On Sunday, May 23, a special event called ‘To•Gather’ will be taking place in the field outside of Overflow Church in Valrico. This unique praise and worship event will begin at 9 a.m. and will include more than 17 other churches, where people of all denominations will come together to celebrate and glorify God in unity.
This unique event was the idea of Pastor Giovanni Muñoz, also known as Pastor Gio, lead pastor of Abide Church in Lithia. The service is taking place on the day known as Pentecost Sunday.
“The event is more about unity than anything,” said Gio. “The heart of the event is to gather churches together to worship Jesus as one. We are believing that as we gather as His church and see one another, something special will happen.”
Gio explained that the idea for To•Gather originated from sitting in a prayer room and talking to God about Pentecost Sunday.
“Reading through [the Book of] Acts, the only thing that I found was missing was believers being in one place and one accord,” said Gio. “A dream landed in my heart about how amazing it would be to have a gathering where there was no sermon, agenda or expectation except to come together as one to worship Jesus. It wasn’t about a certain denomination, church or group, it was simply about us coming together and offering up this day to be together and fix our eyes on Him.”
To date, there will be more than 17 churches in attendance with an estimated 400-500 fellow worshipers. The churches that have confirmed to attend this event are not hosting a Sunday morning service; instead, they are choosing to come together at this event. Participants are asked to bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on and childcare will be available inside Overflow Church.
According to Gio, there will be no preaching, sermons or agenda, just Jesus being lifted high through praise. There will also be communion and baptisms taking place during the event.
“I’m excited about the unity and sacrifice that is being birthed in our region,” said Gio. “For many of us, Pentecost Sunday is a big day wrapped up with a lot of expectations. I believe there is something powerful about all of us foregoing that to step into something new.”
The most important thing to Gio is for people to know that this is a day that represents the church as united. “We all carry a different piece of His heart and every voice is valuable,” said Gio. “We are better together and there is a commanded blessing in unity. I believe Tampa Bay is stepping into that blessing as we gather on this day.”
If you want your church to participate, follow the To•Gather Pentecost Facebook page @togatherpentecost and go to the link to register. The event is taking place at Overflow Church, located on 4929 Bell Shoals Rd. in Valrico. For more information, visit www.togathertampa.com or email togathertampa@gmail.com.
