History of the Gathering Place Church
The history of the Gathering Place Church began with a large rock, a Bible and seven people in a living room.
The year was 1996. That year, the Yankees beat the Braves, Friends was the hit show on TV, and Pastor John Ettore was taking a year sabbatical from ministry. He had spent the previous 12 years as an Associate Pastor of a dynamic, Spirit-filled church here in San Diego. During that time he wore many hats as the youth pastor, then college and career pastor, the singles pastor, then worship leader, and finally the Sr. Associate Pastor.
One day while sitting on a rock overlooking the city during his daily prayer time, the Lord spoke to his heart and told him to plant a church. This was not an option he had ever considered before.
Two months later, seven people gathered together in a living room to study the Bible. That was the beginning of GPC, now a thriving congregation of passionate God-followers.
One of the first things the Lord spoke to him was that he was going to put an anointing in the church for healing spiritual abuse. Today, many around us have been wounded by abusive leaders in their past. They have sworn they would never darken the door of a church again. We have witnessed those same people come alive once they started attending. This has been true for spiritual leaders as well who had left the ministry but are now back in their calling and leading with renewed passion.
The key to all of this has been the love of God and the presence of God. We like to describe our church as a presence driven church. We honor the Holy Spirit by inviting Him to fill our services with the presence and power of God, and He does! We have been privileged to witness numerous healings, infillings of the Holy Spirit, and restoration of every kind.
We have come a long way from the early days, but the message and the call has never changed.
If you are looking for a church where you can experience the presence and power of God, as well as an extremely friendly and welcoming congregation who are full of passion and purpose, you should come check us out this coming Sunday!
