the gathering network defined

as the gathering network ...

our dream is to equip the next generation to become a discipleship movement of multiplying, missional communities sent into our city, nation, and world to make wrong things right. (Matthew 9:35–38, Isaiah 61)

  • being a multiplying, missional movement of disciples who make disciples who make disciples
  • focusing on reaching and sending the next generation (18–30 years old)
  • connecting by 3 loves, 4 commitments, and 5 practices
  • coming together to celebrate who God is and what he is doing
  • developing a network of multiplying, mid-sized (10-65 people) groups called missional communities
What are the 3 loves, 4 commitments, and 5 practices?

3 loves (up, in, out) — a covenant people

    Love God (up)………..love and be loved by God
    Love each other (in)....disciple one another in community
    Love the world (out)…share Jesus generously and always

4 commitments (serve, grow, give, live) — a connected people

    Serve….......................in 2’s and 3’s, prayer, & service     
    Grow….......................in personal holiness              
    Give…........................10% of income as tithe            
    Live….........................an evangelistic lifestyle        

5 practices (pray, meet, make, gather, multiply) — a compassionate people

    Pray….....................…for those you wish to reach
    Meet ….......................those you wish to reach
    Make….......................disciples of those you are reaching
    Gather….....................in missional communities and corporate celebrations
    Multiply.......................disciples and new missional, mid-sized communities

Where does the Gathering Network currently happen?


             what                              when                        where                       scope            
   celebration service          7:00p Sundays                 HCC                       city-wide
missional communities       1st & 3rd weeks               varies                 missional focus
 2’s and 3’s (discipling)            weekly                      anywhere               everywhere
   LTP (internships)          summers/year-long              TBD                  18-25 year olds
loving/blessing outsiders  as often as possible        your world           wherever you are   

 

What happens in celebrations, missional communities, 61, and 2’s and 3’s?

Celebration service: we worship, pray, and teach what it means to follow Jesus in a way that is accessible 

Missional communities: we gather regularly (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) wherever is best (home, office, building, mission location) to eat, read scriptures and minister to each other, pray, and serve those we wish to reach [meals, ministry, mission, multiply]

2’s and 3’s: the activity of discipling (see details below)*

LTP [Leadership Training Project]: an intensive summer discipleship for college students to mid-20’s to send workers into the harvest field

We grow through making disciples who make disciples who make disciples.  

We multiply** through reproducing disciples in mid-sized, missional communities.

* The activity of discipling in 2’s and 3’s

  • Meet weekly
  • Live the 3 loves radically
  • Bible study: Suggested 12-15 chapters a week, or any bible study curriculum that helps: (i.e. DE, Crown Financial, Walk Across the Room. Ignition, etc.)
  • Prayer for each other and for outsiders
  • Accountability and life support


** A multiplying movement is created by reproducing mid-sized, missional communities of disciples who make disciples who make disciples, focused on serving and redeeming a specific geography or people group such as:

  • College campuses / high schools/ middle schools
  • Ethnicities in specific area
  • Need (i.e. homeless, handicapped)
  • Neighborhood
  • Workplace
  • Apartment complex
  • Justice cause
  • Hangouts