Faith & Leadership is a web-based learning resource for Christian leaders and their institutions from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.  This past week The Gathering and the work of Rev. Cody Schuler were featured. "The Gathering in Fargo, North Dakota, is a year-old United Methodist congregation that doesn’t have a building to call its own. What it does have, says its pastor in an interview, is a desire to welcome people who don’t feel comfortable in traditional church."

The Rev. Cody Schuler figured there had to be others like him -- turned off by church but hungry for Christian community.

So after several years working in established churches, Schuler founded his own United Methodist congregation, The Gathering. The idea, he said, was to offer a place for people to question and discuss and share their doubts -- as well as their faith.

“This was really about creating space for folks who don’t fit elsewhere and need a space of hospitality and a place of healing. We’re attempting to be a faithful community as we grow in our connection to God,” he said.

The congregation doesn’t have a building, so Schuler spends his time working in coffee shops and a co-working space, an experience that reflects the essence of what The Gathering hopes to be: flexible, friendly, open to all.

Schuler spoke to Faith & Leadership about The Gathering as a new form of church. Click here to read an edited version of the transcript.

The Gathering meeting people where they are from Dakotas UMC on Vimeo.