Mark Acuff

Lead Pastor

mark@allgather.org | @markacuff

Mark is known to many in the Chapel Hill Durham area.  Mark graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in Philosophy. He then worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Duke and NC State for 7 years developing the InterVarsity work on those campuses. The next 3 years were at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, MA where Mark got his Master’s of Divinity. He then startedGrace Baptist Church in 1985 in Hudson, MA. He was a church planter with the Southern Baptist Convention. He came back to Chapel Hill in November of 2000 to be the Teaching Pastor at Chapel Hill Bible Church. He was there for 8 years, resigning in December of 2008. He is now been called to a new work in Chapel Hill, the Gathering Church.

Mark is married to a wonderful lady named Libby. They have 4 children. Jon is married to Jenny, and they have two children and live in Nashville. Will is married to Tiffany and also lives in Nashville. Bennett is married to Sally and living in Tallahassee. Molly is a rising sophomore at UNC.

Mark is starting a new church in Durham/Chapel Hill called the Gathering Church. Its mission is to reach out to those who may seem far from God, and to love one another incredibly well, as Jesus did. The first four books of the New Testament, usually referred to as the Gospels, include much of Jesus’ teaching while he was here. People didn’t go to “church” then, they gathered to learn from Jesus. We hope you’ll gather with us as we learn about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

“I’m haunted by the New Testament reality that people who found religion totally irrelevant, or worse, found Jesus totally irresistible.  I love seeing people wake up to God, and I love seeing followers of Christ involved in that process.”

Chris Breslin

Associate Pastor

chris@allgather.org | @revbrez

Chris and his wife Rachel live in Chapel Hill.  A Native Floridian, he moved to North Carolina in 2006 to pursue Rachel as she pursued her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at UNC-CH.  Chris recently graduated from the Masters of Divinity program at Duke Divinity School.

Before serving as the Gathering Church’s Associate Pastor, Chris acted as an intern for an academic year.  He was ordained in October 2011.  He enjoys learning, reading, sports, music, and sipping tea with Rach.

His webpage is cebreslin.tumblr.com and he blogs, sometimes more frequently than others, here.

View Chris’ ordination paper here.

Jeff Crawford

Music Director

jeff@allgather.org | @loveisthenewhip

Jeff is a local musician who moved to the area in 1998 to pursue an English and Music degree at UNC Chapel Hill.  Along the way, he interned and performed with the Southeastern United Methodist Church worship team Kadasha, learning about modern church song repetoire and postmodern multi-sensory worship planning.

After he returned to Chapel Hill, he began playing in local bands, starting with SpencerAcuff, and others such as Roman Candle, Peter Holsapple/Chris Stamey and Thad Cockrell, eventually touring the country and England.  In 2005, he started Arbor Ridge Studios, where he continues to produce records for local artists such as Brett Harris, The Tomahawks, and Luego.  In addition, he remains in several local bands such as Max Indian, Ryan Gustafson, The Sundowners, and his own solo material.

His 2007 record, Something For Everyone, is available online, and his newest record Love Is The New Hip, based on CS Lewis’ The Four Loves, is currently in production.

He is dedicated to making the worship experience at the Gathering Church unique by freshening old traditions, such as hymns, or choosing songs from outside the church tradition relevant to the message of the service or searching for new material that is not solely in the mainstream of Christian culture.Jeff is aided at the Gathering Church by a steady stream of church volunteers and a rotating cast of local musicians.