Last Sunday after our last worship service, a woman came up to me and reintroduced herself. We knew each other way back during my first couple of years of ministry. Since I didn’t have an office when I started The Gathering, I would often default to Starbucks as my makeshift office. At the time, she was a barista there. Over the course of those early years of the church, I got to know her and the ...  Read More

Opening Prayer: God, thank you for this time we get to share and learn from each other. We acknowledge your presence with us in the conversation and thank you for your wisdom as we talk. Show us something new, deepen our faith and connect us closer to you and each other. In the name of Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit we pray, amen. Ice Breaker: What component, rubric, and/or ...  Read More

Recently I was reading about the philosophical concept of being and becoming. To put it simply: all of us can value who we are presently, even as we desire to become someone new. I love thinking about this as we close one year and get ready to start a new year. It is a good time to reflect and be grateful for who we are and how we have grown. The past year has been up and down, full of blessings a...  Read More

Listen to What Child is This? on this week’s playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/71yO4ndhjf0WLWZfE3iG5y?si=6gfcwTlDSpSPk5PERRGIHQ Welcome! We are so glad you’re here, whether in the setting of a group meeting or self-study. The celebration of Christ’s birth is very close, and many groups are taking a break or subbing in a social week.Opening Prayer:Dearest God, who is this Holy Child? We h...  Read More

Every year I take The Gathering staff to a Catholic church in south St. Louis that has an incredible stained glass window depicting the birth of Jesus. We went last week, and per tradition, we set aside time to pray both individually and as a group. We pray for our church, our staff, our families, and all of the (12) Christmas Eve services! We pray for our friends in Mozambique and for the generos...  Read More

Listen to this weeks playlist here:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4wqgdrkGeBU5qmssCjfGDZ?si=JLbHBjrPTC2S0Wfu3CS ofAWelcome!Opening Prayer:God, thank you for bringing this group together. Thank you for this time to discuss life, and yourword...and maybe even sing. Please be with us during this time. It’s in your name we pray.Amen.Ice Breaker: This week’s song focuses on hopes and fears through a...  Read More