Dr. Cathers was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, immigrated with his family to the United States at age 4 and was raised in Sylmar, California. At age 20, Dr. Cathers attended Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and at age 23, he established his first church, which he pastored for twenty years. During this time, Dr. Cathers also established other churches and ministries, which included a Bible school as well. After receiving a word from God, Dr. Cathers gave up this church to begin a new work, which was to establish a Gathering Place learning center, which he is currently the Apostle over. The Gathering Place was established as a prototype of a new kind of church based on the righteousness of God and the right-standing of believers in Him.