Who We Are
Our Mission:
Experiencing God, Building Community, Inspiring the City, Transforming Lives
We are committed to Jesus’ command to love God with all our . . .
Heart in authentic relationships that laugh, love, and play together.
Soul by using all art forms to inspire souls to worship God.
Mind by exploring God’s designs for each of us as revealed in the Bible.
Strength by using our resources and skills to create a more just and caring world.
As we Share his love with others by telling God’s story and living it out together.
Our Vision
As an Evangelical Covenant Church
Biblical: Standing on the Authority of Scripture
Devotional: Pursing New and Deeper Personal Life in Christ
Connectional: Committed to the Body of Christ
Missional: Supporting evangelism and Compassion.
“God wants lost people found and hurting people helped.”
Things you may hear us say . . .
“People accepted as they are – lives changed by encountering Jesus Christ.”
“Your starting point gets to be your starting point.”
“We take the Bible seriously – but we don’t take ourselves seriously.”
Founded in 1888 and still going strong!
In 1887, Spokane was already a good sized city for the territory of ‘Washington. That summer and fall a group of Swedish families and some single men came to Spokane from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They had all belonged to Swedish Mission Churches and quickly formed a small group for the purpose of worship, sharing testimonies, praises, and Bible Study. The house they met in on Post Street between third and fourth Avenue was occupied by several bachelor men (Nils P Peterson, John Nordstrom, Isak Lindberg, Gust Johnson, Axel Anderson and Jon Anderson). It affectionately became known as “The Bachelor House”. These were men who loved God and had a devotion to the Bible. In a very short time the group grew large enough to start a church.
Our Staff
We are a congregationally led church with both staff and elected lay leadersship
Rob Bryceson - Lead Pastor
Rob is fun, intense, plays guitar, sings, is a published song writer, and author. He loves teaching the Bible and is most known for that skill. He brings his undergraduate degree in history to the text, always revealing deeper levels of understanding. He and Tonia have five grown kids, and four grandkids, all of whom are outstanding in their own way. It's easy to meet him for coffee!
Tonia Bryceson - Admin and Event Coordinator
Tonia manages all the bookings and outside events that use our building. Its not uncommon for her to book and manage over 500 a year. She can cater and coordinate, events, fundraisers, babyshowers, business meetings or non-profit fundraisers. She never wants to be in the limelight but is a powerhouse behind the scenes, making ministry and outreach happen on a large scale. She's off the charts with talents in decorating, organizing, and keeping Rob on task.
Sheena Best - Bookkeeper
Sheena has been working with us so long that she knows all the details of everything going on here. The keeper of our history and the glue that holds the whole place together. Strong and independent, very skilled and efficient. Hates unfinished to do lists. Can probably outride you on a four wheeler.
Elected Leadership Team Members
Our church board members. The each have duties in ministry activities in order to hold a position on this team.
Denny Schlodfedlt -ViceChair
Denny spent his career serving as a family therapist, but if you were told he had once been an Ice road trucker in Alaska, you might believe it! He carries both wisdom and a spirit of adventure. Sit down with him over coffee sometime and ask about how he met Jesus- It's a story worth at least two cups of coffee. Denny is a thoughtful listener and is always willing to lend an ear if you need someone to talk with about life.
Alice Hutton -Event Support
Alice spent her career as an educator. She's retired now and finds herself busy as ever. Although she is our current board liason with events particularily our Summer Global Food and Art Market. she has a great eye for other details and therefore is one of Tonia's super special assistants in pulling off grand events here at The Gathering House. She has a great laugh too.
Jim Fischer - Church Chair and Leader of Gathering Groups
Jim is one of the long-established leaders here and not only serves as Chairman of the board, but coordinates our home Bible study groups. He was instrumental in helping build out our current site . He's overly patient, hard to rattle, and is affectionately known as one of our three wise men - the three guys who can fix stuff!
Gerri Wright -
Care and Benevolence
Gerri oversees the care, support and benevolence teams for people in church i crisis or hitting milestones. She has a great heart to bring healing and connectivity to others. Her creativity shines through in crafts that amaze and inspire the imagination. She is also a gifted spoken word poet whose performances will leave a lasting impact. Gerri's gentle demeanor- can hide that she is a powerhouse of ideas, talent, and creativity.
Jennifer was first introduced to the Evangelical Covenant Church while living and teaching in Alaska for eight years. She reconnected with the Covenant when her family began attending The Gathering House about ten years ago. She is grateful to call it her church home. So many women look up to Jennifer she's our defacto pastor to women in teh church . After raising three daughters and returning to school, Jennifer now works as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
Jennifer Guglielmo - Secretary
