I remember the first Monday in February 2010. I was on my way to Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas to serve as interim pastor of an aging congregation in a 60,000 square foot facility. The church had 90 members at the time and they asked me to help them figure out what the future of a declining church would look like.
I pulled into an empty parking lot. Little did I know that this would be the first of many such memories over the next 14 years. At the time, my wife and I were members of Wilshire Baptist Church, also in Dallas.
Gary Cook
I met with our pastor, George Mason, to tell him about the idea. He said, “Gary, I have many friends at Gaston Oaks Baptist Church and I am very interested in their future. I am happy to help in any way I can. The first thing I will do is assign my assistant pastor, Mark Wingfield, to help you.”
Mark and I went to work with members of Gaston Oaks and Wilshire, a group of people who had played significant roles in Texas Baptist life and in Southern Baptist life at that time. The working committee we formed included a former denominational administrator, a foreign missionary, and several other proven leaders.
This was indeed an experienced and knowledgeable group, and they wanted to honor the church’s rich history of worldwide missionary work. Their strong commitment to missions was the legacy of the previous congregation, Gaston Avenue Baptist Church, which had been located in downtown Dallas since 1889.
Missions. That was in the DNA of the church. And that commitment, along with the remaining congregation, migrated to Northeast Dallas in 1998 and became my church, Gaston Oaks Baptist Church.
The committee considered various solutions as the church could no longer afford the upkeep of its large facility. Finally, we decided to try something innovative, creative, and something that some would call radical. We decided to call this new thing the Gaston Christian Center, or GCC.
The Gaston Christian Center was intended to be a place where numerous nonprofit organizations and ethnic communities would flourish.
None of us knew if this new thing would last even six months. In 2013, GCC became tax-exempt and the church made its land, facilities and infrastructure available for use by civic and community-oriented organizations and ministries. The Gaston Christian Center was to become a place where numerous nonprofits and ethnic communities could flourish.
Natalie Sorenson
Today, GCC is led by Executive Director Nataly Mora Sorenson, an ordained Baptist minister and licensed social worker who is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a graduate of Truett Seminary and the Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University.
The building houses 19 organizations that provide services such as dental care, education, immigration assistance, refugee relief, food distribution, and serve the spiritual needs of people in the Middle East, Central and South America, Africa, Burma, Thailand, Korea, and Cambodia.
We estimate that at least 38,000 people are influenced annually by the organizations in the GCC facility. These include:
- Africa Fellowship
- Agape Baptist Church
- Bakke University
- Baptist News Worldwide
- Bethesda Hope Ministries
- Bakery Vollkreis
- Full Gospel International Ministries/Zomi Church
- Gaston Oaks Baptist Church
- Gateway of Grace, which helps refugees become successful and active members of society
- Healing Hands Ministries, a community health center
- Healing Hands Parish Church
- Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostes Misericordia Divina
- Iglesia El Shaddai Ministries, with Chaplain Carina Sarmiento
- Kids U meets the educational needs of children from low-income families
- Korean-American sharing movement
- Church of La Promesa
- Immigration Center “Light of Hope”
- Church of love for all people
- The Center for Healthy Churches
I recently attended the Gateway of Grace graduation ceremony. The fellowship room at Gaston Christian Center was filled with people from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and beyond.
I didn’t speak their language. However, I could see that young children and people of all ages were enjoying a great moment in their lives.
Samira Izadi Page and her husband Dennis Page lead Gateway of Grace. They never aggressively approach the people they serve and ask them, “Do you want to become a Christian?” The people they serve see the sign and ask, “What is grace?” They answer the question by explaining grace and then saying, we have a Bible study you can come to.
Many of them simply want to come to learn more about the religion of most Americans. When they come, they hear about Jesus elevating the status of women. For many of the women, this is a new concept, and some decide to follow Jesus. This is one of the many extraordinary stories of hope found at the Gaston Christian Center.
The mission of the GCC and its donors is to provide holistic support to our communities through a campus of nonprofit organizations and churches guided by Christian principles of compassion, love and service.
We offer an opportunity for like-minded individuals, businesses and churches who see the value in GCC’s ability to provide below-market office space to partner with us, giving more organizations the opportunity to use their donations to change lives in our communities and around the world.
GCC is committed to an inclusive environment where all are welcomed, respected, and have the opportunity to make the most of the services and resources provided to the communities they serve.
If you would like to learn more about Gaston Christian Center, including our facility partners, space availability, partnering with us through donations, or implementing similar efforts in your community, contact Executive Director Nataly Sorenson at or visit our website.
Gary Cook is pastor of Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Dallas and previously served as executive director of Gaston Christian Center. He has been a pastor and denominational leader for six decades.
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