'A Gathering' will return this fall in Salem

It wasn’t just any gathering. It was “A Gathering.” And plans now call for it to be the first in a series.

On Saturday, March 31, “A Gathering” of people from dozens of churches and ministries in Oregon and Washington took place at the Salem Armory on the Oregon State Fairgrounds. Coordinated by Salem City Church, “A Gathering” gave opportunity for Christians from more than 40 communities to meet for one day of worship and intercession, seeking God, crying out in repentance and asking the Lord to rain His presence, revival, awakening, harvest and Kingdom expansion in families, neighborhoods, cities, counties, states, region, nation and the world.

Salem City Church Pastor Gary Bittner said: “As we joined together as ‘many streams of the one river’ as found in Psalm 46:4, I believe we in part fulfilled God’s intent for His church that we, together, ‘make known the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm’ as we read in Ephesians 3:10.”

Pastors from more than 20 different churches led in prayer during the day and worship was led by worship teams fromvarious Salem-area churches. Estimated attendance at “A Gathering” was between 1,000 to 1,200 people who showed up at some point during the prayer and worship time, which ran from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“It was a long day,” said Bittner, “but there was much accomplished in the heavenlies, and at the end of the day over 40 churches were still represented!

“We ended the day by ‘setting new boundaries’ in the Spirit as each church represented took turns driving a stake that had the words ‘Repentance, Revi-val, Reconciliation and Renewal’ written on it, along with accompanying Scriptures. In unity and purpose, with this ‘staking’ we were declaring that it is a ‘new day’ in this region and that the churches and cities and people belong to Jesus Christ, and we are pushing back the boundaries of darkness as we extend the boundaries of the Kingdom of God.”

Bittner believes the meeting was the beginning of “something new in the Spirit” for the Northwest.

“We are not looking at what took place at a ‘A Gathering’ as a 'one-time event, but rather we are continuing to believe that God has begun a sustained move of His Spirit in our region, with ‘A Gathering’ being one catalyst for that to happen in cooperation with the many other gatherings of His people that are taking place all over the North-west. It is time to seek the Lord until He rains His presence, life and Kingdom in our region.”

The next “Gathering” is Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Salem Armory. For details, contact 503-362-7366 or www.salemcitychurch.org.