Welcome to the Gathering!

What It Is

The Gathering is a worship without walls experience every Sunday from 10:00 – 11:00am. In the summers, we actually worship out in the church yard (unless there’s rain and then we go inside)! We gather, celebrate life events, hear and discuss God’s word for our lives, sing a little, make new friends and sometimes share special treats. In the colder months, we do the same, but we move downstairs to our informal gathering space.

How We Live Our Faith

Worship without walls is about breaking down the barriers that have kept people from a relationship with Jesus. We seek to repair relationships, welcome people who have never felt comfortable in the church building, and learn to really love like Jesus – everybody, no exceptions.

It’s also about taking our worship out into the world – into the places where we live and work and play. We are about putting our faith into action in our everyday lives, not just when we are together. So…on some Sundays we meet to worship and hang out. On other days we follow worship with a scheduled love-your-neighbor project – like dropping into the local laundromat to share a treat and put quarters in machines or we might take a ‘thank you’ to our emergency services people. Sometimes we all go together, other times we go in small groups or on our own.

Children Are Important

We want our children to know and experience the love of Jesus. During The Gathering children are encouraged to join in. Some may choose to stay with family to worship, others (4yr olds – 5th grade) may decide to head upstairs to our Children’s Ministry area for fun Sunday School lessons and activities, others (infant – 3yr olds) may like to play in our gated play area.*

The Gathering Team

If you would like to take an easy step into service at the church, joining our Gathering Team is a great choice. Show up 15 minutes early to worship and help us get out the chairs, set up the gated play area, greet people, etc. Or stay 15 minutes after and help clean up. Please text or call Pastor Tish to volunteer! 517-994-8545

*an area right in our worship space where the littles can see mom and dad with age appropriate toys.

The information above is from a release issued by Portland United Methodist Church.