The two autonomous churches share everything. Yet each church makes its own decisions, each pastor preaches his own messages, and each church has its own vision for reaching the community.
Ennes wanted to “remove the burden but not the work” of church planting for Ghramm and other prospective church planters coming to the city, even if they weren’t going to keep the Gateway name.
The two churches would be independent as well— different sermons, different missions and different leadership. The cooperation would take sacrifices on both parts. Ennes noted that there were times he had to choose between using a resource to benefit his own church or sharing it with Gateway Church West, which meant Gateway Church Downtown would get less of the benefit. But growing a big church had never been the goal for either Ennes or Ghramm.
“I want to change Cleveland,” Ennes says. “Launching one church isn’t going to cut it. To be brutally honest, we’re going to need another 150-200 churches. I could get all excited about becoming a self-sustaining church that launched in an urban core. But that’s not good enough. That will impact one-one millionth of a percent in Cleveland. What is that? That’s nothing.”
Both Ghramm and Ennes recognize that they are part of a larger Southern Baptist team that’s trying to produce a multiplication movement in the region. Both were helped in the planting process by NAMB, their state convention and the local association. Both are grateful for Southern Baptist mission teams that continue to come to Cleveland to help.
Four years after the launch of Gateway Downtown and two years after the launch of Gateway West, the two churches run more than 300 in attendance combined on most weekends (an overwhelming success in urban Cleveland). In October of 2011 the third Gateway planter, Zach Weihrauch, started Gateway Heights in another part of Cleveland. Weihrauch is a NAMB church planter missionary.
Both Gateway Downtown and Gateway West contribute a portion of their budgets to local church plants, like Gateway Heights (in addition to the Cooperative Program). As Gateway Heights gets going, that church will also contribute a percentage of its budget to local church planting.
Ennes and Ghramm are already looking for Gateway planter number four. OM
Tobin Perry is the online editor for On Mission.
ACTION ITEM:
To take part in Send North America: Cleveland, visit
www.namb.net and click on the “mobilize me” button. Watch a video about Cleveland church planting at
www.onmission.com. While you’re there, read “Why Partnerships Matter for Cleveland” by Alex Ennes on On Mission’s blog.
ON MISSION • Winter 2012 25
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