Arizona Church Plant Celebrates Two Years

Church Planting, US Church Plants

The average church plant in North America has an attendance of eighty-three people at the four-year mark. In half that time, Valley Gate Church has around 200 Arizona State University students, faculty, and community members attending. In January 2016, Darryl and Jo Ann Morrison launched Valley Gate in Tempe, Arizona—five miles from Arizona State University—the largest on-campus student population in the United States. One of the most significant challenges in the life of a church is breaking though that 200-member barrier. Valley Gate has been growing at a consistent rate for two years now and is on the path to grow through that attendance level.

Here’s a look at the steps that Darryl and this young church plant took to get to where it is today.

  • Darryl served as an associate pastor for three years with Pastor Brett Fuller of Grace Covenant Church in Northern Virginia, and as Assistant Chaplain for the Washington Redskins.
  • He was a part of the launch team helping Pastor Donnell Jones plant an Every Nation church in Washington, D.C.
  • Then Darryl served as an Every Nation Campus director for twelve years, overseeing the efforts at four major universities in the D.C. area.
  • Darryl and his wife Jo Ann came to the Assessment Center (a three-day evaluation to determine readiness for church-planting) last year, and Darryl to the Bootcamp (intensive church-planting training) in August.
  • Pastor Donnell Jones sent Darryl out with a dozen launch team members to plant Valley Gate Church of Phoenix.
  • The Every Nation churches in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. made significant contributions to the start-up expenses in Phoenix.
  • Darryl and Mike Gowans, (pastor of Bethel Church, the other Every Nation church in Phoenix), teamed up in support of the Every Nation Campus chapter there.
  • The process of this new church plant is a strong example of how Every Nation plants churches and why it’s been so successful.

At the end of October, Darryl signed the rental agreement on the new meeting place of Valley Gate Church. The young church raised over $85,000 for the essential renovations of the facility, which now has a seating capacity for 300 and rooms for children’s church. By God’s grace, they’re now able to use the building full-time—no more weekly set up and take down—and they’re even closer to ASU.