Let us Gather...
As a family there are many reasons why we love to gather together – for food and fellowship, for celebration and mourning, to join our hearts and voices in prayer, to encourage one another and to learn from one another.
As we gather, our family values are strengthened, reinforced and passed on from one generation to another. We grow both in understanding and in unity, and are equipped and envisioned to go back out and live out our family values in our different contexts.
To this end, in November we are launching a new series of gatherings called…The Gathering. These will take place three times a year in the same way our Prayer & Equipping events did, but we will be widening our lens slightly with them, to develop a two year programme that runs from one Leadership Conference to the next, taking the current apostolic and prophetic theme, ‘Courage’, and exploring together how we can and should be working that out in our churches, church plants, local communities, workplaces and individual lives.
So often we can attend a conference and be inspired, but when we return home we lose momentum. We want to continue the momentum kick-started by our COURAGE conference and see this take hold in our culture and be embedded across our family of churches. We have intentionally designed the Gathering to help us do this.
So what will each Gathering look like?
Change can feel a bit uncomfortable at times…we get that and so we want to retain some familiar elements of Prayer & Equipping within our Gatherings, but alongside that introduce some new elements to help us learn and grow. So we will be…
Enjoying God together
There will be times where we enjoy God together in worship and prayer, with plenty of opportunity to minister to each other.
Hearing together
There will be opportunities to hear from God through his word and prophetically. We will receive great teaching around our theme and its application. For example, at our November gathering both Mike Betts and Stef Liston will be sharing with us. Mike will be particularly talking about the vision for The Gathering. Stef will be taking us through some teaching around our theme for November, ‘Courage in my character.’
There will also be the chances to share our ‘acts of courage’ with one another through testimony and stories.
Learning together
We will be introducing learning communities. A learning community is a two year journey of culture change, and is based on the 3DM model of discipleship. There will be practical discussions and time to reflect personally as we move from a more typical programme, where we have sat and listened to teaching, to developing a new programme where we discuss it together.
Growing together
We not only want to learn together, we also want to grow together. As we discuss and work through the teaching, there will be opportunities to be accountable to one another in areas we feel God is encouraging us to grow and take courage in. To help in this we will also be looking to provide further resources to help you in between the times that we gather.
Eating together
Always the best part! We want to provide many opportunities to spend time together and sharing a meal is a great way to do this. As such, the Wednesday evening meal will be provided as part of the programme, with some updates being shared towards the end of that time.
We are excited about the journey God has ahead for us and the role our Gatherings will play. We hope and pray that you will return home from these times refreshed, built up and not only thinking about the step of courage God has laid before you, but ready to take it.
Over the coming weeks we will be sharing more about what you can expect from our Gatherings.
Booking for our first Gathering is now open. This first event will help set the course and direction for the next season, please don’t miss out. Book in today!
“One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.”
Gathering Themes
November 2018
Character | What does courage look like in my character?
February 2019
Community | What does courage look like in my local setting (church, workplace, community)?
May 2019
Retreat | Devoted time to unhurried worship, prayer and ministry
November 2019
Multiplication | How can I train/influence others in having courage so that there is multiplication?
February 2020
Movement | What does courage look like corporately within RM as a movement?