At Woodland, we want to learn to love together because we know there’s no such thing as following Jesus solo. Our Gathering Groups are one place where people can connect to do Kingdom life in community.
Tim and Nancy, in Minnesota, and Andrew and Cathy, in Wales, have been in the same Gathering Group for a couple of years. Recently they were able to make their first off-screen connection when Tim and Nancy took a trip to Scotland and the couples met up in Glasgow.
Tim and Nancy said, “Meeting in person felt surprisingly different from meeting online—you never really know how tall or short someone is until you’re face-to-face. Once we sat down for dinner, though, it felt more like the Zoom calls we were used to. We had a lovely, peaceful time exploring the Isle of Cumbrae and getting to know each other better. We really are ‘better together.’”
Andrew and Cathy shared, “The bond that we had forged online in our Gathering Group made it feel natural and easy to pick up our friendship in person. It was so good to spend time together getting to know each other better. It was like being a Woodland Hills family.”
We love hearing these stories because you are showing us what it looks like to practice a Jesus-looking life in community, even when nearly 4,000 miles apart!
If you are looking for connection, we invite you to join a Gathering Group, too! You can find more information here.
This is so encouraging and uplifting and a great example of the wider Body of Christ reaching across the world. We, too, have been in our Gathering Group for about three years, sharing stories of the Kingdom and our journey in it with people whom we have never met (except through Zoom GG) living on the other side of the world as we do in Australia. It would be so wonderful for us to meet in person those in our GG and our plan is to eventually to attend a Woodland Hills Church summer Get Together, hopefully in the near future. Thank you so much, Wooland Hills, for providing this way of connecting with other followers of Jesus. It has been such a wonderful experience for us as we share life together.
Hi Graeme and Di,
We love hearing that—thanks for sharing 🙂
We, too, hope you can make it to the Summer Get-Together some day!
—Emily from WH Communications
When I retired and began the search for a new home in a new state, I was so blessed to find a church “home” online with Woodland Hills. Even though there’s a lot of distance geographically, meeting with the folks in our gathering group really deepens the connection we have. Sharing our thoughts and discussing the sermon helps us grow closer to God and those around us while staying true to ourselves. I always leave our time feeling encouraged and challenged at the same time!
Love hearing this, Kara! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
—Emily from Communications