Gateway Church (Texas)

Gateway Church is a non-denominational, charismatic Christian multi-site megachurch based in Southlake, Texas, near Fort Worth. It is the largest congregation in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, with an estimated weekly attendance of 36,000 as of 2016 and one of the largest churches in the United States.[3] The church was founded by Robert Morris.

Gateway Church
Worship in 2011
CountryUnited States
DenominationNon-denominational charismatic
Websitegatewaypeople.com
History
FoundedApril 2000
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)Robert Morris (lead senior pastor)[1]
Jimmy Evans (senior pastor)[2]

History

On September 16, 1999, Pastor Robert Morris began to plan an evangelistic church in Southlake, Texas. Gateway Church's first service was held on Easter morning, April 23, 2000, at the Hilton Hotel in Grapevine. Approximately 180 people attended the service. The church grew, and moved to an old movie theater in Grapevine. In June 2003 the church moved into its first permanent building, a 600-seat, 64,000-square-foot (5,900 m2) facility on Southlake Blvd. In 2010 Gateway opened its current facility, a 64-acre (26 ha) property with a 4,000-seat sanctuary.

In 2016 Gateway reported official giving records totaled over $500 million for the previous four years (2013–2016). For 2016 their annual report showed revenues of $127.2 million minus $123.9 million expenses, $3.5 million less than total revenue. Gateway also spent $9.9 million on land and other expenditures which includes the land for the Frisco location and the Dallas campus.

In 2017 Gateway Church confirmed 10–15% downsizing of their entire staff.[4] The downsizing story gained national attention by other church media outlets.

Campuses

The church currently conducts 29 weekend services at eight locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Southlake
Worship in 2010, old Southlake Campus

In 2008, the church began work on a new main campus located along State Highway 114. The project included a 4,000-seat sanctuary. It opened on November 13, 2010. Mark Jobe, father of contemporary Christian singer Kari Jobe, serves as the Campus Pastor.[5]

Frisco
Frisco Campus

In April 2010, the overseers of Northstar Church in Frisco, Texas asked Gateway to assist them in a transition process following the resignation of their senior pastor, Blaine Bartel.[6] Gateway Church provided video messages and worship teams for the church before announcing that Northstar would become a Gateway extension campus on June 10, 2010.[7] Jelani Lewis serves as the Frisco Campus Pastor. In 2015, the campus averaged 2,901 people per weekend according to the church's annual report.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

In February 2019, Gateway Church announced a merger with River Crossing Church in early 2019. Jim Hall has been selected as the Campus Pastor.[8]

Prison ministries

In early 2019, Gateway Church announced it was starting a ministry inside the Coffield Unit, the largest prison in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It is open to minimum security inmates (and, with special permission, medium security inmates) but all inmates may obtain church materials.[9] The church also ministers at the Estes Unit outside of Venus.[10] Stephen Wilson, an ex-offender who earned his masters from Liberty University[11] and has ministered in prisons previously,[12] serves as the leader of both of these prison efforts. The church uses the term 'campus' in describing each prison outreach program.

Church Plants

Gateway Church fosters the creation and growth of other churches. These new churches are called plants. Gateway church shares worship style and teachings with these start up churches, and helps oversee their elders.

Gateway Church, Arizona

In late 2011, Gateway announced that former young adults pastor Preston Morrison was starting a new Gateway Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. The church launched in August 2012.[13] On May 13, 2018, Gateway Church Arizona launched an additional campus at 1137 E Warner Rd in Tempe, Arizona.[14]

Table Church, Austin

In 2017, Gateway announced that Josh Morris (son of Pastor Robert Morris and previous Southlake Campus Pastor) is leading a team to start a church in Austin, Texas. Table Church[nb 1] launched in early 2019. Table Church closed in July 2020.

  1. An existing congregation also named Gateway exists in the Austin area; thus the differing name for this congregation from other Gateway plants.

Ministries

The King's University at Gateway

The King's University was founded in 1997 by Jack W. Hayford.[15] in Van Nuys, California. In September 2012, The King's University at Gateway was launched. The school offers full accredited undergraduate, master's, and a doctorate degree.[16] When initially launched, the Southlake campus was an extension campus for the California-based school. On November 14, 2013, there was a special Dedication Service and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at The King's University at Gateway Church making it the main campus for King's University. The campus is located at the former Southlake church building on Southlake Boulevard. Dr. Jon Chasteen serves as the president.[17]

Gateway Worship
Main article: Gateway Worship

Gateway Church utilizes its Worship Band to lead worship services and create original music that it sells on a commercial record label. Its Live album God Be Praised was released on November 9, 2010,[18] with Japanese, Korean and Portuguese versions released in 2012. The live album, Walls, which was released on October 2, 2015, reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums Chart.[18]

References
  1. "Robert Morris". Gateway Church. March 9, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  2. "Jimmy Evans". Gateway Church. March 9, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  3. Smith, Diane. "Gateway Church wants 100 percent of its members to vote". Fort Work Star-Telegram. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  4. "Southlake-based Gateway Church confirms it will cut staff by 10-15 percent". Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  5. "Gateway Church opens new campus". MySouthlakeNews.com. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  6. "Progress". Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  7. "Gateway Church Extension Campus". Gatewaypeople.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  8. "rivercrossing". rivercrossing. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  9. "Gateway Church Seeing Revival, 500 Salvations at Its New Prison Church Campus". CBN News. February 4, 2019.
  10. "Gateway Church". gatewaypeople.com.
  11. "Gateway Church". gatewaypeople.com. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  12. "Texas megachurch opens new campus in maximum-security prison: 'Our brothers and sisters in Christ'". Fox News. January 31, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  13. "Our Heart, Our Story". GatewayScottsdale.tv. 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  14. "Visit - Gateway Church". Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  15. "Hayford, Morris Help the King's University Vision Thrive". CharismaMag.com. 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  16. "TKU – Accreditation and Assessment". TKU.edu. 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  17. "Dr. Jon Chasteen". The King's University. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  18. Billboard AllMusic

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