Welcome to The Gathering Place
*** Thank you for visiting this page. As of September 21, 2019 we retired from the Gathering Place. We wanted to leave this page active so you could see what God had us doing for seven years. Now He has directed us to take up once again His mission to fulfill the Great Commission both home and abroad. Our focus now is training leaders and missionaries; helping leaders/pastors to take the next step; taking mission trips to aid pastors/leaders around the world; and to stir up believers to fulfill their God-given assignments for the Kingdom.
What is The Gathering Place? It is a vision the Lord gave us several years ago. It is a place where Christians can gather together, when the church isn't open, for fellowship, prayer, encouragement, Bible study, etc. But we're not exclusive - we want everyone to come in and experience the love of God.
Let us share with you a bullet point run-down of the vision for The Gathering Place
The vision of The Gathering Place is to offer:
Multiple Bible studies, day and evening (except Sunday and Wed. night). Acts 2:42, 46 says, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine (teaching) and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart."
A place to receive ministry, prayer, and/or encouragement.
Training for missions and mission projects Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
Hasten the fulfillment of the Great Commission through discipleship development. II Peter 3:12, "looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God" Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations".
Food, fun, and fellowship - the coffee pot will always be on for the Body to gather around for fellowship and encouragement.
Networking the Body of Christ - helping others to realize their vision by assisting in developing, facilitating, and launching, their ministries and/or outreaches. Eph. 4:16
The Gathering Place is not a church or affiliated with a church, but is an outreach of Acts 29 Ministries.
That, in a nutshell, is the vision. But within each of those there is transforming potential.
Some Highlights
On January 10, 2013, the Glenwood Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Gathering Place as a new business in town and a new Chamber member. It was well attended by other businesses and friends.
Senator Ted Cruz held a meet-and-greet during his campaign tour of Southwest Iowa in October, 2015.
As you can see, the Gathering Place was filled beyond capacity for this event. God placed it on our hearts that if we opened our doors for this we would have an opportunity to pray for Senator Cruz. We did have that opportunity and he was very appreciative.
Several Bible studies meet at the Gathering Place. Some independent churches use our facility for small groups/Bible studies. Also community organizations use the Gathering Place for meetings.
The heart of the Gathering Place is the people who come to share with friends and build relationships.
An outdoor concert for the community.
Bountiful Baskets, a food distribution ministry, operated from the Gathering Place.
Linus grilling for Glenwood's annual Homecoming event.
Iowa's Governor Kim Reynolds, making a stop at the Gathering Place.
One of the many sayings on our sign that entertains the community.
Handing out candy for Squarecrow Days, a Halloween event in Glenwood.
Bible study on the deck.