Gateway Church is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

charismatic Christian Charismatic Christianity (also known as Spirit-filled Christianity by its supporters) is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer's life. Practi ...

multi-site

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

based in

Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of th2019 census estimateit had a population of 32,376. Histo ...

, near

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. It estimates its weekly attendance at 100,000 as of 2022. and is one of the largest churches in the United States. The church was founded and is led by Senior Pastor Robert Morris.

History

On September 16, 1999, Pastor Robert Morris began to plan an

evangelistic In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...

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, facility on Southlake Blvd. In 2010 Gateway opened its current facility, a property with a 4,000-seat sanctuary. In 2017 Gateway Church confirmed 10–15% downsizing of their entire staff. The downsizing story gained national attention by other church media outlets.

Campuses

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 Kari Brooke Jobe (born April 6, 1981) is an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter. Since her first album in 2009, she has received two Grammy Award nominations and ten Dove Award nominations, six of which she won. Biograp ...

, serves as the Campus Pastor. In early 2019, Gateway Church announced it was starting a ministry inside the

Coffield Unit The H. H. Coffield Unit (CO) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The prison, near Tennessee Colony, is along Farm to Market Road 2054. The unit, on a plot of land, is co-located ...

, the largest prison in the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, ...

. It is open to minimum security inmates (and, with special permission, medium security inmates) but all inmates may obtain church materials. The church also ministers at the

Estes Unit The Sanders "Sandy" Estes Unit is a privately operated prison in Venus, Texas. It is owned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Background Originally opened in 1989, the Sanders Estes Correctional Center houses minimum and medium security ...

outside of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. Stephen Wilson, an ex-offender who earned his masters from

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

and has ministered in prisons previously, serves as the leader of both of these prison efforts. The church uses the term 'campus' in describing each prison outreach program.

Ministries

The King's University at Gateway

The King's University was founded in 1997 by

Jack W. Hayford Jack Williams Hayford (born June 25, 1934) is an American author, Pentecostal minister, and Chancellor Emeritus of The King's University (formerly The King's College and Seminary). He is a former senior pastor of The Church On The Way in Van N ...

. in Van Nuys, California. In September 2012, The King's University at Gateway was launched. The school offers full accredited

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, and a

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Gateway Worship

Gateway Church utilizes its to lead worship services and create original music that it sells on a commercial record label. Its

Live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

''God Be Praised'' was released on November 9, 2010,

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

with Japanese, Korean and Portuguese versions released in 2012. The live album, ''

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States *Walls, Mississippi, United States * Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...

'', which was released on October 2, 2015, reached No. 1 on ''Billboard''s Top Christian Albums Chart.

References

External links

* * {{Coord, 32.939123, -97.121525, display=t, type:landmark_region:US-TX Evangelical megachurches in the United States Megachurches in Texas Christian organizations established in 2000 Evangelical churches in Dallas