2020 NC Regional Content

This is a personal reflection that I hope captures the spirit of the gathering as requested by Mike.  Gay and I arrived at the gathering tired, yet expectant, as introverts ready to stretch and enter in, yet silently praying for an anointing to help us to do so.  A not dissimilar way to our approach to going to gatherings since the first at Alverna in 1985. Well, it was clear by the end of the weekend that the Spirit is falling mightily, to help us bring the transformation in Christ in a way that only the spirit can, manifesting so quickly and thoroughly. It started and ended with repentance and a humble opening to God’s grace and love.  We were struck by its power and the change in all of us that following the Spirit had given powerful healing, knocked down many walls, lifted many burdens, and most importantly to savor it with our brothers and sisters in wonderful fellowship and disposed us all to want to go share it with the world in our daily lives!! Felt like we were in the Acts of the Apostles, and certainly renewals we have experienced within our Community over the years!  We were on fire!!

 

We were blessed with heartfelt talks from our Regional Minister and Vicar shared from trusting and vulnerable hearts, sharing reflections they have personally experienced recently, from Mike on dealing with the feeling the lie we all deal with that we are so unworthy that we have to fix ourselves before our Lord could possibly love us, and how he recently was delivered to another level of healing in that!  Emily shared the desire to be more fully present and helped us through an examen of how we all could do better in being a loving presence to others in our region and to our cell groups.  Thank you to Mike and Emily for their servants heart and discernment in creating a wonderful gathering experience for all!  The Collins then shared the fruits of steady desire and action to create a cell group in their area that was touching in its simplicity yet steadfast pursuit that God blessed with a now thriving cell group!

The capstone of the gathering was the presence of our founder and foundress, John Michael and Viola.  John shared from his heart that he senses a renewal of the Spirit Based in a humble and repentant returning to Christ and the foot of the cross, of the natural outgrowth of the charismatic gifts to more regularly manifest in our Community life because of this, of a commitment and fuller manifestation of cell groups (good teaching on this!), as well as a deepening in our contemplative prayer life with a session on breath prayer Sunday morning. All this to begin and end with repentance and bringing ourselves wholly to the foot of the cross.  As to the charismatic gifts he kept emphasizing praying for and receiving the gifts, tongues, healings, prophecy...  That led to a powerful praise, adoration time Friday night that set the stage and primed the pump for that to be manifested again the next afternoon.