The Beginning

On September 16, 1999, the Lord placed a desire in the heart of Pastor Robert Morris to start a Bible-based, evangelistic, Spirit-empowered church in Southlake, Texas. Pastor Robert dreamed that this church would impact Northeast Tarrant County, the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and beyond. He began to build a leadership team and developed a working relationship with the pastors at Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo, Texas, asking them for wisdom and guidance. On Sunday, April 9, 2000, Pastor Jimmy Evans and the elders of Trinity Fellowship Church prayed for and released Pastor Robert and the founding elders of Gateway to start the new church.

Growing

Gateway’s first service was on Easter morning, April 23, 2000, at the Hilton Hotel in Grapevine with approximately 180 people in attendance. Three weeks later, the church began meeting on Saturday nights at Christ Our King Church in Southlake. With a strong Saturday night congregation, the church continued to steadily grow. In July 2001, Gateway Church began meeting at A World of Learning training facility in Grapevine, during which time the church grew to five services with over 2,000 people attending weekly.

We broke ground for our Southlake Campus on Southlake Blvd during Gateway’s third year of ministry. As we constructed our building, the church continued to grow. In June 2003, we moved into our Southlake Campus. By Easter of 2004, attendance was around 5,000; six years later on Easter of 2010, we had more than 20,000 people attend our weekend services.

Expanding Our Ministry

In November 2007, our new NRH Campus opened in North Richland Hills, a community in the center of the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex. Located in the heart of Gateway’s geographical demographic, this building is almost 50,000 square feet in size and sits on approximately nine acres. The weekend services at the NRH Campus are a mirror of those at the Southlake Campus with live worship and personal ministry but with a live video message from the Southlake Campus. In addition to facilitating multiple weekend services, this regional campus is also a multi-purpose facility with an emphasis on ministry to Jr. High, Sr. High and college students as well as young adults, singles and single parent families.

In July 2010, we added a new Gateway extension campus in Frisco, Texas. Located in the North Dallas area, the weekend services are a mirror of those at the Southlake Campus with live worship and personal ministry but with a live video message from the Southlake Campus. In addition to facilitating multiple weekend services, this regional campus is also a multi-purpose facility with an emphasis on ministry to children, Jr. High and Sr. High.

Gateway is one church meeting in multiple locations and watching God’s plans for us unfold. On November 13, 2010, we held our first services at our new Southlake Campus located off of Highway 114 between Kimball and Carroll Avenues. From this central campus, we plan to plant and oversee multiple campuses throughout the Metroplex and across the United States.

Your Role in the Story

Gateway Church is one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Many new and dynamic ministries have been, and continue to be, created to help minister to individuals and families. But in the midst of all this exciting activity, we recognize that church health is more important than numerical growth and church programs. At Gateway, we recognize that God has a specific plan and purpose for each person’s life. That’s why “we’re all about people.” The broad scope and variety of ministries at Gateway are simply a reflection of our heart to help people of all economic, social and ethnic backgrounds in the Metroplex and around the world!