JASON HAM - Church Planter

Originally from South Carolina, Jason came to the northeast in 2001 as a musician in the West Point Band at the United States Military Academy. However, after a 14 year career there, Jason sensed God was calling him to something bigger.

In 2015, Jason left the Army to pursue a role as a pastor in a church he'd been part of for more than a decade. In 2020, he left that position to pursue church planting in New England, with Springfield already being where he and his family hoped to land.

In 2021, together with his wife, Bonnie, and their two kids, Jacob and Adelina, he relocated to Springfield, MA, to help establish a church of house churches, known as The Gathering. He is passionate about seeing the Church return to the Biblical ecclesiology of the New Testament Church.

BONNIE HAM - Co-Planter, Worship Leader

Also trained as a musician, Bonnie is originally from New York. However, she left there to pursue music degrees from the University of Louisville, and later, the Royal Northern College of Music in England. 

Bonnie served as a staff member at the same church in New York that Jason served as a pastor, establishing that church's first special needs ministry. In that work, she was able to make church accessible to children with special needs, in addition to their parents.

She is passionate about Jesus and her family, and loves mentoring women in one-to-one relationships.

SEAN THOMÉ - Executive Director, Expand Northwest (Partnership Team Leader)

Located in Portland, Oregon, Sean has worked with the Hams since 2021 in their effort to start a new church in Springfield, MA. In his role as the Executive Director of Expand Northwest, The Gathering's church planting organization, he has helped Jason and Bonnie stay focused on loving people in Springfield, rather than embracing some sort of corporate model. As such, The Gathering is thriving under Sean's steady guidance to keep focusing on God and people.

Sean currently serves as the Project Lead of The Gathering's Partnership Team, which governs the activity of the church. He is passionate about prayer, encouraging church leaders, and teaching othes what it means to make a fully devoted disciple of Jesus Christ.

DEAN TRUNE - Director, Healthy Churches Network (Partnership Team)

Originally trained as an engineer, Dean was dramatically pulled into college campus ministry several years into a career at General Motors Company. Starting at Michigan State University, Dean eventually worked to start campus ministries elsewhere, including into New England. 

As a person who is passionate about prayer, Dean regularly leads seminars and works with churches throughout the United States to refocus them on Jesus and the power of prayer. 

In The Gathering, Dean serves on the Partnership Team and as a coach to Jason and Bonnie, ensuring that they stay focused on prayer as a central element of the church planting journey.

BOB & STEPHANIE JOHNSON - Church Planters, The Bridge Church NW (Partnership Team)

Five years ago, Bob and Stephanie Johnson also partnered with Expand Northwest to Establish The Bridge Church NW in Wilsonville, OR. With a passion to help introduce broken and busy people to an intentional life in Jesus Christ, the Johnsons have worked to make the Bridge into a home where people feel welcome as they pursue a life of intimacy with Jesus Christ. 

As valuable members of the Partnership Team, they use their experiences from planting The Bridge to help The Gathering navigate many of the pitfalls and errors that new churches tend to make.

DIANA SIBERIO-PEREZ - Professor of Chemistry, SUNY Empire (Partnership Team)

As always happens in church contexts, recruiting and maintaining volunteers who are passionate about Jesus and children is an uphill fight. However, in 2017, Diana came onboard at the church campus Jason was serving at in New York and revolutionized the ministry. With a focus on taking care of people, Diana tripled the number of children's volunteers in six months, and maintained steady growth in the ministry until Jason left the campus in 2020.

As a member of The Gathering's Partnership Team, Diana not only helps provide oversight for The Gathering, she also helps keep its leadership focused on children.