Pastor

Surprised, changed and delighted by God: A former electronics and communications systems engineer who didn’t have a place for God has for the last twenty-plus years been following Jesus and encouraging others to seek, know, love and serve him together in real community as a response to the truth, love and power of God.

Steve and his wife Clare have two boys in their twenties and a lovely labradoodle called Angus. After 23 years as minister in South Oxhey, near Watford, Steve, Clare and Angus came to Gateway at the very beginning of 2021.

Church Elder

David has served as a home group leader and, for nine years, as deacon.  He stepped down to take a break November 2017 and was subsequently appointed to the eldership in March 2018.

David has a heart for discipleship – to help and encourage Christians,  young and old (in all senses!), to constant growth.

Children

Children are full of energy and have brains like sponges. They learn best when presented with activities in a fun and varied way. At Gateway we give them the opportunity to do this within our two age-appropriate Trekkers groups. Through these groups, we aim to share God’s love and His word, and encourage the children to learn more about Jesus’ saving grace.

Fabric

The Fabric Ministry is a practical work that seeks to both maintain the church buildings for the many uses they are put to, as well as to seek how to enhance and improve the facilities in order to further encourage various activities on site.

Fabric is also evangelistic.  By seeking the well-being and comfort of visitors it is hoped they will be better encouraged to make a return visit to us.

Worship

We seek to have various expressions of worship as we strive to ensure that all have the freedom and ability to worship God. As well as our regular musicians, who ably lead us each Sunday, we have a choir, formed in the closing months of 2006, which has had a very positive impact upon the town of Burgess Hill.

Social Action

When Christ walked this earth he both preached the good news about knowing God and met needs in very practical ways. Social action is sometimes about showing God’s care to people at a point of need. This can be achieved by being involved in local community activities e.g. FoodBank, Christmas Hampers etc. as well as running CAP courses to help those who need support with managing their finances.

Pastoral Care

The title ‘Pastor’ is given to the person whose primary role is, in Biblical terms, to ‘care for the flock’.  However, although we apply that title to the one particular individual who is the figurehead at GBC, that doesn’t mean we believe he is the only one carrying the task.  As a Christian fellowship, we believe we all have a part to play in this.  Our pastoral care deacon oversees a team who are the ‘first line of defence’ and will aim to try to ensure that no one with a need goes without the appropriate care.