A Halftime Report on ‘Gather’

“Sometimes, as a pastor, I have measured my effectiveness (and maybe even my ‘worth’) by how busy I am and all the extra things I can put on my plate. As I spent these days in spiritual reflection, conversation, and listening [at a ‘Gather’ event], God made clear to me that I need to set aside my ‘busyness’ so that I can be more attentive to the things that he is doing all around me, and the people he is working in and through, so that I can join in his work.”

This comment from a pastor who attended Gather Boston is a great example of the impact that Gather has had thus far on people in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. 

Gather launched in April 2024 with the idea of bringing together CRC people from across North America for a time of fellowship, encouragement, and renewal. It was designed in direct response to an assignment from Synod 2023, which discussed membership challenges in the denomination and asked the Office of General Secretary to develop a plan to “halt and reverse the trend of membership decline.” 

“The Gather events are a first step toward encouraging and assisting CRC congregations in their renewal,” said Zach King, general secretary. “God is not done with the CRC. He is working through us and has a vision and plan for our future. Gather is an attempt to help us testify to what God is doing and to share best practices for how we can join him in that work.” 

At each Gather event, five classes are invited to send up to 15 representatives to spend two days in prayer, worship, reflecting on Scripture, and discernment. These representatives may be pastors, elders, or deacons, but they could also be members of congregations who are involved in their church or who are interested in renewal. Stories and key learnings that are gained during each event are captured and will be used to create a comprehensive report to be shared with Synod 2025 and then the entire denomination.

A total of 10 Gather events are planned. As 2024 draws to a close, half of those have taken place. Classes Alberta North, Alberta South/Saskatchewan, Atlantic Northeast, B.C. North-West, B.C. South-East, Central California, Columbia, Eastern Canada, Georgetown, Grand Rapids North, Greater Los Angeles, Hackensack, Heartland, Holland, Huron, Iakota, Kalamazoo, Ko-Am, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Muskegon, Niagara, North Cascades, Pacific Northwest, and Quinte have attended Gather in Minneapolis, Vancouver, Calgary, Boston, or Niagara Falls. 

“More than 300 people have attended five Gather events in 2024,” said Elaine May, director of the Gather initiative. “They include pastors, elders, deacons, and lay leaders. They also include people in their twenties and others in their eighties. Each one of these men and women has come with unique stories to share about what God is doing in their local context.” 

While much of Gather is focused on positive stories about God at work, leaders are aware that these events are being scheduled at a time when many congregations and individuals have mixed feelings about the Christian Reformed Church and that some are thinking about leaving. 

“We know that many people are coming to Gather events with questions, laments, and distrust. . . . We don’t want to gloss over those things or say that they don’t matter,” explained May. “In fact, the Emmaus Road story invites us to talk about our disappointments as Jesus turns our attention to what he is doing in our churches. There is much that we can celebrate, and there are things we can learn from each other.” 

In line with this, surveys distributed to participants, both before and after the events, reveal that people are leaving Gather with increased feelings of hope, excitement, and enthusiasm, while also reporting decreased levels of skepticism, apprehension, and feelings of loss. Participants also report feeling more confident in their abilities and skills to help their congregations lead change, and they are more optimistic both about the future of their congregation and of the CRCNA as a whole. 

One participant from Gather Vancouver, for example, shared that they came to Gather knowing that churches are anxious about the lack of unity in the CRCNA, and concerned about the possibility of congregations disaffiliating. 

“Even though this topic hangs over the CRC like a pending thunderstorm, God continues to work with individual CRC churches, as was evidenced from all the cards that were put up on the wall,” they reported. “My heart leapt with joy from seeing and hearing stories of how God is working at the individual church level, including my church. If this was the outcome you were striving for at Gather, then it was a smashing success, and I personally am better for it.”

“Gather gave me the safe space to be able to share and hear and get a deeper understanding of the passage we worked through. It also opened my eyes to all of the wonderful ways God is working throughout the church,” added a participant from Gather Calgary. “I had been so focused on what was not working well, and on the tensions felt at our council meetings, that I was blinded to the amazing ways God is moving in our congregation.”

Participants also report enjoying the opportunity to fellowship with CRC members from other parts of North America. While each classis can send up to 15 people to an event, at Gather the participants are divided into small groups that include a cross-section of classes, ages, genders, and backgrounds. Spending the bulk of their time at Gather in these groups made space for friendships to be formed. 

“What I liked most about Gather was sharing with one another as inclusive and diversified brothers and sisters unified in Christ,” said a participant from Gather Minneapolis. “We bonded together so quickly as if we had known each other for years, which is truly a testimony of what it means to belong to the family of God.”

At the end of each event, participants are encouraged to reflect on what they have heard and to share what they believe God is doing in and through the CRC. Here are a few of the things that have been observed so far:

• “We believe God is revitalizing the faith of our youth through intergenerational ministry.”
• “God is making disciples of all nations – people are coming into our church doors that we didn’t think to invite.”
• “We believe God is renewing a passion for gospel-centered evangelism.”
• “We believe God is uniting his people by teaching us to enfold, embrace, and care for each other.”
• “We believe God is doing extraordinary things through ordinary means.”

The remaining five Gather events will be held in early 2025 in Orlando, San Diego, Houston, Chicago, and Des Moines, respectively. CRC members interested in attending are encouraged to find their classis’ event at crcna.org/Gather and to email either their classis stated clerk or [email protected]. A few spots at the Gather Des Moines event will be made available for people who are interested but were unable to attend on the dates or at the locations assigned for their classes.