The church began in 2005 under the name 'Kirkham Christian Fellowship'. In the summer of 2010, the question of whether we should change the name came up. Shortly after that we were listening to a message from the passage in Genesis 28 where Jacob has a dream and sees a ladder or stairway between heaven and earth. When he wakes up Jacob says 'This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven'. This passage makes clear that 'the house of God' and 'the gate of heaven' are synonymous. The Bible says that under the New Covenant, we are the house of God and therefore we are also the 'gate of heaven'.
In John chapter 1, Jesus identifies Himself as being the ladder that links heaven and earth when He is speaking to Nathaneal. Our calling as Christians is to be a 'gate' or a point of access for people to encounter Jesus and to experience all the power of heaven, right here on the earth.
God spoke to us very clearly about our calling to be a 'gate' and we took this name as a declaration of what we believe God wants to do in and through His people.
In September 2010 we received a further confirmation. A lady from The Well Community Church in Rochdale saw a vision which she then painted.
She had not been a Christian for very long and had never read the story of Jacob's dream but this is the picture that she saw and painted even though at the time she didn't realize the significance of it!
When they heard about us changing our name they had the picture framed and presented it to us.