Who We Are
Our Purpose
OUR PURPOSE IS TO HELP PEOPLE KNOW AND FOLLOW JESUS.
This is the Great Commission of Jesus and so it should be the pursuit and passion of every follower of Jesus.
God has not called us to plant churches; He has called us to make disciples.
Jesus was very clear about who is going to build the church. Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus was also very clear about what our role is. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Too often we have told Jesus that we want to switch roles. We would rather build church buildings and then expect Jesus to bring in the disciples. We need to get serious about what our role is. Let’s not worry about building the church, lets concern ourselves with making disciples and let Jesus build the church.
We believe this is our God-given purpose. We strive to make disciples and let Jesus build the church – house by house.
Our Vision
We believe God has called The Gathering to be a growing network of home churches that reach out into Simi Valley, Ventura County and the world. This is our Jerusalem, Judea and the uttermost parts of the earth.
Our Values
Gather – We value authentic and transparent community. To do this we are committed to gathering together to share our lives and to encourage each other to grow in Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25). We encourage every believer to use his or her gifts in order to help bring the whole church into maturity in Christ. When you come to The Gathering you will have the opportunity to grow in love and unity with the body.
Grow – We value cultivating a faith in every person that grows and deepens in Jesus. Faith grows through disciplined use of God’s word, worship and community (Colossians 3:16). When you come to The Gathering you will be encouraged to use your gifts to help the body grow to maturity in Christ.
Generosity – We value a generous life that is modeled after the life of Jesus. We strive to be generous in living by giving our time to authentic relationships. We strive to be generous in serving by using our spiritual gifts for the benefit of the body of Christ. We strive to be generous in giving by regularly giving our finances to further the cause of Kingdom of God.
Go – We value the Great Commission. We believe every believer is called by God to share his or her faith with those who do not yet know Christ. We are called to not only be discipled but to make disciples.
Our Practices
We are devoted to scripture
For the church to corporately be devoted to scripture, each believer must individually be devoted to scripture on a daily basis. Being devoted to scripture means that as followers of Jesus we are committed to not only knowing scripture but also to obeying scripture. Obedience is God’s love language. Jesus told us that if we love Him we will obey Him (John 14:15).
James 1:22-25 tells us that the life that is blessed is the life that is lived actively doing what the Bible says we are to do. Too often we have equated Bible knowledge with spiritual maturity. Maturity instead is measured by our obedience to what we know.
Every time we gather as the church the scriptures are central. We are intentional about reading the word together and then encouraging each other towards application of scripture, which in turn moves us towards greater maturity in Christ.
We multiply house churches
A question we get a lot is; “When are you going to rent a building?” Our answer is,; “Never”. Bigger is not always better. The church is meant to be a family where we experience intimacy and love. We have found that as the number of people in a home church gets over 20 people the “church as family” experience can get lost.
But the gathered body of Christ is also a people who are committed to the mission of Jesus. We are called to reach out and expand the family. This can be hard. It is more comfortable to stay with the people with whom you have established a deep friendship. If we are not careful community can become the enemy of mission so we choose mission over comfort. We value both community and mission and believe that we can establish deep community that is focused on mission.
We develop leaders
Because we multiply house churches, our aim is to multiply leaders who can establish more churches and reach more people. As more churches are planted there is a need to develop more church leaders. We develop leaders by discipling theminto a life with Jesus and helping them to discover and use their spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ. All believers should be encouraged to use their spiritual gifts within the body of Christ. Everyone has a role to play and the whole church is built up when no one sits on the sidelines.
Our Beliefs
Our Leadership
I have been in pastoral ministry, serving the local church for over 35 years. For 24 years I was serving in the role of senior pastor. My educational background has been focused on discipleship. I graduated from Biola University with a degree in Christian Education. I received my M.Div and D.Min from Talbot School of theology. My doctorate is in the area of biblical discipleship.
In 2020 God called me, along with a few others, into a new adventure in faith to plant house churches. This turned into “The Gathering.” In a short time we have begun to see God move to multiply believers, leaders and churches. We are committed to sound biblical doctrine, discipleship and the Great Commission. We would love for you to join us in our pursuit of Christ.
Paul Weir - Senior Pastor
