Happy Thursday, Browncroft! Today we want to remind you about a special event coming up in just a few weeks. On Friday, February 28th, Browncroft will be hosting a local gathering of Gather25, a unique virtual meeting of the global Church. You are invited to join us for an in-person time of celebration and prayer as we hear from and support our fellow believers, locally and from all over the world. We’ll enjoy good food, worship, and prayer, with a special focus on the needs of our local refugees and our partners at World Relief. We will also launch Gather25’s 25-hour broadcast and hear what God is doing through His Church all over the world, including the persecuted and growing Church. We can’t wait for our congregation (you!) to play a part in this epic gathering.
Please continue reading for an extended invitation from our Outreach Director, Kelly Fasoldt. And be sure to spread the word about this exciting opportunity.
-Carissa Gray, Communications Coordinator
A Word from Kelly Fasoldt, Outreach Director:
I’m inviting you to the largest ranging group project you’ll ever be part of – it’s Gather25! Gather25 is a global virtual event where “Jesus followers in churches, campuses, arenas, and living rooms – from every continent and denomination – will join together across every time zone to watch a broadcast that is free to everyone, everywhere.”
Gather25 began with a vision: What could happen if the 2.5 billion Christians in the world were mobilized to share the gospel and reach the 5.5 billion who don’t know Jesus yet – together? What could the global Church, in the unity Jesus prayed for, accomplish?
Using technology unique to our time to connect the global Church, this will truly be an unprecedented gathering for the sake of the gospel and the Great Commission. Starting at 8pm on February 28th, and continuing wherever on the globe that the date is still March 1st, the Church will be invited to unite, across time zones, continents, congregations, and even denominations. This virtual coming-together is led by a network of Christian thinkers, pastors, missionaries, worship leaders, and artists. During every virtual session across the 25 hours, there will be reports of how God is at work in various parts of the world.
What could the global Church, in the unity Jesus prayed for, accomplish?
The launch of our local gathering will begin here at Browncroft at 7pm, where we will join in prayer and worship, and take time to consider our own international neighbors in need, that is, our rising refugee and immigrant population in our community. To that end, we will be hearing from our partners at World Relief about how we can be serving the many refugees (124) who were brought to our community this past year and have since been denied services and resources promised for their first 90 days in the US, leading to a fraught situation for many. We hope to bring the care of Jesus in His global Church to the community, and to the least and lost around us.
At 8pm, we will join the beginning of the broadcast of Gather25, which will go from Texas to New Zealand, India, the Persecuted Church, Malaysia, Romania, the UK, before ending in our sister church city of Lima, Peru.
Additionally, on Saturday, March 1st, we will have the broadcast streaming from 8am – 9pm in the Browncroft Cafe for people to come as individuals or in groups to continue the experience.
Who is invited? You are, of course, as well as your friends, your neighbors, and your small group! We are inviting other Rochester church friends and leaders as well, in the spirit of a unified gathering. We can’t wait to be the body of Christ together, even in this small way.
Please RSVP at the button below and be praying for God’s blessing on this effort.