Gathering Church to relocate to Bingham Lake location
At the Monday, November 13 meeting of the Bingham Lake City Council, members approved a plan that would allow Gathering Church, part of Gathering Ministries, to buy and relocate into the former PJ’s II along Minnesota State Highway #60 in the city.
However, due to the city statutes’ various zoning ordinances, that move cannot happen until January 2018 – unless the city council holds a special meeting.
The last day of business for PJ’s II, a bar and restaurant, was Saturday, October 28.
Gathering Church is a non-denominational fellowship currently worshiping in The River City Eatery in Windom.
The church’s Campus Pastor is Kent Houppert. Houppert has been doing youth and adult ministries for 24 years. He and his wife, Amy, moved to Windom from the Rochester/Buffalo upstate New York area.
Members of the Leadership Team includes Dr. Rod Dynes of Windom, chair; Rick Clerc of Windom, vice-chair; Dale Friesen of Windom, treasurer and Verlyn Fast of Bingham Lake, member-at-large.
Gathering Church, as an independent church, has no legal affiliation with Eagle Brook Church, but uses online messages from them during their services. Based in Lino Lakes, the same message is given live five times during the course of a weekend and is simulcast from the Lino Lakes church to five other campus locations, including Anoka, Blaine, Spring Lake Park, White Bear Lake and Woodbury. Gathering Church rebroadcasts the Saturday evening sermon on a screen from Eagle Brook’s website.
The church began last February simply as a small band of friends gathering together every week. The group grew and grew as people in the area learned about this new way of doing church.
In addition, church leaders pull in song leaders – worship leaders – from the local vicinity, as well as Minneapolis, Mankato and Sioux City, Iowa.
Its theme is: “Gather. Connect. Serve. Grow.”
Their website is: www.gatheringchurchmn.com
