GATEWAY CHURCH HAS A SORDID HISTORY
Gateway church in Birkenhead began life as the Wirral Christian Centre,
a cult like Elim church that has a sordid history mired with a string of scandals and controversies.
It was founded by Rev. Paul Epton, an old fashioned 'hellfire and brimstone' preacher
who would shout at and rebuke his followers each week from the pulpit. Epton eventually stepped aside
to allow his son to take over the family business.
Under the leadership of Epton's son, the new church may have turned a corner, however with such a legacy of intolerance and hate many have vowed to never step foot inside the church again. Much of the leadership were raised on the kind of toxic leadership Epton Snr was famed for, so one would assume there's a lot of 'deprogramming' that would have to take place before the church could be healed of such a troubled past.