The Gathering Place is a modern fully accessible community center located on Lummi Island. It is owned and managed by Lummi Island Congregational Church and situated to the west of the church building with a shared parking lot.

The Gathering Place venue includes a main hall with a capacity of 191, a commercial kitchen, two restrooms, an outdoor patio, and access to the church beach. The building also has a private space with a separate entrance utilized by Lummi Island Health & Wellness. The Gathering Place is available for anyone to rent, for secular as well as church-sponsored events.

History
Lummi Island Congregational Church was built by islanders in 1909 and has been not only a place to worship, but a community hall for over a hundred years. In 2016, the church experienced significant septic drainage issues, necessitating major plumbing and kitchen repairs. A Kitchen Task Force was commissioned to study needs and solutions. The Task Force worked with designers and engineers to determine what was possible. At the same time this research was in progress, the Whatcom County Fire Marshal visited the island and inspected various public buildings, resulting in the significant lowering of the church’s occupancy rating and limiting use of the church kitchen.

The historic church building was used for community events sponsored by the church, such as Elderberries, Yoga, and Parish Dinners, as well as other organizations, such as Civic Club and AA. Having adequate gathering space and a kitchen that meets health codes was very important to the island community.

Many options were explored to remediate the issues in the old building, but everything considered impacted the structural integrity and historical nature of the building or did not meet stringent health and building codes. Lummi Island Congregational Church members ultimately concluded that the best solution was to build a new community center on existing church land using money raised in previous years to seed a capital campaign.

In 2017 a capital campaign was launched to raise funds to build the new building, now called The Gathering Place. In less than a year, Lummi Islanders, friends, and neighbors had pulled together and the funds were raised!

The official processes of finalizing building plans, applying for permits and securing a contractor began. Because The Gathering Place was the first commercial building built on Lummi Island under County building codes, the extensive permitting process was far more arduous and lengthier than expected. Finally, on March 23, 2020, all permits had been issued and construction could begin!

The Gathering Place project moved excruciatingly slow during 2020-2021 due to the world-wide pandemic, quarantines, lockdowns, supply disruptions, and drastic price increases for building materials. During that time, church members raised additional funding from individuals and foundations, our construction team worked tirelessly with the contractor to keep the project moving forward toward completion.

On September 16, 2023, the island community gathered to commemorate the grand opening of The Gathering Place. In celebration of the vision, daring, generosity, perseverance and steadfastness, The Gathering Place was dedicated as a place that will connect, celebrate, and serve the island community for generations to come.

Stewardship
The church Finance Board oversees a budget and reserve fund for The Gathering Place to ensure its service to the island community long into the future.

The Gathering Place is administered by an Advisory Board with a simple majority of its membership to be comprised of non-church affiliated islanders. The Board is responsible for developing guidelines and evaluating effective plans for ongoing scheduling, maintenance, and operations management for The Gathering Place.

The Gathering Place Board members 2024
Julie Bredy, Sahara Burson, Robert Keller, Michele Morrissey, Judy Olsen, David Parker, Tom Philpot, Rebecca Rettmer, and Kjell Rye