The Gateway Church

Non-denominational Christian services

When: 11 a.m. Sundays (pre-service prayer 10:15-10:45 a.m.); Tuesdays, 5:30-7 p.m. (pre-service prayer 4:45-5:15 p.m.)

Where: Holiday Inn Express & Suites-Sequim, 1441 E. Washington St. (new location)

More info: www.gatewaychurchsequim.org

When co-pastor Dana Easterling started a new church with his wife Cheryl in Sequim about 18 months ago, they had to get a few things out of the way.

Namely, clothing racks.

The Easterlings started with a purposefully modest-sized congregation (one) in an auspicious place (a consignment shop), but now The Gateway Church is making a move to give the Christian, non-denominational church some room to grow.

Sunday, Jan. 23, marked the first service for The Gateway Church at its new home at Holiday Inn Express & Suites, a year-and-a-half after it started in the Second Chance consignment shop on West Cedar Street.

If the origin story sounds like a bit of build-from-nothing, that’s true — but not wholly unexpected.

“God has used us for building ministries, even in other churches,” Dana Easterling says.

With about 14 years in ministry, the Easterlings have had their hands in creating or expanding everything from men’s and women’s groups to leadership and prophecy groups and more, starting in South Carolina and most recently in Montana until about three years ago.

Feeling led spiritually to make a change in 2016, the Easterlings spent some time in Seattle. The couple seemed to take the Pacific Northwest, Dana says, so they decided to visit some Western Washington communities. From Bellingham to Blaine, Anacortes and Port Townsend, the couple made their way from town to town, spending up to two days in thoughtful prayer.

“We just knew Port Angeles was as far as we were going,” Easterling says. “Sequim felt really good.”

Following the move, Easterling says he and Cheryl attended Gardiner Community Church for several months.

“We prayed until we felt like we knew what we wanted to do,” he said.

At one given service where Easterling was preaching on prophecy, a congregation member offered the use of her consignment store.

After careful consideration, Easterling said, they made the move.

“We had so much vision,” he said. “To us, we knew we were supposed to do it.”

That meant putting the clothing racks in the corners and bringing in all the equipment for a service each Sunday, he said.

“Dana and Cheryl coming to town was a blessing,” said Glory Ingalls, owner of the Second Chance consignment shop that hosted the church. She had been looking for a church with the kind of charisma, spirituality and energy that the Easterlings brought for more than 20 years after moving from Southern California, and she said that she continues to be moved and uplifted by them.

The first service was in January of 2018.

The Gateway Church’s services are usually evenly split between live and video services for the message, Easterling said, though the music is very much live each week. That’s thanks to a group of talented musicians in the growing congregation, he said.

Easterling said The Gateway’s worship music runs from 23-30 minutes, and ranges from modern worship styles to more meditative music, followed by the message.

And it can get loud, he noted, so the church offers earplugs for those who want them.

“We made that plain: we’re here to worship the Lord,” Easterling said.

“You can feel his presence in our services.”

What resounds with people about the church, Easterling said, is the caring congregation.

“One of the things we hear the most is that it’s such a close, loving group,” he said.

The congregation, one that sees about 40 people each Sunday, has doubled in the past three months and led to the move for more space, the pastor said.

Now centered at the Holiday Inn, The Gateway Church services on Sundays start at 11 a.m., though the church provides pre-service prayer — individual or group prayer — from 10:15-10:45 a.m. The church also offers a Tuesday service from 5:30-7 p.m. with pre-service prayer from 4:45-5:15 p.m.; worship is similar but the Tuesday message format is more like a Bible study, Easterling said.

If the group grows more they have room to expand at the hotel, he said, but if it grows to 75 or 80 he said leaders will likely begin looking for a more permanent space.

The Easterlings, who have been married for 34 years and have four children and four grandchildren, have listed three core values for The Gateway Church: “Love God Completely, Love People Genuinely, Love the World Consistently.”

Being real with people is key, Easterling said.

“We are trying to build a healthy, God-centered family in the midst of a broken world,” he said.