The growth story of Church at the Gateway has been featured in many periodicals, including Moody Monthly, Christianity Today, and Global Church Growth.  Gateway has been involved in church growth consultations and studies with Charles E. Fuller Institute, Dr. Carl George of Church Growth Services, and Dr. Lyle Schaller of Yokefellow Institute.

Dr. Mercaldo holds a degree in Religious Education from Central Bible College, and has done seminary work at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary.  He also holds an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Southern California Theological Seminary.

Dr. Mercaldo is presently a member of the Board of Administration with the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), a Washington D.C.-based organization of 50,000+ churches and more than 50 member denominations.  He also serves on the Advisory Council of Concerts of Prayer, Greater New York, as well as President of Ministerios Missionarios Correll, a ministry to African refugees in Portugal.  He has also been extensively involved in ministry in Romania since 1980.  His ministry has taken him to about 40 nations around the world.

Dr. Mercaldo’s community service includes membership in the Staten Island Borough President’s Anti-Bias Task Force.  He is one of the founders of the Crisis Pregnancy Center of New York, and the Staten Island Association of Evangelicals.

Dr. Mercaldo is a frequent speaker at Bible conferences, churches, and civic functions.  His sermons and articles have appeared in many religious publications.

Dr. Mercaldo is married to Evangeline (formerly Spencer) and has two children:  Timothy and Deborah (Toderic) and six grandchildren.  His son serves as Church at the Gateway’s Lead Pastor and Director of Creative Arts.

As Director of Creative Arts and Worship Ministries, Pastor Tim oversees the weekly presentational elements of Gateway’s Sunday experiences at 9 and 11 a.m.  As the primary worship leader, he works with a volunteer team of singers, musicians, dramatists, and creative media volunteers to help create an environment where God can be worshipped in “spirit and in truth” with relevance to our hurting society.

His regular preaching and teaching responsibilities reveal a heart to see listeners encouraged to authentically “connect with God and others,” fulfilling the two Great Commandments and the Great Commission in a biblically healthy way.

He is happily married to AnnMarie and blessed with four daughters, Jenna, Gabrielle, Natalie and Christie.

Three verses from the Bible summarize his life goals – Philippians 3:10, Mark 12:30, and Hebrews 12:1-2 – TO KNOW HIM AND MAKE HIM KNOWN!

Rev.

Pastor Paul came to Gateway in 1994 with his wife, Louisa and their three children, Kara, Jason and Cristi. He brings more than 30 years of ministry experience to the senior staff. His experience spans ordination through the Evangelical Free Church of America and the Evangelical Church Alliance, senior pastor and associate pastor roles, a degree in counseling, service as a Red Cross Chaplain and Clergy Crisis Responder at NYC’s Ground Zero, and certification as a Victim Chaplain (he led a team to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina). Pastor Paul is also a Critical Incident Stress Management Counselor, a Clergy Liaison with the NYPD, a licensed mediator, and is a member of American Association of Christian Counselors.

Greg and his family moved to the States from South Africa in 2009. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Bible Theology through Global University, Springfield, MO and a diploma from Hatfield School of Theology, Pretoria, SA. Being on the staff as a pastor at Harvest Christian Church in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, for 20 years, Greg experienced the church’s growth from a medium size to a large city church. Seeing Church at the Gateway grow, becoming whole and effective, and making a difference in the world is Greg’s burning passion. He has been involved with Small Group ministry, equipping, training and teaching for over two decades.

Greg & Irma have been very happily married for 23 years. Ricky, Joshua, and Kristy have all moved to the States with them and are currently studying. Their adopted daughter Taryn was recently married and lives in Chicago.

Jim Dickinson, Director of Programming, is committed to helping thousands upon thousands of people in the community to come to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ. That’s why our motto at Gateway, “Connecting people to God and others…” is so important to him.

Creativity and fun go together, which is why I’m so grateful to God for the joy of serving in a creative capacity. I want the services at Church at the Gateway to be “fun, engaging, and helpful” and make it my mission to help realize that dream.

I was first involved in Creative Arts Ministries at Gateway as a volunteer serving along with my delightful wife, Lynne, on the production leadership team for the first production of Celebrate Christmas in 1987. After serving for six years, Lynne and I started training for cross-cultural ministry culminating in a summer internship in Moscow, Russia. From Moscow we moved directly to Romania, and then Hungary, offering training in mime and dance for outreach from local churches for eight years. With our students, we have performed and taught in schools, orphanages, prisons, churches, parks, and on the streets in 11 countries.

I earned a BFA in modern dance composition and performance at Ohio University graduating Cum Laude in 1979. Although we were already working in mime,  Lynne and I received training in performance and “mimeography” from Todd and Marilyn Farley through an intensive course in 1993.

In 2002, we returned to NYC to join the senior staff at Church at the Gateway. With a combination of spiritual, creative, and administrative emphases, I oversee a variety of areas requiring creativity, including Promotion/Graphics, Tech Teams, and Staging, while working with Rev. Dr. Daniel Mercaldo and Rev. Timothy Mercaldo on the Creative Service Planning Team.

Ron Francis, Director of Student Ministries at Church at the Gateway, has quite a colorful background…

In 1972, Ron was part of a commando unit that was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit.  Of course, Ron and the others promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade and ended up as part of the Los Angeles underground.  Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.  If you have a problem that no one else can help with, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire them … Oh wait, that didn’t happen to me.  That was the A-Team.

Now I remember…  I was born in 1970 right here on Staten Island.  I became a Christian as an eight year old when I prayed to receive Christ and began a relationship with Him. I grew up right here at Church at the Gateway.

Late in my teen years, I began to forget who I was and who I belonged to and made some bad decisions with my life.  After a few years of acting like a knucklehead, God graciously reached out His hand and set my path straight once again.

I knew God wanted me to become a youth pastor to help teenagers, so I decided to attend Liberty University to earn my master’s degree.  Since then, I have spent eight years as a youth pastor at Pantego Bible Church in Arlington, Texas and an additional five as a youth pastor at New Life Community Church in Sayville, Long Island.  God brought me back to Gateway as the Interim Director of Student Ministries in July of 2009.

A few things you might need to know about me:

• I love chicken and anything that tastes like chicken.
• My favorite color is green, which is good because my favorite superhero is Green Lantern and my favorite place is Ireland.
• I’m a lifelong Mets, Giants, and Knicks fan and I have never switched allegiances from my favorite teams.
• I have two older brothers and two older sisters and 10 awesome nieces and nephews.  I love my great big weird family very much.
• I am passionately in love with Jesus and can’t wait to see Him face to face.
• I count myself privileged to work with all the awesome teenagers God has placed in my path.