Last Sunday night, Dave Merrill (our Executive Pastor) and his family lost their beloved dog, Java. He reflected on the life lessons he learned from Java. It really connected with me, and I bet it will connect with you as well. "On Sunday night, we said one last “good night” to our sweet Java girl. She was with Kara and I for 13 years, and she taught us a number of lessons on life. Here are a few:...  Read More

Are there questions or topics you wish the church would talk about, but that most churches just seem to ignore? Maybe it is a thorny theological question, like war in the Bible or heaven and hell. Maybe it is a hot button social or political issue - there are plenty of those. Maybe it is practical everyday life struggles, like mental health or parenting. Or, maybe it is a question that hits on the...  Read More

In my message last week , I talked about the hardest part of being a pastor: addressing the past bad experiences people have had of churches or Christians. People see the way many Christians engage others on social media, watch the way Christians are involved in politics, or hear the way certain preachers talk about other people and come away thinking, “I don’t want to look like that!” More person...  Read More

I’m back! The past few weeks I have been out of the office and not preaching, but this weekend I will be back and starting a new series. I am grateful for some time off, and it was packed with activity. I started the month of June speaking at a conference for pastors in Wisconsin, I took my daughter Carly on some college visits, our family spent time together on a vacation, and I spent about 10 da...  Read More

Faith Like a Child - Part 4 Dependency Written and submitted by Curriculum Writing Team Jen Jordan, Rebekah Backowski, & Sherrill Wall(This week our talk focuses on the word and idea “dependency” please be mindful of the use of the word in relation to addiction, this can be triggering to many people)   Opening Prayer Gracious God, we come together as a group to learn from your Word and each other....  Read More

As the school year winds down, I wanted to share some news about The Gathering’s Literacy Project.The Gathering wants to make a difference not just inside our church but more so in our community. One way we do that is through our Literacy Project, partnering with local schools to provide reading support for students, as well as support for teachers, staff, and the communities those schools serve.E...  Read More