ABout Us
The church that is now known as 'The Gathering' grew out of a loose network of Christians who were either living, working, or praying together in North Leatherhead for a number of years. The faithful labouring of this group had begun to make an impact within the community and as some began to make commitments of faith and get baptised, questions about 'church' began to arise. As conversations progressed there was a developing consensus that people wanted to be go on a journey together and explore what this might mean for them.
On this journey, around 2016, we held some meetings once a month in the North Leatherhead Community Centre to share and eat together, but as things began to develop we then moved to ‘The Bridge’ youth centre where we began to meet twice a month, had more focused teaching, shared communion regularly, and just generally things began to take more shape. The idea that we were actually a ‘church’ began to be slowly accepted and after a time of discussion the name ‘The Gathering’ was adopted mainly due to the fact that this was what people were already calling it!
Around the time of the first lockdowns in 2020, and due to our commitment to this community, we found ourselves part of some conversations focused on trying to retain the Children’s Centre on Aperdele Road as a community space. It was out of these conversations that a new charity called ‘Leatherhead Community Hub’ was formed and though it didn’t quite work out with the Childrens Centre, another building became available just across the other side of Kingston Rd rec and LCH have now taken it on and completely transformed it.
As a church we are one of the founding members of LCH and have been meeting in the cafe space there for a few years now with a number of our people deeply involved in the life of the Hub and the wider community. We love this place and we believe that God loves it too and our strap-line, that we are here for the good of our neighbour, the flourishing of our community, and the glory of God are not just words to us, they are the very heart and soul of everything we are about, and undergird everything we do in North Leatherhead.
"And they devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer"
Our Vision
In this section we have sought to answer the question of what we feel God is calling us to, at three different levels: the 'quote level', the 'paragraph' level, and the 'short story' level. Each of these different versions has its own strengths and weaknesses but together they give a more rounded and complete sense of what we are aiming for. As you will soon realise, we believe that we find ourselves as part of a story that is much bigger and expansive than any individual and that the more we understand this story, the better we understand our own part and purpose within it. Therefore, especially in the 'Paragraph' and 'Short Story' versions, we have tried to locate the vision of TG within this larger narrative so that its fullest meaning might be made clearer.
To read any of the following versions, just click on the link below.
'Quote SIZED'
'Paragraph Sized'
'SHORT STORY SIZED'
Our Values
faith
lives
practices
purpose
Place
Meet the team
Here YOU WILL FIND THOSE WHO CURRENTLY PART OF THE LEADERSHIP TEAM AT 'THE GATHERING'. WE HOPE TO HAVE SOME MORE INFO ON EACH OF THESE LOVELY PEOPLE SHORTLY.
Peter MoOre
Team Leader
Pete is married to Kat and they have lived in Leatherhead since 2007. He has a couple of Theology degrees and supports Liverpool FC.
Ruth Shepherd
Leader
Ruth works for B@titude, a local charity, and enjoys spending time with her family and walking in the woods with friends.
Kat Moore
Leader
Kat is married to Pete and loves to worship Jesus through song. She has also discovered the joy of growing veg at her allotment and making nice coffee.
Our Partnership with Bookham baptist church
As 'The Gathering' began to grow and to take shape there was a shared awareness and desire of the need to be connected in to the wider body of Christ. We knew theologically and spiritually that we were part of the worldwide family of God but we felt that we needed to express this by finding a relational connection within which we could both grow and be held accountable in our journey. As we talked and prayed about different options it soon became clear that the relationship that we were looking for was to be found on our doorstep. For, little did we know but just down the road from North Leatherhead, God had been speaking and stirring the hearts of believers in a community called Bookham Baptist Church about being involved in Leatherhead. With no real clear idea at this point of how that might happen, tentative talks between BBC and TG began to happen and after some prayer, discussion, and input from others, a partnership agreement was drafted and signed off on from both churches. We see this as a mutually beneficial partnership with each church offering different gifts to one another as we both seek to see the kingdom of God make an impact within our respective communities.
We at The Gathering are deeply grateful for our relationship and partnership with Bookham Baptist Church and know that we would not have been able to accomplish what we have over the last few years if it were not for their guidance, support, and financial generosity. So a big THANK YOU to everyone over at Bookham Baptist Church for all that you are and all that you do.
'Holy partners in a heavenly calling'
