The Gathering

In late July, early August, I was feeling under fire. After prayer, I believed God wanted me to share the following:

Beloved,
Have you been experiencing heartache and despair, perhaps discouragement or even desperation? If so, then you are probably in God’s plan. I know it sounds bizarre but every person I know that is actively seeking to do God’s will is experiencing these things right now. I must tell you, I’ve been ready to give up but Loyal Thurman of www.hopefortherejected.org told me that God is about to birth a new work, a work that will unite the Christian underground—the subcultures—for His purpose. When I began GothicChristianity.com and the Gathering, I began with the belief that a revival among the subcultures—goth especially—was imminent. I believe that now more than ever. The only thing that stands in our way is what our enemy is, at this very moment, attempting to sow in our friendships and relationships. Satan wants us fighting and angry at each other because, if he can succeed at keeping us apart, he thinks God’s ability to pour His Spirit out on us will be limited. Get on your knees brothers and sisters. Forgive each other. Recognize these squabbles for what they are: a satanic attack. And, declare with me that you won’t tolerate it anymore.

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

Your loving brother,
David Dellman

This message was mailed to the list at the beginning of August. Many responded, telling me that they resonated deeply with what was shared. Relationships were being healed but the assault was far from over.

Expenses I had no way of anticipating for the Gathering crippled my ability to produce it. So, with a heavy heart, I sent the following message to the leadership of out community:

I have been doing some intense soul searching over the last two months and I am very near making a decision that could postpone or cancel the Third Annual Christian Goth Gathering this year. I would very much like to hear from you—my leadership team—about this as soon as possible. It was my dream to nurture small groups of Christian Goths around the country, to establish a presence for Christian Goth in the greater Goth community, and to sponsor an annual Gathering. We’ve had two annual Gatherings and for those that attended, they were wonderful but they came with at a heavy cost. I came into this year seriously in debt from the last two Gatherings and operating a corporation at a loss for the third consecutive year. As much as I want to continue to offer the Gathering, it is simply fiscally irresponsible to do so. Please advise.

God bless,
David

I asked for wisdom, and I received it. Rose, for example, told me, “We only spend what we can afford and have the money for.” She told me that the first thing I needed to do is, “Get the debt cleared out before doing anything else. God doesn't want us to be in this position. He talks about debt and how it puts a strangle-hold over the ministry.”

And it had a strangle hold over mine.

Pastor Dave Hart said, “Thanks for seeking wisdom and counsel from the rest of us… I think that leadership around the country should take responsibility for this (Gatherings)—we need to do a West Coast Gathering (and take the responsibility for our own expenses), and there should probably be one in Chicago or St. Louis, as well—we should be sharing the burden of responsibility here. At any rate, perhaps the greatest gift we could give to you, your marriage, and your church ministry right now would be to let you off the hook and give you the time and money and freedom to get on with the rest of your life. You've set a precedent, and God will continue the work in other ways. You are not letting us down or Him down in any way that I can see—you are only doing what is wise and prudent, and in my way of understanding things, reflecting the character of Christ is more at the center of His Will than any great act of works.”

There were many other kind, encouraging, and wise words as well so a few days later in August, I sent this message to the entire list:

Dear Friends,
I know this will come as a shock to some of you. It is the most difficult message I have ever had to deliver. It was my dream to nurture small groups of Christian Goths around the country, to establish a presence for Christian Goth in the greater Goth community, and to sponsor an annual Gathering. We’ve had two annual Gatherings and for those that attended, they were wonderful but they came with at a heavy cost. I came into this year seriously in debt from the last two Gatherings and operating a corporation at a loss for the third consecutive year. As much as I want to continue to offer the Gathering, it is simply fiscally irresponsible to do so. And so it is with great remorse that I must cancel the Third Annual Christian Goth Gathering scheduled for October 27- 29, 2006… I sincerely hope that you will forgive any inconvenience or disappointment this decision has caused you, and that we can move on to bigger and better but more affordable events in the future.

God bless,
David

The responses to this message were overwhelmingly kind, loving, and encouraging. One person that inspired me years ago before the First Gathering, wrote to encourage me again. Her name is Valerie, and she said, “Please be encouraged. Don't loose heart and your vision. Hold on all the more. Sometimes we forget that a seed has to die before it can grow and multiply.”

I believe in prophecy and I believe that God still works through a process of death, burial, and resurrection. It was time for me to get out of the way so those He was calling could step forward.

And they did.

On September 2, 2006, I sent the following message to the list:

Beloved in Christ,
It was a dark day for me when I had to cancel the Third Annual Christian Goth Gathering, but within days of the announcement people were writing from all over the world, telling me of plans they were making for a gathering of their own. Many have expressed the intention of producing and sponsoring a goth gathering, but as of this writing only one has succeeded, and I’d like to tell you about her.

Her name is Electra Paris (aka Jennie Perry). She has a natural talent for motivating others, for inspiring others, for bringing people together, and she is the founder of what is in my opinion the best run group on the internet, a Yahoo group called His Spirit Realm. If you are not a member, please consider this an invitation.

Electra made this announcement on His Spirit Realm and I would like to pass it on to you:

“As we all know The Goth Gathering in Baltimore has been cancelled. In response to this, Psycho X Productions has started a new Christian goth convention in the Charlotte (North Carolina) area which will be sponsored by our church, Threshold.

The event is "Haven X Obscurum"- for out of the darkness, there arises a safe meeting place. You can keep up with all the details at www.dementiaclothing.com/havenx or www.myspace. com/havenXobscurum.

We plan to keep it the same weekend, October 27-29.

For more information, please contact Jennie at electra_paris@yahoo.com or Kryss at kryss@seraphweb.com”

We here at Gothic Christianity would like to extend our thanks to Jennie and Kryss for the courage and faith they have demonstrated in creating this event. Our prayers are with them and all that attend for much success and for God’s blessing.

Love and many blessings,
David

Jen is the first, but she won’t be the last. I believe there will be gatherings all over the world. I believe they will be bigger and better than anything I could have accomplished on my own, and I believe we will see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on goth.

Much love,
David