Our History

In the fall of 1993, Pastor Ron Leversee and his family left a good position at Waterloo Baptist Temple in Iowa to follow God‚ leading in their life to start an independent, fundamental Baptist church in the Valley of the Sun. With no promise of church or financial security, the Leversee family headed west.

Upon arriving, preparations were made to begin Desert Gateway Baptist Church. Invitations were handed out and thousands of doors were knocked. Then, on the first Sunday of 1994, Desert Gateway Baptist Church opened its doors to the community. The Gospel was preached to eleven people as they gathered in a living room in Tempe. Ever since then, Desert Gateway Baptist Church has ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

After a few months, the church located to a preschool facility in Ahwatukee. Despite the challenges of meeting in a preschool building, the church continued to grow. The preaching remained scripturally steadfast!

In 1997, the Lord provided an opportunity to purchase a three-and-a-half acre horse property in Gilbert. The details of this opportunity were nothing short of a miracle, as the church moved on to the property in May of the same year. A ranch house on the property was used as the primary meeting place for all services, classes, and nurseries. Since then, three additional buildings have been constructed on the property, including a 350 seat auditorium.

As the church continued to grow, so did the burden of Pastor Ron Leversee for the east valley of Phoenix. The burden to train up young people for the Lord was met by the establishing of the two major teaching arms of Desert Gateway Baptist Church- Gateway Baptist Academy and Desert Baptist Bible College. These two institutions opened their doors in 1999, and today students are trained to have the mind of Christ daily.

Again, God blessed with the purchase of a four-and-a-half acre lot right on Gilbert Road. In 2009, we moved to the same four-and-a-half acre property where three buildings which include a 600-seat auditorium, ample nursery and office spaces, classrooms, and a fellowship hall were constructed. Today the ministries of Desert Gateway Baptist Church operates on two distinct campuses located on our Gilbert Road property and our Pony Lane property, which serves as our educational campus, housing Gateway Baptist Academy and Desert Baptist Bible College as well as some other ministry and discipleship classes.

Our church’s vision is to continue to expand by acquiring more property and building an education and family life center which will include school rooms, a gymnasium, a commercial-sized kitchen, and so much more. All for the purpose of bringing more people to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.