The Catalyst Gathering
Last month a bunch of people from around South Wales, and possibly further, who are involved with simple/organic forms of church came together for a day of encouragement.

Here's a report of their time. If anyone else who was there would like to add some thoughts just use the comment facility.

The purpose of the day was to encourage those already involved in simple/organic church settings, by sharing stories about what God has been doing amongst us, praying together, networking and chatting through issues that effect us in our varying situations. We began the day with time to share our stories with one another. This proved to be a really good opportunity to hear that others had been on similar journeys.

One of the biggest facets that struck me through this time was that everyone knew the people they were working with, their backgrounds, life stories, the good bad and ugly parts of their lives. This only comes through the development of real relationships. Although no-one opened up someone else’s life for all to see, it was obvious that depth of relationship was there. This reinforced the fact that God cares about all the little details of our lives, and is unwilling to just rest at a superficial level regarding relationship with His people and the inter-relationship between His people.
We prayed together through the day and finished with a question and answer session, where questions were posted onto a board and anyone there could comment on, or try to answer the question from their own experience.

From this session and through the questions asked, the sense of being kingdom people came through strongly. We are called to be carriers of the kingdom into every facet of our lives, and also to respect others in God’s kingdom even if their style of church does not sit well with us. Many have gone before us and suffered so that we could have church of any shape today. God has blessed and worked with varying styles of church in the past and still does, so although we may be involved with organic/simple styles of church it is so important to still see ourselves as a part of a far bigger picture, and an important part of His kingdom.

It would be difficult to pick out one story from the day, but as an overall viewpoint of the stories shared, it would be fair to say that God’s kingdom is advancing into new areas, touching new people and manifesting with people gathering in a variety of places, and there is more to come.
Mark Cutliffe

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