A Letter From Pastor Richard
Thank you for visiting gatewayssp.com. It is our goal at Gateway to empower you with the tools to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, we believe that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion. We are in a relationship with the lover of our souls. Our creator loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us, and we want to tell the world about His love. We want everyone to know that God has a crazy love for them and He wants you to know that love. Nothing that you have done, nothing you are doing, or nothing that you will do can keep you from the love of God. He desires you to be close to Him.
Our mission is Worshiping God, Loving People, Changing the World. We worship God because he is worthy of all praise and worship. He is worthy of all honor and glory. We worship God because He first loved us. We worship God because He sent His Son to die for us. We love people at Gateway. We want to let everyone know that we love you and God loves you. We all have sinned, we all have fallen short of God’s glory, we all are in need of love; and that’s why we are here. Finally, we want to change the world. We want to see the world changed by the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. We want to see your life changed by the power of God. We want to see the world shaken by the power of God.
With God’s grace, we strive to be a church that moves in the power of the cross and the Holy Spirit. Our prayer is that you will know Him as your savior and know the love that He has for you.
God Bless You,
Pastor Richard Farrell
Our Mission
Worshiping God
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”Revelation 4:11
At Gateway, we believe that worship is lifting up something above everything else. Jesus said, “if I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.” He was talking about the cross at that point, but look at it this way: if we lift up Jesus Christ in worship, men will be drawn to Him. He will draw the sinner to their Savior if we worship.
Why is Worshiping God a part of our Mission Statement? Because if we worship God people will find their savior and their lives will be changed.
Loving People
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”John 13:34-35
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”John 15:12-13
At Gateway, our mission is to love people just as Christ has loved us. We all make mistakes, we all fall short, and we all do things that people think are crazy. Remember, we love, because He first loved us. Where would we be without the love of God, our Creator?
We strive to show the love of God to all mankind. God has a crazy love for you, and there is nothing that you can do that will change that. NO sin is too great and NO depth is too deep to keep you from the love of God.
Changing the World
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”Matthew 28:19-20
At Gateway, we believe that the world can only be changed through the power of Jesus Christ. Through His grace, we are saved, changed, and continuing to change. We continually focus on Jesus Christ so that he can bring men and women to salvation, deliverance, healing, restoration, and peace.
Our Story
Gateway Christian Church was planted by God as a seed in Pastors Richard and Sarah Farrell's hearts in early 2013. Through much prayer they decided to move forward and start the process of planting a new church in the southern Twin Cities Metro area.
Sunday, September 8, 2013 Gateway Christian Church was born. Our first service was held in Pastors Richard and Sarah Farrell’s living room and 11 people attended. God has been blessing us greatly since that first Sunday. He has provided everything that we have needed to continue His work. Gateway moved from a living room to a retail space on Blaine Avenue in Inver Grove Heights. The space was 1,500 square feet and there was room for 50 people. We held our first Christmas Eve Service and Easter Sunday Service in that building, many lives were changed. God continued to move and it was becoming obvious that a new building was necessary.
In July of 2014, Gateway moved to its second location on South Robert Trail in Inver Grove Heights. The larger space gave us a bigger worship space, a children’s church room, nurseries, a youth room, a Sunday School room and offices. The outreach and ministry of Gateway continued to thrive and grow from our second storefront location. We continued to be a light in our community.
In January of 2019, we received notice that we would have to move out of our South Robert Trail Location. We moved from our facility on South Robert Trail in October 2019. On October 6, 2019 we began meeting in the AMC Theater, Inver Grove Heights. We hosted our weekly Worship Service in Theater #9, with Nursery and G8way Kids in theaters 11 and 13. We became a portable church and we enjoyed it very much. Starting in February 2020 we began hosting small groups at the meeting rooms of local libraries. This was a great season of relationship and team building within Gateway.
March of 2020 brought a new challenge, Covid-19. From March of 2020 until July 2020 we were online only. It was a tough time but we made it through. We eventually were able to get back to meeting at the AMC Inver Grove Theater. We came through the pandemic stronger than when we went into it.
Beginning in August 2021, we signed a lease with the Serbian Hall in South St. Paul. Gateway now had another home. On Sunday, August 8, 2021 the congregation rallied and we moved into the Serbian Hall. We lease the building and can begin to function as a permanent church once again.
Sunday, November 14, 2021 brought another change to Gateway. On that Sunday, at our Annual Business Meeting, our members voted to join the Assembly of God Fellowship. We are excited to see where God will take us now. Join us for a Sunday Worship Service or Thursday Evening Bible Study, and come on our journey with us!!!
Our Staff
To learn more about any of our staff members, click on their profile picture.
Richard and Sarah Farrell
Co-Lead Pastors
Rick Earhart
Gateway Elder/Audio Video Engineer
Hannah Earhart
Early Childhood Director
Marcie Craven
G8way Kids Director