A Church at the Gateway to East Portland
Gateway Church sits on NE San Rafael Street in the Parkrose area of northeast Portland, where San Rafael meets the busy intersection that gives the neighborhood its name. From there, the congregation describes itself with a single line: partnering with Jesus to love people. That phrase shapes everything on the church's calendar, from Sunday worship to a Wednesday night DivorceCare group to volunteer shifts at Portland Rescue Mission.
The church meets for worship at 9:00 a.m. on Sundays, with a livestream available on YouTube for those at home or out of town. Children are welcome to stay in the service with their families, and a staffed nursery and grade-school program run at the same time for kids from birth through fifth grade. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the office can be reached at (503) 252-1435 or office@gatewaychurchpdx.com. The mailing address is PO Box 20398, Portland, OR 97294.
What to Expect on Sunday Morning
The 9:00 a.m. service is the heart of the week. The worship team describes corporate worship as the gathered expression of a life that praises God in everything: We aim to worship God with what we say, do, and think. The service gathers to elevate God's name through song and Scripture reading, hear a message from God's Word, and pray and encourage one another so the church can walk with Christ together. Messages are recorded and posted online so anyone can catch up on a recent series, including a current walk through the book of Acts titled Nothing's Been The Same Since.
Visitors who arrive before the service will find the building open and a worship center set up to make it easy to step in, find a seat, and follow along. After the service, coffee and conversation flow into the Sunday-school hour.
Gateway Kids
Gateway Church makes a point of saying that children belong in the service. Kids are not a distraction, they are the future, the children's ministry page states, and families are invited to worship together. At the same time, the church provides age-appropriate teaching for children from birth through fifth grade during the 9:00 a.m. service.
The nursery cares for babies and toddlers up to age four for the full length of the service. Volunteers rock babies, sing to them, and pray over them during worship. Three- and four-year-olds play, do crafts, hear a Bible story, and learn about God in an age-appropriate way. Kindergarten through fifth graders begin the service with their families and are dismissed partway through for a deeper Bible study that includes crafts, games, memory-verse challenges, and time to talk about how the passage applies to daily life. A few times a year, on the occasional "Family Sunday" that falls on a fifth Sunday of the month, the children stay in the sanctuary for both worship and a special Kids Sermon led by one of the pastors.
LifeGroups and Home Communities
After the service ends, the ministry center fills up at 10:30 a.m. for LifeGroups, the church's Sunday-morning small-group Bible study. The groups are flexibly age-related and meet in the ministry center, providing a place to belong, ask questions, and think through life from a biblical perspective. LifeGroups are described as a place where people feel loved and accepted, included and connected, free to think and never rejected.
Beyond the Sunday morning option, Home Communities extend the same idea into homes during the week. These small groups are designed for deep and lasting friendships, mutual sharing of needs, and spiritual growth. New groups are starting regularly, and the church invites anyone interested to email Lead Pastor Tom Schiave at tom@gatewaychurchpdx.com to find a fit.
Youth: A Living Room for Middle and High Schoolers
Middle and high school students have their own gathering called The Living Room, which meets Sundays at 10:30 a.m. in the Youth Center. The program is shaped around the same three verbs that drive the rest of the church: Enjoy, Encourage, and Engage. Students enjoy God through worship, relevant messages, and small-group discussion; encourage one another by building a tight community through games, events, and shared meals; and engage the community by serving seniors at church, going on mission trips, and helping friends in practical ways. The Living Room aims to give teenagers a safe place of belonging in a world full of loneliness.
Senior Ministry
Gateway's Senior Ministry is built around three Sunday-morning Life Groups for older adults, divided roughly by age, that meet for Bible study, mutual care, and the planning of social and service activities. Outside of Sunday, those activities include educational field trips, work parties at youth camps, and holiday parties. Guests are welcome.
A separate Senior Exercise Class meets on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the ministry center. The class uses chair, standing, and light-weight exercises and is designed to be approachable at any fitness level. There is no charge, and the church invites anyone from the surrounding community to join.
On the first and third Mondays of the month, Creative Touch gathers from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the conference room of the ministry center. Seniors work on crafts, share snacks, and enjoy fellowship, dropping in when they wish.
Women's and Men's Ministry
Women's Ministry at Gateway is built around the verse We love, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Its goal is to give women a safe environment to grow closer to God and to each other, with events throughout the year such as a Bunco Night for fellowship and connection.
Men's Ministry centers on a weekly Men's Prayer meeting at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesdays. Periodic Men's Breakfasts bring men together for a shared meal, prayer, and fellowship. The Men's Ministry Leader, Rick Maynard, oversees these gatherings.
Biblical Counseling and DivorceCare
The Biblical Counseling Ministry offers one-on-one counseling rooted in the conviction that Scripture is sufficient and powerful to meet the challenges we face in this chaotic, materialist and fallen world. Counselors help people apply biblical principles to the specific issues they carry, with the aim of gaining the perspective and strength to move forward. Sessions are arranged through the counseling director by contacting the church office.
DivorceCare, a 13-week Christ-centered support group, meets on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the ministry center. Sessions feature video teaching on topics like anger, loneliness, and forgiveness, and people are welcome to join at any point in the cycle.
Reaching Out to Portland
Gateway's outreach ministry lists the partnerships the congregation commits time and energy to. The church serves at Shepherd's Door, the women's and children's program of Portland Rescue Mission. It joins Compassion Connect to host Compassion Clinics that bring free basic dental care, health and vision screenings, and chiropractic care to under-insured neighbors. Gateway also partners with Compassion Parkrose, a local Compassion Connect initiative in the same neighborhood.
The congregation volunteers with Multnomah County's Severe Weather Shelters during cold-weather activations, and Gateway students have pitched in on student work days at Portland Christian High School. The church also mentions tutoring children at a local elementary school. Every fall, the church hosts an annual Trunk or Treat as a safe, family-friendly alternative for Halloween night in the neighborhood.
What Gateway Teaches
The church's beliefs are summarized in eleven statements on the About page. They begin with the Trinity: a Creator-God who is a perfect Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior who is God in the flesh, and the Holy Spirit who convicts, comforts, guides, and gifts the church. The Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God, treasured for its truth.
Salvation is understood as God's gift to all, received by faith alone in Christ and not by works, resulting in new life that is secure in him. The church looks for the promised return of Jesus and his reign over the earth, and holds that all who have died will stand before the Lord. The church also confesses a biblical definition of marriage and the sanctity of life in every phase of life.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are practiced as visible signs of the gospel. Gateway is grateful to be part of a church that aims at authentic community, serving its city, and bringing people into what it describes as a vibrant relationship with Jesus.
RightNow Media
Gateway provides the congregation with free unlimited access to RightNow Media, a streaming library of more than 20,000 video Bible study resources. The library includes series on books of the Bible, marriage, parenting, finances, mental health, and more than 2,000 kid-friendly videos. Anyone connected with the church can request an account through the church's invite link.
Leadership
Tom Schiave serves as Lead Pastor. He and his wife Kathy have ministered in a variety of churches and have a daughter, Dawn, and a granddaughter, Aubree. The Schiaves enjoy hiking in the Columbia River Gorge, watching the Oregon Coast, and the occasional movie at a local theater. Tom's heart for the church is that everyone, compelled by God's love, would become a follower of Jesus who enjoys a growing relationship with him, encourages others on the journey, and engages in ministry both inside and outside the church.
Matt Singleterry serves as Worship and Family Ministries Pastor. A Portland native, Matt grew up locally, attended David Douglas High School and Warner Pacific College, and has been in vocational ministry for more than two decades. He leads Gateway's worship ministry, heads up the children and youth ministries, and facilitates a LifeGroup called The Living Room that brings together families of all ages. Matt and his wife Lisa have two daughters, Melody and Tirzah.
Giving
Giving is described as practicing open-handed generosity. Members and visitors can give in three ways: by placing cash or checks in the offering plate during the Sunday service, by giving online through the church's secure giving portal, or by mailing a donation to the PO Box. Online giving allows one-time or recurring gifts by credit or debit card, and the church notes that setting up a transfer through one's own bank is another reliable option for travelers or those unable to attend.