The Diocese of Durham is excited to announce the launch of GATHER: God's Tent in Teesdale, a new church plant that is part of the Diocese's church planting strategy. The new church will meet for the first time at 7pm on 10th July at Alwent Hall and would love for you to join them.
GATHER is a "roaming movable church community" that blends together different rural spaces by moving around and utilising indoor and outdoor spaces – showing just how beautiful and inspiring rural church can be. The team believe this allows them to connect with people in parts of the community they’re already comfortable with, and to create a relaxed and welcoming experience with strong natural themes.
The team behind GATHER were inspired by their visit to the Rural Church Conference in Northumberland alongside their conversations and work with those who enjoy the sometimes challenging rural church environment in other dioceses, such as Northumberland, Leeds, York, and Carlisle. The team shared that during the conference a keynote from John Bell, of the Iona community, emphasised the various colours and variety which rural church can look like, and this struck the team as just like the natural variety in Creation and helped shape the way their church gathers together. The team are grateful for the support of so many rural colleagues already and are look forward to working with nearby rural parishes in the future.
About GATHER
GATHER is a lay-led initiative with oversight from The Revd Canon Eileen Harrop (Priest in Charge: Gainford, Ingleton, Staindrop & Winston) and has a joint leadership team led by Tom Deakin. They are one of the new 100 worshipping communities in the diocese, and are part of the Cultivate Network of Churches which form the forefront of the new church plants flourishing from the Diocese's Growth Strategy. The team themselves have significant experience of rural church and they are looking forward to welcoming anyone who wishes to join, and is particularly passionate about reaching out to the 20s-40s age bracket who don’t currently engage with Sunday worship in their local parishes.
A fresh expression of church
GATHER is designed to be a roaming community experience that moves around Teesdale, typically holding monthly GATHERings in beautiful natural settings and community hubs within the dale. This gradual moving around rural Teesdale through the year reflects the area’s seasonal farming heritage with a contemporary twist, and lets the church meet the needs of different communities in their own context. The team say that since they believe so strongly that faith is a journey and not a fixed destination - rather than just saying it they thought they’d put that at the core of how they meet. Journeying and exploring to different places as they explore faith.
Building a community
The team believes that community is an essential part of the Christian life and GATHER is committed to building a community where people feel welcome, valued, and supported so that they can flourish. They say they are all about creating an “accepting, inviting space and community where people can come together to
worship, learn, and grow together.” This doesn’t just happen instantly of course and they have a plethora of ideas as to how they can enjoy this key part of building the new church – some of these are helping address food poverty in the area, going on pilgrimage across their communities and sharing stories of our faith as they go, and of course the humble simplicity of sharing food or film nights. The team are keen to create a strong online community where people can connect with each other and stay up-to-date on GATHER's events and activities which plan to include a strong theme of pilgrimage
since they reside in an area connected by the Northern Saints Trails to Durham Cathedral.
Tom Deakin, plant co-lead, says: “We believe that community is essential for spiritual growth, and we are excited to build a community where people can thrive. We know rural church has some fantastic opportunities as well as challenges, and we’re keen to form a humble, authentic church with the Word at its core which looks
to serve our communities”.
Stay Connected
To stay connected with GATHER, you can follow us on Facebook and/or email us GatherChurchTeesdale@gmail.com. We will be announcing other upcoming events soon.
Claire Mead, co-lead of GATHER says: “We are excited to see what God will do through GATHER in Teesdale. We believe that this new church plant has the potential to be a powerful force for good in the community, and we are committed to working with others to make that happen.”
The new church is meeting at 7pm on 10th July at Alwent Hall and are going on pilgrimage in August. Follow their social media page to keep connected with what this pioneering team is doing in their rural context!
Written by the Gather Team