A Miracle of Gathering
Written by Robert Parish, Pastor at Mountain View Alliance Church in the Williamsport region.
It all began with a financial crisis.
Our giving at the church I pastor was down at the start of 2025 and wasn't bouncing back. On March 5, our treasurer informed me that we only had enough money to continue gathering until the end of the month.
The next day, I spoke with Nate Howard, our district superintendent, and we created a timeline: I would meet with the board after church on March 9, announce to the congregation on March 16, and—with assistance from the Eastern PA District emergency fund—gather for what might be the last time on Easter Sunday, barring a miracle from the Lord.
Nate and I began praying for that miracle for Mountain View Alliance Church.
A Call to Pray and Fast
The very next day, on March 7, a man from the community came to my office to announce he believed God was calling him to Mountain View. I couldn't tell him that our church might be closing, since I hadn't yet informed the board or congregation.
"If that's what you believe, you should probably come sooner rather than later—and bring a few friends!" I simply said.
Two days later, I called our board together to pray and fast for a miracle.
And what a miracle of gathering we experienced. It began on March 9 with six visitors sitting up front on Sunday. I'll admit the board and I started praying with much more conviction after that! We then saw 12 new faces on March 16, then 23 on March 23—and that didn't even include children.
The Financial Need
As we saw more people gathering for worship, we still needed a financial miracle. We needed our year-to-date giving to meet budget by the end of March AND faith promises to the Lord from those attending to meet our monthly budgeted needs going forward.
On March 30, we needed $11,000 in offerings that day. We received $11,350! We needed faith promises totaling $7,880 but received only $7,630. I honestly didn't know what to make of that shortfall as I announced the totals at our church dinner that evening. We certainly didn't want to be back in this position in six months.
But March has 31 days. On that very last day of March, the final pledge of $250 came in, bringing our total to exactly $7,880.
Four Miracles
I see that God performed four miracles for Mountain View Alliance Church:
Financial provision to meet our year-to-date budget
Faith promises sufficient to stay on budget going forward
A miracle of gathering
NEW LIFE in Christ as a church family
There are more than 30 names in our church directory today that weren't there on that first Sunday of March, with six new members and seven baptisms. That is the miracle of gathering. Please pray that through this miracle more lives will be transformed by Jesus and there will be increasing gospel impact in our region of Williamsport.
To God be all the honor and all the glory.