a congregation to ever start a new faith community, but this year, we are blessed to get to pursue three different possibilities. I stress pursue because all these projects are in an early, exploratory phase.
 
These new possibilities are a sign of the Spirit at work in our church, and I am incredibly excited. But, we need your prayers and support. I hope that you pray for all three of our new pastors as they begin this work.

• If you are interested in learning more about The Gathering’s new site possibility in West County, please email Ryan Hebel for information on our interest session this Sunday, March 16 at 3pm at the Kaldi’s in Chesterfield. 
• If you are interested in learning more about The Gathering’s new site possibility in the Metro East, please sign up for our upcoming interest session on Sunday, March 30. 

I hope that if you live in one of these areas or know anyone who does, you will plan to be at the interest sessions.
 
There will be plenty of time to learn more about these new pursuits, and all three pastors will still be around The Gathering on Sundays. For now, please pray that God would anoint them and guide their work. Please know how proud I am to pastor a church that gets to pursue these kinds of opportunities. We couldn’t do it without your commitment, your giving and support, and your willingness to continue to invite your friends.
 
I hope you enjoy your weekend, and I will see you in church on Sunday!
 
Peace,
Matt
 
P.S. This week I will continue our new series Emotional Rollercoaster: The Ups and Downs of Jesus’ Last Days. I will be talking about how to cultivate joy, especially during tough times. If you missed the first message in the series, you can listen or share it here. I hope you will plan to be in church this weekend, and please invite someone to join you. The lead up to Easter is a great time for a friend to check out The Gathering, and I know there are people in our lives looking for something new as spring emerges.