There are four important things that we ask each person becoming a part of this church family to do:

• Attend the Foundations Class offered monthly to learn more about Gateway Church.
• Be or become a baptized believer in Christ and commit to a lifetime of personal spiritual growth.
• Share in our church family through participation in a house church. We recommend trying one near your home.
• Have a discussion with one of our shepherds to let them know of your commitment to this church family.

It is our desire to support, encourage, and shepherd each person at Gateway Church. The informal discussion with our shepherds about your desire to commit to this church family will help them know your history as a believer, current needs, and goals for serving in the body. After this visit, each person desiring to be a member of the Gateway Church family can be acknowledged and prayed over in our assembly.

We will gladly accept any seeker to our assemblies, but everyone desiring to become a member of our body, and to be shepherded by our elders, is asked to commit to active participation in one of the house churches of Gateway Church.

Our intent is to be Christians only, nothing more, nothing less. We therefore consider ourselves “non-denominational,” since we do not give ourselves any particular label other than that given to us by God, nor do we align ourselves exclusively with any particular denomination. We are a body of believers who have placed our hope in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. He called us into existence at this place in our community and at this point in time to serve him. We are part of the church that began almost 2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost, and continues to this day throughout the world. We pursue fellowship with all who have been justified by faith in Christ.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of His body, the Church. Everyone in the church is in submission to him. We also believe that as described in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit appoints men to serve as elders, overseers and pastors of each local church. These men are charged with following Jesus Christ and overseeing the affairs of the church, and shepherding the church family. The New Testament describes another office in the church, that of evangelist or minister. In our context, these evangelists and ministers have specialized training and education and are charged by the elders to lead and equip our church in fulfilling our purposes. Gateway Church is a church plant of Little Rock Church. Little Rock Church is a 21-year old church in Southwest Little Rock. The elders of Little Rock Church will oversee the mission and ministry of Gateway Church for two years. By January 2009, Gateway Church will have her own leadership team of elders and ministers. Gateway Church is a new church family and has a leadership team consisting of six men. Brad Dell is an elder/shepherd, Jeff Medders is the minister, and Brooks Nichols, Pete Harden, Kevin Birdwell, and Ryan Russell are house church leaders. This group of men is the leadership team of Gateway Church and works under the authority of the elders of Little Rock Church.

We believe that we are saved by God’s grace, through our faith, not by our works—salvation is a free gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins so that we can have a reconciled relationship with God (1 John 2:2). We enter into this relationship through faith in Christ (Romans 3:22). Faith in Christ must be demonstrated in obedience to Christ. Christ commands that we repent of our sins (Luke 13:3), confess before others that He is Lord (Matthew 10:32), and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Baptism represents giving our lives over to Christ. We believe baptism is connected to salvation because of the following Scriptures:

• The Apostle Peter refers to baptism as an act that “now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. . .” (1 Peter 3:21).
• “And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16).
• On the day that the Christian church began, Peter said to the crowd, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
• “We were therefore buried with him [Jesus] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).
• “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

We believe immersion is the biblical method of baptism, as it “re-enacts” the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for each Christian. We also believe that baptism is only for believers who are old enough to choose it for themselves. Every member of Gateway is a baptized believer, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Jesus himself was baptized to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), and we invite others to follow in His steps.

Scripture teaches that men and women are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Paul writes in Galatians 3:28-29 “there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free man, there is male nor female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ.” Men and women are joint heirs in Christ. All men and women in Christ have been given gifts by the Holy Spirit. We not only affirm the biblical teaching on the worth of all persons, but we also believe the Bible teaches that God created man and woman to fulfill different, but complementary, roles which are rooted in their unique, sexual identity (Gen. 2:17-25, 3:6-7). God created the man with the primary role of “servant leader.” He created woman with the primary role of “helper.” When the authors of the New Testament provided practical instructions on the roles of men and women in the church and in the home, their teaching was based on God’s design in creation. We believe that both men and women are called to use their gifts of the Holy Spirit in ways that serve in the body of Christ. Women have been blessed by our elders to participate in the life of our church and worship assembly in many ways including leading of ministries, teaching children, reading scripture, participating in the praise team, wording a prayer, serving as greeters, sharing a testimony, and passing communion. In 1 Timothy 2:12 the apostle Paul writes about roles, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise spiritual authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” We believe that women should not serve in roles in which they would be preaching or teaching in our worship assembly and house churches.

The Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ as a symbolic act of faith and obedience. We find in scripture four primary purposes for the Lord’s supper or communion:

1. To remember Christ until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
2. To symbolize unity in the body of Christ, the church. (1 Corinthians 10:16)
3. To proclaim Christ’s death and love for the World (1 Corinthians 11:26)
4. Self examination (1 Corinthians 11:27-28)

Gateway Church serves communion each Sunday during the morning worship assembly and at other special times of worship. Acts 20:7 refers to the early church breaking bread together on the first day of the week (Sunday). It is also likely that communion was shared regularly, even daily, by the early church (Acts 2:42-47). Focusing on our Lord, unity in the body, Christ’s love for the world, and self-examination are vital to a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ.

Strictly speaking, Gateway Church is not a “Charismatic” church. We do believe that the Holy Spirit has a powerful impact on our lives, primarily to form us into the image of Jesus Christ. We do not, however, practice “speaking in tongues” during our assemblies. It is important to note that we do not consider personal belief or practice in this area to be a formal test of Christian fellowship. We have always had members in our body with diverse views and practices in this area. While those who desire a consistent practice of the Charismatic gifts may not find fulfillment in our assemblies, we in no way want to make those who consider themselves to be “Charismatic” to feel unwelcome in our midst.

Jeff Medders is the minister for Gateway Church and coordinates the mission and ministry of the church family. Jeff also works with Little Rock Church’s Food Ministry.