Gateway Church meets in a beautiful southwestern looking campus in North Austin, made up of a few buildings and a courtyard/coffee shop atmosphere appropriate to the outdoor lifestyle of the city. Sunday always feature top-notch music and meaningful, but I learned quickly that they are more concerned about the people than the show.
Before visiting Gateway, I read planter/lead pastor John Burke’s book No Perfect People Allowed where he unpacks many of the unique questions asked by post-christian/postmodern cultures. I loved how Burke backed up every point with stories of people who have been impacted by the work at Gateway.
I was most curious about how the Church would live up to it’s radical focus on the unreached in Austin. I quickly found that what was true about the book was also true about the church. I asked everyone I met how they ended up at Gateway, and many of them had the same story: they had never gone to church before, heard a cool advertisement on the radio, or were invited by a friend, and decided to give a try. They came back because of the cool music, and stayed because they were challenged by the teaching and embraced by the community. I even met two or three of the people I had read about.
Near the front door was a table where two volunteers- both of them new to faith, explaining the wide variety of ministries, including many focused on young adults and singles, so it’s an easy place for a guy like me to get plugged in. Gateway’s missional focus can be seen by the resource they devote to Emerging Leaders Inititative, which plants churches radically focused on reaching non-Christians.
Gateway seems committed to excellence and to gathering non-believers, engaging them in Christian community.
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