New City Gathering – May 2016
On May 17-19, 2016, over 170 people convened for the first-ever New City Gathering (www.newcitygathering.org), in New York City on Roosevelt Island at the historic Chapel of the Good Shepherd.
New City Gathering was birthed out of a vision to connect, resource, and train urban church planters/pastors in global cities. This gathering was hosted by the New City Network (www.newcitynetwork.org), a network of urban churches that is marked by five values: 1) urban, 2) multi-ethnic, 3) Spirit-filled, 4) emotional health, and 5) missional practice.
Hope Church NYC (www.hopechurchnyc.org) is one of the founding churches of this growing network. The gathering was well attended by the East Coast Conference, with about a third of the official speakers being ECC church planters, coaches, and mentors. ECC Church Planting Network Point Leaders were also in attendance and presented, including Dave Swaim from the Highrock Church Network (Greater Boston) and Andrew Mook from Sanctuary Church Network (Providence, RI).
Over three days, New City Gathering provided a wonderful time of worship and connecting with church planters and pastors from various backgrounds and denominations.
Aside from the sessions, I was personally thrilled by our times of prayer together, affording pastors and church planters to pray for –and to be prayed for– in the midst of the inevitable stresses that come with church planting.
I am so grateful for the tireless support of the East Coast Conference, Covenant Church Planting, and Howard Burgoyne and Jason Condon in making this gathering – and this growing network – possible.
Drew Hyun
Founding Pastor, Hope Church NYC