Gathering Delco
Community Church
building spaces of meaning + belonging
OUR VISION
Gathering Delco Community Church is a new church in Delco. At Gathering Delco, we know that the church is not a building, but rather the gathered people of God responding together to the love and compassion of Jesus.
Our heart cry is to create safe and inviting spaces for people in Delco to be in the presence of Jesus, find belonging and rally together to bring hope to our neighborhoods. And we rely on the deep resources of faith to lead us. We seek to be a spirit filled, Jesus centered, affirming community.
be with Jesus
We create simple gatherings which help us encounter Jesus and experience his presence. Through music, prayer, scripture, and conversation we encourage one another to “Come as you are and leave stronger.”
belong in community
We know that building places of belonging makes our lives richer. Relying on our faith, we pursue the kind of community which resists the temptations of isolation and division. We are committed to learning and growing in skills that make us trustworthy friends and neighbors.
bless others
We seek to be the kind of church that our neighbors would welcome. We regularly partner with those leading the way in caring for the things that are important to God such as care for the environment, lifting up the marginalized, and being responsive to those impacted by injustice.
Wide Welcome
Gathering Delco is comprised of ordinary people from many walks of life, seeking to discover the ways of Jesus and encourage one another in our faith journeys.
We are building a community which seeks to mirror the meal Jesus shared with friends, as described in bible (John chapter 21) where he welcomed his friends to a bonfire with the simple words, “Come, have breakfast with me.” We imagine that the sense of trust and community at this meal on the beach was as thick as bonfire smoke. We believe Jesus’ friends would have experienced a deep sense of belonging and loving welcome.
It is this kind of trusted, authentic space that we seek to replicate in all our gatherings at Gathering Delco. Therefore, we view as essential a wide welcome to all points of view, and many life experiences. To belong at Gathering Delco is to simply have a “yes” to the bonfire.
Open & Affirming
Practically, that means we hold no boundary of age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. We confidently affirm, being led by the scripture and the Holy Spirit, that all are made in the image of our creator God and shall have no barrier to a full life of faith. Access to marriage, participation, or leadership in our church community is not limited by ethnicity, background, sexuality, or gender.
In this affirmation, we acknowledge that in our starting point of being launched from church movement which held to a different biblical view of LGBTQIA people, we have fallen short of God’s call of love above all else. We genuinely seek to be present to the harm or confusion this may cause and prayerfully seek to learn how to make our repentance have meaning in tangible ways. Voices of LGBTQIA youth and adults, their families, and allies in our church are helping to lead our way forward, including our pastor and her family.
