congregating vs gathering

congregating and gathering both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
congregating	Yes	No	No	No
gathering	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, gathering is a hypernym of congregating; that is, gathering is a word with a broader meaning than congregating:

Other hypernyms of congregating include assemblage, assembly.

congregating (noun)	gathering (noun)
the act of congregating	the social act of assembling
	the act of gathering something
	sewing consisting of small folds or puckers made by pulling tight a thread in a line of stitching
	a group of persons together in one place