It was the sunny Sabbath afternoon before Easter and had been a year in the making.
Ten leaders from the Remix Church had been meeting for over a year, dreaming and planning the launch of a new church in the Portland, Ore., area. We were convinced Portland didn't need another church, but rather another type of church. A church where the main goal is to better love the people of Portland — to love them with all the beauty of the city, its hurts and its complexities. We believe God has called all of us to love all people — regardless of their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, spoken language or age — just like Jesus did.
We’re praying that, by experiencing genuine love, people in Portland can connect with God, grow in community and join us in serving others.
After lots of planning, training and fundraising, we launched our public worship service that April Sabbath afternoon, with more than 80 people coming together to celebrate what we believe was born in the heart of God: Gather and Scatter Adventist Church.
The name is reflective of the culture we want to develop. We believe it is important to gather to worship our Creator, to celebrate what He has done, and cast a gospel-filled vision of a better future for our city and faith community. We believe gathering is as important as scattering throughout the week to love the city through ministry.
In order to do that, we have launched partnerships with transition homes for youth, anti-sex-trafficking initiatives, Amnesty International and other service organizations. We have launched a young adult ministry, community service team, creative worship team, children's and teen ministries, a hospitality ministry, and an intentional discipleship ministry.
We love seeing how the Spirit of God works through such a diverse group of people with more than 10 nationalities represented at Gather and Scatter. We believe God is strategically positioning us to reach young adults in a diverse context and in an urban setting.
We will soon be celebrating baptisms as the fruit of the work God has been doing within the church-planting team. As a pastor, I couldn't be more proud of this amazing group of leaders that has taken Jesus’ Great Commission seriously.
To learn more about Gather and Scatter and get to know our leaders, make sure to visit our website, www.gatherandscatter.org, or social media pages, on Facebook and Instagram.
