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 multi-site megachurch 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 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 following highways are numbered 114: Canada * New Brunswick Route 114 * Prince Edward Island Route 114 Costa Rica * National Route 114 Germany * Bundesautobahn 114 (A114) India * National Highway 114 (India) Japan * Route 114 (Japan) ...

. 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. 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. 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. Stephen Wilson, an ex-offender who earned his masters from Liberty University 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, master's, and a doctorate degree.

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 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.

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