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Gather Church Pastor Cole Meckle died at 5:25 a.m. Monday, July 27, surrounded by friends and family after a battle with aggressive and terminal cancer.
Gather Church Elder Lily Lo and Associate Pastor Patty Howard made the announcement Monday morning, doing so on the crowdfunding page established to support Meckle, his wife, Kat Meckle, and their children, and in a Facebook post from the church.
Gather Church announced publicly, one week earlier, Monday, July 20, that Meckle was receiving hospice care in Tacoma after being diagnosed with terminal cancer in the spring.
In the short update, Lo announced that Meckle died after a deep breath and in the company of his wife and Howard.
The post came with a short statement from the Bible: “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and enter your rest.”
In the Facebook post from Gather Church, which was signed by Howard, the associate pastor both grieved Meckle’s death and celebrated his life, writing “while this is a sad time for all who knew him, it is also a time to rejoice because he is now cancer-free and with his heavenly Father.”
The day before his last, Lo provided an update stating that Meckle’s mind was still sharp and present and that his body “is reluctant to release him from this world.”
In the Facebook post, Howard announced there would soon be a celebration of Meckle and that details would be posted on the Gather Church Facebook page. No details of the event were available as of presstime Monday afternoon.
Lo established the crowd funding campaign the week prior originally with a fundraising goal of $40,000 to support the Meckle family with end-of-life expenses, including medical and travel costs. The campaign raised nearly $40,000 in the first 24-hour period. As of Monday morning, the campaign had raised more than $70,000 and was just a few thousand dollars shy of a new $75,000 goal.
Much like the fundraising campaign, the Facebook announcement of Meckle’s death received an outpouring of responses from community members with comments praising his service and lamenting his loss.
Meckle was a homegrown Lewis County resident and had long been an active member of the community and advocate for those without homes, those struggling with addiction and others in need.
According to his biography on the Gather Church website, Meckle was born and raised in northern Lewis County and graduated from Rochester High School in 1988.
After high school, he worked on custom car builds before experiencing a spiritual awakening in 2000 and leaving the area to attend Trinity College, where he met his wife. The Lutheran liberal arts college closed in 2016.
In 2003, Meckle relocated to Vancouver, B.C., to attend Regent College and earn a master’s of divinity degree. He eventually returned to Lewis County and helped establish Gather Church in 2010. He served as one of the registered operators of the religious establishment, along with two church elders.
Meckle served both as a pastor and administrator of the local church, which does much more than offer a sermon every Saturday evening.
Gather Church organizes significant resources for community members in need by organizing clothing donations, a food bank, harm reduction through a clean needle exchange, case management and more.
Meckle frequently served as the public face of the church and its many services, even during opposition and legal battles with local governments. Last year, Gather Church won a lawsuit against Lewis County with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington to challenge a local ordinance restricting harm reduction services, including the distribution of clean needles in a mobile setting.
For more information on Meckle or to donate, visit https://tinyurl.com/2awwxkp8.
