An Interview

“From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” - Ephesians 4:16

 The fourth chapter of Ephesians is filled with exciting words for the church when we unite as one body. On Sunday, September 11, at the Napa Valley Fairgrounds we witnessed what can happen when the churches of Napa laid down our doctrinal differences and came together as one at The Gathering. Pastor Larry Beisel of The Rock Worship Center and Pastor Pete Shaw of First Baptist Church were part of a team of leaders in our community who worked together to bring the Napa Valley churches in concert for what is sure to an historic day of praise, prayer, and worship. After experiencing The Gathering, what a blessing it would be to find history repeating itself. Here is some of what Pastors Larry and Pete had to share about that extraordinary event:

What was the inspiration for The Gathering?

Pete Shaw (Pastor, First Baptist): “One of our members planted the idea of FBC doing an event at the Plaza Stage.  I can't remember how the progression went exactly, but I know that soon thereafter we caught hold of the much bigger vision - that The Gathering would be an event that would bring unity to the Church of Napa as we chose to worship together.”

Larry Beisel (Pastor, The Rock Worship Center) : “For the Rock it was two-fold. One, [it was] a symbol of unity in the city; we have one purpose [which is] to reveal Jesus. And two, [it was] to break strongholds over this city and valley as we corporately worshiped.

What does The Gathering mean for Napa Valley and for the church as the body of Christ?

Larry Beisel: “Every time the church declares praise over this city more of the strongholds are broken. And as more of the strongholds are broken greater freedom will come to the Church of Napa, not only for worship, but to be able to win souls. For over two hours 7 churches together were doing warfare, we were in a battle for authority and possession of the land of this valley. It belongs to God, the enemy has no right to it, and it is time to declare who has what rights! We did that!”

How were people directly affected by attending?

Pete Shaw: “Teams of people were strengthened as they pulled together to cover many ministry tasks. From setting up chairs, to preparing communion bags, to turning a blank stage into a worship leading platform [and] making coffee and setting out pastries. [There were volunteers] putting on a kids program, rehearsing a worship team, etc.  There were some individual breakthroughs, of course, but this was a Kingdom thing, and so, in my opinion, the biggest gains were on the larger scale of community working with community.

Larry Beisel: “It affected everyone in our congregation, but a number of them said they never thought they'd see the day that this would happen in Napa. One person told me they received an impartation of passion for this city like they never had had before. They saw what could be accomplished when an army comes together for one purpose; it caused them to believe and push for the impossible.”

Which Napa Valley Churches were represented at The Gathering?

Larry Beisel: “Foursquare, Assembly of God, First Christian, Valley Community, First Baptist, Redwood Community, Foothill Christian, The Rock Worship Center, plus there were people there from the Catholic churches, Lutheran Churches, also a number that I met from Sonoma, Santa Rosa, and up valley.”

What is the estimated attendance for The Gathering?

Pete Shaw: “We believe there were 1,000 - 1,200 in attendance.”

What was the cost of the event versus the offering?

Pete Shaw: “The total cost was around $5,000, and the total offering exceeded $10,000.  I am actually awaiting the final numbers as we speak.  I think the last of the invoices have been paid, so we can send the surplus to Katrina relief effort via the Salvation Army.  When I get the final numbers, I will broadcast the good news to the pastors in Napa.”

What goals do Napa Valley churches have for next year?

Larry Beisel: “I believe all of the pastors involved are believing for double next year; we need to make a statement to this city that the church of Napa is a powerful force that will influence this city in every facet.”

Pete Shaw: “Wouldn't it be awesome to bring the Church together and pack out one of the football stadiums in town?  What would a service of joy and prayer communicate to our community?”

What would you like to say to anyone who was not able to attend, or chose not to attend, as an encouragement to be there next year?

Pete Shaw: “For pastors [I would say that] this is a Kingdom deal. The King won't leave you hanging!  Join the party! For others [I would say that] The Gathering is not about "God and me" but [it’s about] "God and we".  The environment isn't the same as you're used to, you may not be familiar with all the songs, there may be some people you don't know - there are lots of differences about The Gathering compared to a typical Sunday.  But the results of The Gathering aren't typical, either.  It's different, and for a much greater good.  Come next year and look for atypical results that you couldn’t get from a regular worship service.”

Larry Beisel: "Let's lay down our doctrinal differences and pick up the cross which is central to all of our faiths; if we can't do that one or two times a year we are probably more bound than we realize. This may sound harsh, but all too often what we call our “rights” or our “choice" is simply a religious spirit! Ouch!”

Do you have any final comments?

 Pete Shaw: “The Gathering is just one of three Church of Napa events.  A Thanksgiving service will be held on Thanksgiving Eve at Hillside.  And a National Day of Prayer service will be held somewhere.  These are great opportunities to be in the mix with the larger body of Christ!”

Larry Beisel: “TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE! Bringing the Ark into the Gathering was symbolic of bringing the Presence of Jesus into this city - Come Holy Spirit; we invite You into this city - TO TRANSFORM IT!”

Thank you to Pastor Pete Shaw of First Baptist Church and to Larry Beisel of The Rock Worship Center, and to all in Napa Valley’s body of Christ who made The Gathering possible.

“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11 – 13