In 4th grade, I had a Sunday School teacher named Ms. Novak. The church in which I grew up predated the Civil War, and the small upper room that we met in looked like it. Old, a bit spooky, and not much larger than a closet – but every Sunday, Ms. Novak would make it come alive. She taught us stories of scripture but not simply by reading off a page. When we studied Moses on Mt. Sinai, she provide...  Read More

Sunday is Mother’s Day, so I thought I would give you a little history on this holiday (one that started, believe it or not, in a Methodist Church!).In 1908, Anna Jarvis coordinated the first Mother’s Day celebration at a local Methodist Church in West Virginia. She originally thought of the idea as a way to honor her own mother who had died a few years earlier. Soon she decided that honoring moth...  Read More

Every month, The Gathering hosts NEXT. NEXT is an evening designed to help new people connect to our church and for existing people to take a new step in their faith. It also gives me a chance to share the story of The Gathering, how it started, and most importantly why. I know this story better than anyone, and yet hearing the origin story month after month still inspires me. I need to be reminde...  Read More

“This is accountability, not justice” In one form or another, this quote was spoken by many politicians, leaders, and activists following the guilty verdict on Tuesday in the Derek Chauvin trial. The Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison explained by adding, “I would not call today’s verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration”. This quote captures the tension in what hap...  Read More

April 16, 2021I am a big believer in celebrating wins in our life. We are often moving so fast that we don’t take time to stop, look around, express gratitude, and celebrate what is good. There is a lot to celebrate at The Gathering right now. On Easter, we celebrated Jesus’ victory over death and the new life that it brings. Last week, The Gathering got to experience the beginning of a new season...  Read More

Easter always has me thinking about beginnings and endings. You’ve heard the now cliché, “when one door closes another one opens”. It may be overused, but it is the essence of Easter. That the death of something can lead to something powerfully new. Jesus put it this way: I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears...  Read More