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Where Two or More are Gathered …

A Great Smoky Mountain church builds both a facility and strong community connections

by Rachel Allen     Added October 12, 2009

As published in Worship Facilities, Sep/Oct 2009

In 1999, Pastor Gene Wolfenbarger had a vision of the church he would lead in Sevierville, Tenn., a tourism-driven town nestled against the Great Smoky Mountains. The vision was from Ezekiel 28:25, “… for I will gather them from the distant lands,” and the church would be called “The Gathering.”

Since then, Pastor Gene, as he prefers to be called, has seen The Gathering grow into a regional body of worship, and has been blessed with the people and the tools to share a message of healing and hope with distant nations and local residents. One of those tools is The Gathering’s home base in Sevierville, a place where outdoor and indoor have converged to celebrate God’s creation, making it conducive to human, environmental and spiritual connection. But prior to the facility’s completion in April 2009, The Gathering was meeting in a former fitness center and holding five weekend services. “The Gathering needed a place where people could interact, a place where the children weren’t cramped, and where transition between services wasn’t chaos due to lack of space,” says Wolfenbarger.

Over the years The Gathering acquired nearly 50 acres in a growing area of Sevierville, and in 2007 began “The Great Investment” with the help of Dallas area capital campaign consultant The Gage Group. This campaign, which is ongoing, allows donors to advance through five categories (bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond) based on the number of times they have pledged, not the overall amount given. To date, the church has raised $4 million and, in March 2007, was able to break ground on a 42,000-square-foot, $11.3-million, state-of-the-art facility.

As construction went on, The Gathering embarked on the next leg of Wolfenbarger’s vision: caring for the less fortunate. During 2007, $250,000 of food and clothing was collected and distributed to 1,500 children in the area. In 2008, these efforts were collectively named The LORD’S Child, a separate non-profit entity that now benefits 6,000 impoverished children locally and in African nations. Multiple annual events garner the support of the entire region, solidifying the identity and purpose of The Gathering.

Planning with Purpose

“The very name ‘The Gathering’ provided the initial concepts for the [design]—a place that gathers everyone: members and visitors, churched and non-churched, congregation and community. A place that actually builds connections,” says Bill Chegwidden, founding principal of CDH Partners in Marietta, Ga., and principal-in-charge of The Gathering’s project.

The location the church was blessed with sits along the newly constructed, but already busy thoroughfare of Veteran’s Boulevard. From this highway, a large silver cross is first visible, sitting atop the striking silhouette of the building itself. “The cross on top lets people know it is a church, but the modern and upbeat design says a lot more than a steeple on top of a brick and mortar building,” says Chuck Laney, president of Sevierville’s C. Laney & Sons Construction, The Gathering’s general contractor.

“[The Gathering] was built in a style that is not characteristic of the architecture in the area,” adds Chegwidden. “The population is rapidly increasing there, and this building will serve to catch the eye of newcomers, residents and visitors alike.”

Laney and Chegwidden both speak of the steel structure and exterior blend of stucco and stone that were chosen for safety, sustainability and design adaptability.

The dramatic geometry of the building seems to reach out and across the 50 acres of rolling hills that surround it, beckoning passersby to come and find out more. The landscape is adorned throughout with The Gathering’s signature “g,” an icon that is well known throughout Sevier County. It is present on all signage—a large silver “g” is suspended from the building itself—and another is carved into the property’s entry flower bed. “We have been consistent with our branding and the use of the ‘g.’ It’s on everything, external and internal,” says the church’s broadcast and communications director, Darla Walker.

Although the church’s repositioning at first seemed tedious, according to Wolfenbarger, the land’s original rocks and boulders have remained for a special purpose; their presence referencing the passage in Matthew: “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”

Connection Spaces and Places

Attendees with children may park and enter at the first floor KIDZPLAYCE then take stairs or the elevator to the adult level. Others may drive up and park at the second floor entrance that is announced by an arrival hood made of timber trusses supported by stone columns. This entrance leads directly onto the patio of an area called the Gathering Space.

The Gathering Space is the main lobby that most embodies the mountain-lodge feel church leadership envisioned. It is also the connection hub home to “Grounded,” the coffee bar, and “Jacob’s Well,” the bookstore. Floor-to-ceiling windows take advantage of the mountain scenery and fill the space with light, while timber-beamed ceilings, wood columns, stone accents and a warm tan-gold color scheme all contribute to the lodge atmosphere. Fundamental areas within the Gathering Space are the stone fireplace capped with another giant “g” and a large patio. “These spaces encourage social interaction. Large crowds and small groups can intermingle and enjoy the mountainous setting,” says Chegwidden.

Sharing patio access is the auditorium that, with overflow, seats 1,150. Its lobby entrance is flanked by 20-foot stone columns, and painted above the doorway is the church’s unofficial mission statement from Ezekiel. Stone accents and windows with views are repeated throughout the auditorium, bridging the worship space with the lobby and the outdoors. In addition, a flat floor and removable seating makes the space flexible for The Gathering’s many programming needs.

“The facility has a cutting edge design that is contemporary, yet familiar. Around every corner one will find a place that is comfortable, but still holds a sense of reverence as the House of God,” describes Walker.

Downstairs, children have their own space to gather. KIDZPLAYCE is brightly painted and has plenty of space for child-like imagination and interaction to take shape. The Gathering’s widespread security system is most valued here, where parents and children are given identical stickers generated by Fellowship One, a computerized check-in system that records real-time attendance. Matching stickers must be presented before a child can be checked out.

All of The Gathering’s services are contemporary and relevant, a must when word of mouth from local hotels ushers tourists to The Gathering 52 weeks a year. However, Wolfenbarger and his staff have worked hard to focus on residents, and not just those passing through. “Being in a tourist area it’s easy to spend a lot of time ministering to people outside of our community,” Walker says. “While this is not a bad thing, God has called us to Sevier County first.”

Technology, Security and Stewardship

The Gathering’s security system, which protects from fire, flood and burglary, is aided by DVR video systems that monitor the indoors and outdoors and feed back to a control room. During weekly operating hours, the campus is accessible to staff by a keycard, and on weekends a volunteer security team is in place. Training in procedures and first aid is provided regularly.

Since Sevierville and surrounding cities are entertainment destinations, security wasn’t the only area where sophisticated technology was required. “We worked to build an audio, video and lighting system that exceeded what the local entertainment culture was able to offer,” says Houston Clark, president of Clark Pro Media (CPM) of Alpharetta, Ga..

An 11-foot by 20-foot center screen, two smaller side screens, and three Barco projectors provide the technical team with many opportunities for visual creativity. Audio-wise, the whole system is built around UPQ-2 loudspeakers by Meyer Sound and aided by acoustic panels on the walls and ceiling. Attempting windows and quality sound in the same space did present challenges, but CPM’s early involvement dispelled them. “Working together we were able to maintain the owner’s desire to integrate the outdoors into the worship center by identifying locations for windows that did not negatively impact the acoustics,” says Clark.

In a standard service, sound, lighting and video engineers work from the stage-right control room. There, on a 60-inch television split 10 ways, they distribute video feed from four cameras to areas throughout the campus and to their website. Beginning in September, the footage will be broadcasted locally.

Technology also plays a role in maintaining the facility that experiences four distinct seasons and is in almost constant use. A Lutron control panel shuts off lights when areas are not in use and similarly, a Trane central control module turns heat and air off when spaces are unoccupied. “Outside of energy savings we use green chemicals and coreless paper, which saves on waste,” says Walker. “We also use cloth rags instead of paper towels.”

Through outreaches like The LORD’S Child and a facility that literally reaches out, The Gathering is accomplishing the task laid at Wolfenbarger’s feet 10 years ago. “A new attendee described the church as ‘excellence without arrogance,’” concludes Wolfenbarger. “Those three words seem to encompass what The Gathering is.”

Resources:
Bathroom Fixtures: American Standard toilets, Sloan faucets, Kohler sinks
Exterior Doors: YKK
Flooring: Crossville Tile, Walker Zanger
Granite: Siandre
HVAC: Trane
Interior Doors: Dealer Warehouse
Lighting Fixtures: Prima Lighting, Zumtobel, Metalux, Cooper
Millwork: CFI INC.
Paint: Sherman Williams
Restroom Partitions: CFI INC.
Security: DSC
Stone: Arrowhead Stone
Stucco:Dryvit Outsulation Plus
Windows: YKK
Web-Based Church Management Software: Fellowship Technologies
Dimmers and Lighting Consoles: Lutron Electronics Co. Inc.
HVAC: Trane

A/V/L Equipment Highlights:
Meyer UPQ-2 loudspeakers; OAP subwoofers; Shure microphones; Road Hog Full Boar lighting control console; ETC dimming system; Panasonic HD/SD analog component input board; Barco FLM HD18 center projector; Stewart Filmscreen custom motorized center screen; Barco CLM HD8 side projectors; Da-Lite side screens; JVC Professional cameras

 

 

Rachel Allen is a freelance writer and marketing consultant. She can be reached at racheld_allen@yahoo.com.