Staff aims to serve as ‘Jesus’ hands and feet’ to customers

Providing customers with life-changing resources is what drives the staff at Passages Bookstore. Located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the store has six locations that serve the 30,000-plus member congregation of Gateway Church led by Robert Morris, founding and senior pastor.  

“As Gateway Church says, ‘We’re All About People’ and we truly are all about people,” said Susan Wilson, manager of the main Passages Bookstore in Southlake. “Everybody that comes in is a guest. Built on an eternal perspective, we love to serve.”

The 2,100-square-foot store on the main campus is open seven days a week. It is positioned so that people see it when they first walk into the church.

“We are the face of Gateway,” Wilson said. “We get people literally running in.”

Whether it’s someone facing divorce, a job loss, an illness or an addiction, they turn to Passages for helpful resources.

“They don’t know where to go, and we are one of the first doors and the first people they see,” she said. “So we are a ministry even before we’re a bookstore.”

One aspect of the store is its benevolence, giving hundreds of complimentary products or resources each month to those in need. 

“We are able to minister that way because of the generosity of Gateway Church,” Wilson said.

She sees each product as a stepping stone that may lead someone to Jesus. 

“Everyone that comes in has a need,” she said. “They may not express it or let us know about it, but I believe that every step that they come in and make inside the bookstore is a step closer to finding a resource that can be a life-changer.”

The “Freedom” series based on classes held at the church is one example of such a resource. 

“We hear countless stories about people’s lives and how they’ve been changed,” Wilson said. “We hear story after story. We love to be Jesus’ hands and feet.”

Gateway has six store locations, including one at The King’s University, recently relocated to the main Gateway campus.

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