Our Story & Purpose
About The Gathering
Today, around 1300 - 1400 people attend Church @ The Gathering each weekend in the Sevierville area. We offer contemporary, biblically-driven worship services that are alive with energy and creativity, as well as excellent childcare, exciting children's and student ministries and challenging programs for the men, women and senior adults.
Our Story
In the beginning...
1999
- November 18, 1999 the Lord gave Pastor Gene the name of the church
2000
- June Gene and Karen moved 852 miles from Garland, TX to Sevierville.
- Thursday, August 20 First Bible Study @ Sevierville Civic Center - 127 people
- The next Thursday, 37 people at the most
2001
- Sunday, January 14 , First Sunday church service @ Southern Nights Theater 64 people
- Leadership Team: Ritchie Miller, GA and Bruce McCartney, AL
- 212 people attending Easter service
- Moved to Governor's Palace in the summer
- Hired first full time employee as Administrative Assistant/Worship Leader: Ashley Wiley
- Held first Chest of Joash service, Offering $27,000
2002
- 250 people attending Easter service
- Moved to Music Road Hotel in April
- Renovated Family Fitness Center and held first service in present location June 2
- Remodeled building, bought chairs, Dedicated children's facilities
- Hired first Children's Supervisor: Kristen Thompson
- Second Chest of Joash service, Offering $38,310
- Helped two church plants (Horizon Pointe, which currently has over 1000 attending & Lake Pointe Church, which currently has 750-900 attending.)
2003
- 300 people attending Easter service
- Hired support staff: Nursery Supervisor: Angel Sullivan,Children's Supervisor: Amy Garrett & Brandi Ogle, Youth Supervisor: Brennon Garrett
- Third Chest of Joash service, Offering $42,400
2004
- 350 people attending Easter service
- Hired additional support staff: Administrative Assistant: Nola Johnson, Financial Secretary: Diane May, and Worship Leader: Andy Gann
- Added additional Sunday service in Spring
- Held first church-wide campaign, 40 Days of Purpose
- Fourth Chest of Joash service, $100,700
- Debuted praise choir with our first Christmas Celebration
2005
- 450 people attending 2 Easter services
- Remodeled exterior of building
- Held second church-wide campaign, 40 Days of Community
- Appointed on-site Leadership Team, Darryl Bellar and Paul Danis
- Appointed 2 men as Lay Pastors: David May and Butch Trentacosta
- Hired Children's Director: Karen Wolfenbarger, Pre-school Supervisor: Melissa Brooks, and Media Communications Manager: Mandi Griggs
- Launched Saturday night service, October 8 (3 services total)
- Purchased 20 acres of land on Middle Creek Road, from Jay and Becky Seaton
- Fifth Chest of Joash service, $340,000
2006
- Opened the door for prayer January 1
- The door has been opened every day this year - Thank you, David May
- Hired 2 new full-time employees: Assimilation Pastor: Andy Gann and Worship Leader: Ashley Wiley
- Hired additional support staff: Assimilation Assistant: Kara Bellar
- 1166 people attending 4 Easter Services, with over 100 people committing their lives to Christ
- Added Third Sunday Service (Which brings us to 4 services each weekend.)
- August 5th changed to 2 Saturday night services and 2 Sunday morning services
- Purchased additional 23 acres off of Middle Creek from the Huff Family
- September 10th Land Dedication
- December 6th Chest of Joash service: $824,000
2007
- Hired 6 new full-time employees: Creative Arts Pastor: Scott Windham; Senior Adults Pastor: David May; Membership Director: Terri Danis; Junior High Director: April Bradley; Preschool Director: Melissa Brooks; Children's Media Director: Beverly McMillan
- 1645 people attending 5 Easter Services, with over 75 people committing their lives to Christ
- March 29th Broke Ground on 43 Acres off of Middle Creek Road
- May 12-13 First Non Easter weekend with over 1000 in attendance Total of 1033 people on The Gathering campus
- August 8, 9 & 10 - Sevier County Days - over 3000 people attended Sevier County Days at the Gathering. $100.000 worth of Food, Clothing and School Supplies were given away.
- October - Our series on marriage, Red Hot Sex, created quite a controversy in our community. A newspaper article was written, which led to a story on the local news, which ended up on CNN, AOL, and other news organizations. However, we saw 87 people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior the very first weekend of the new series. Lives being radically changed by the power of Jesus Christ is why The Gathering exists.
- November - Hired a full time Video Designer, Casey Smith.
- December 1 & 2 - Chest of Joash Service: $1.6 million
- December 17 - 20 - Christmas at The Gathering - over 4000 people in attendance. Over $150,000 worth of Food, New Bicycles, New Winter Coats and New Toys were given away. Christmas was made better for hundreds of less fortunate children.
2008
- January - Hired 3 new full-time employees: Finance and Business Administration, Darla Walker; Technical Engineer, Guy Wiley, Nursery Manager, Amanda Auten.
- March - Added 5th Weekend Service bringing the weekend service to a total of 2 Saturday services, 5pm & 6:30 pm; and 3 Sunday Services, 9 am, 10:30 am & 12pm.
- March 21-23 Easter Weekend - Over 5,000 in attendance in 9 services. 500 Easter Blessing Baskets, 1700 Nike gift cards and Easter baskets given away. 95 people committed their lives to Christ.