The first and greatest calling of the Church of Jesus Christ is to PRAY. The Gathering will be marked in the Last Days as a body of believers wholly devoted to prayer and supplication and fasting. It is by these disciplines that souls are saved, minds are renewed, lives are transformed, cities and nations are won, Heaven’s treasury is accessed, and the Bride of Christ is made ready to welcome her King and His Kingdom. We individually rise before the dawn to seek the Lord in our secret place. We join corporately each week on Sunday at 9:30 am to worship the Worthy One and to intercede for the nations. As Oswald Chambers wrote, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works – prayer is the greater work.” (Isaiah 56:7; Daniel 9:3; Matthew 6:9-13; Psalm 119:147; Mark 1:35; Philippians 4:6; James 5:16; Revelation 22:17)

From the first breath of Creation, the entire history of planet Earth has really been the story of the Kingdom of God...its establishment, its fall into brokenness, its restoration through Jesus Christ, and the promise of its fulfillment in all its original glory. We who have been adopted into the Father’s family through the blood of the Son are commissioned as His representatives to actively live the Kingdom lifestyle and call the Kingdom into the earth NOW. King Jesus Himself will one day bodily return to Earth and personally oversee from His throne room in Jerusalem the total renewal of the world to its designed Garden perfection. Until that appointed time, our focus is fully set upon making the Kingdom of Heaven a reality on earth in our generation to the greatest extent possible and preparing the generations to come for their Kingdom service to the Lord. (Isaiah 9:6-7; Matthew 6:33; Mark 1:14-15; Romans 14:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12; Rev 12:10)

The Gathering Church has always been about FAMILY...our Kingdom family, our local church family and our own flesh-&-blood families. God created man in His very image and so wired us for family and community. It is not good for any of us to be alone. We are designed in our innermost being to walk in fellowship with the Father and one another. Family lives together, worships together, serves together, gives together, heals together, celebrates together, and mourns together. We bear each other’s burdens with loving encouragement and affirmation of our identity in Christ Jesus. We honor the leaders with whom God has chosen to bless us and submit ourselves in unity to their authority. We seek to meet people right where they are, in whatever life stage they may be, regardless of their situations or level of spiritual growth and minister to them in a way that strengthens their faith and enables them to reach their God- dreamed destiny. (Genesis 2:18; Psalm 133:1; Proverbs 17:17, 27:17; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; Philippians 2:1-2; Acts 2:42-47)

The Gathering is an apostolic fellowship which believes the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, immutable, written Word of God. It serves as our sole authority on essential spiritual matters. The Holy Spirit who inspired the writers of scripture continues to operate in the same fullness of power, authority, and gifts described in the Word and detailed in the New Testament. We believe that every born-again follower of Jesus Christ receives all spiritual tools necessary to fulfill their Kingdom purpose and assignments. These gifts are decided upon and distributed by Holy Spirit. Miracles, signs and wonders will follow those who believe by faith and who walk in their delegated gifts. The supernatural realm of the impossible is intended by the Father to be the dwelling place of His children when they rightfully exercise the authority handed over to them by Jesus in the Great Commission of Matthew 28. We are called to make the “greater things” visible in the earth through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us. (Jeremiah 16:21; Matthew 10:1,7-8; 28:18-20; Mark 12:24; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:20-21; 1 Corinthians 4:20; 2 Corinthians 10:4)

Every living creature was created by God to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Our most treasured gift is that of an intimate, personal relationship with the One who spoke the universe into existence. His beautiful Presence is at the center of everything we do at The Gathering House of Prayer. We desire to host the Presence of God with all faithfulness and intentional diligence; to provide Holy Spirit with a perpetual resting place in our midst; to thrill at manifestations of His Love, His Mercy, His Grace and His Power; to truly know Him as our Abba Father and ourselves as His redeemed sons and daughters. Passionate corporate worship with complete freedom in Jesus Christ will always be a key feature of the personality of our House. We believe that God will continue to send gifted worship leaders, singers and musicians into the House to expand upon this modern picture of David’s Tent. (Psalm 86:9-1, 138:2; 1 Chronicles 16:23-25; John 4:23-24; Hebrews 12:28-29; Revelation 4:8-11)

Our House beats with God’s missional heart. Since the birth of The Gathering Church in 1999, our Senior Pastor has made it a priority to be about the Father’s business here at home and in the nations of the world. When Holy Spirit says, “GO!”, we go. When Holy Spirit says, “SEND!”, we send. Whether it’s feeding children and families in crisis through The LORD’S Child ministry here in East Tennessee or planting churches in South Africa or supporting an orphanage in the jungles of Uganda or taking the Good News to the Muslim community in Europe and China or raising up more Houses of Prayer around the globe, The Gathering is a church fully committed to fulfill Jesus’ Co-Mission. We will continue to equip Missionaries of Mercy through discipleship in the Prayer, Prophetic, Healing, and Teaching Ministries here in the U.S. and internationally. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:14-15; Matthew 24:14; 1 Chronicles 16:24; Psalm 96:3)