Sometimes churches make giving money awkward…

…and as a result it becomes the elephant in the room. At The Gathering, we feel a bit differently, and as a result we think giving is as much a part of the worship experience as the music and the teaching. We firmly believe the truth of the Bible when it says

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Corinthians 9:11)

We seek to be trustworthy both in how we handle money and in how we ask for it. We believe first and foremost that God is never after our money; instead He’s after our hearts. In fact, once He has control of our hearts, our money becomes less of a big deal. We believe that He wants to bless you in every way, not so that you can have more money than you can spend, but so that you will always have money to lend. All of us have experienced seeing a need and feeling the regret of empty pockets. Our prayer for members at The Gathering is that their pockets would always be full in order that they can be able to fully give.

Finances at The Gathering are driven by the following core value:

We value simpler living and expect a lifestyle of contentment to enable greater and more generous giving.

The Bible speaks of tithing (giving of the first 10% of your income to the local church) in Malachi 3:10, but the New Testament went even further when Paul encouraged the believers to excel in the grace of giving (2 Corinthians 9:7-8). We believe that the regular, cheerful giving of our best resources to the Lord’s work in the local church results in changed hearts and lives locally and globally. Not only that, but the opening of our hands to give places us in the proper position to receive more blessing from God so that we can repeat the cheerful cycle of giving over and over again.