By Christi Mays
Five years ago, Jenny Worsham '02 felt God calling her to help encourage other moms on their "mom journeys." Hoping to find a community of moms to support and connect with each other, she opened up her home and invited over some neighbors.
"I just hoped two or three moms would come," she said, "But we ended up with about 10 moms!"
Jenny shared her vision with her good friend and neighbor, Rebecca Bradford '01, who lived just two streets over. God had crossed their paths at UMHB in 1998 when they both started serving with SAGE Women’s Ministry, a monthly Bible study for college women.
"When I shared my idea with Rebecca, she was the biggest cheerleader of it," Jenny said. "She already felt called to minister to moms."
Alongside another friend, Kate Henderson, the three started "Gather Moms." Very quickly, it became evident that there was a huge need for Gather, and moms wanted to form groups in other neighborhoods.
In 2017, Gather Moms hosted its first "Mom Event" in Rockwall, and from that night, launched almost 50 new Gather groups. A year later, they had a second event and formed even more groups. To date, the program has grown to include more than 600 moms in 120 Gather groups all over Texas, the US, and even one that meets in Nigeria.
"At Gather Moms, we believe moms need each other and need to know they are not alone," Jenny said.
The groups meet for one hour each month to laugh, build community, and discuss family values.
"I encourage moms to just take one thing home from each meeting that they want to do better in their homes this month," Jenny said. "Being a mom can be overwhelming, so we want them to leave uplifted instead of overwhelmed."
Over the last five years, the trio has compiled two years of curriculums for Gather groups to use and has translated the programs into Spanish.
