Fellowship Church - History

History

FC started in 1989 as a mission church of the First Baptist Church of Irving, Texas, and was initially known as "Las Colinas Baptist Church". Approximately 150 members of First Baptist Irving relocated to the new church. FC initially met in a rented facility next to the Irving Arts Center and across from MacArthur High School, both of which would figure in its history.

Shortly after its opening, the membership hired Edwin Barry Young as its Senior Pastor. Young quickly convinced the church to adopt the "seeker church" style made popular by Bill Hybels and Willow Creek Community Church. One of the church's first actions was to de-emphasize its ties with the Southern Baptist Convention and change its name to "Fellowship of Las Colinas". Another move was to use contemporary music during the services, and to offer services on Saturday evenings. Most notably, FC adopted the concept of "age appropriate" teaching—children 5th grade and under are provided separate services at their level of maturity, and parents are encouraged (but not required) to send their children to those services. FC purports that several families, after initially being hesitant to return to FC—mainly due to its size and non-traditional approach to church—did so after finding out their children loved the activities.

The strategy proved highly successful, and FC quickly outgrew its original facility. Thus, it moved across the parking lot to the nearby Irving Arts Center. During this time, FC tried the concept of "simultaneous services"--one group would meet at FC's facility while another would meet at the Arts Center. The FC music team would play at one site while Young preached at the other, then midway through the services the teams would switch places. The concept proved unsuccessful and was quickly dropped, but continues in "FC lore" as from time to time Young mentions it in his sermons as an example of how FC is willing to try new, unconventional ideas in order to reach people.

Meanwhile, FC began to look for a suitable site for its permanent facility. FC discovered a 160-acre (0.65 km2) site on heavily-traveled State Highway 121 north of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which was being auctioned by the Resolution Trust Corporation. Though larger than FC wanted, FC did not have the option to bid on only a portion of the site—it had to bid on the entire site or not bid at all. FC agreed to bid on the site, and was the successful bidder; however, it had to quickly borrow $1.675 million to make the payment. Approximately two years later, the announcement was made that Grapevine Mills, a shopping mall, would be built literally across the street from FC. Unsolicited offers came in for portions of the FC property, and eventually FC sold a 23-acre (93,000 m2) parcel on the north side of the property for the exact amount it had borrowed earlier, thus allowing it to begin construction debt-free.

Meanwhile, FC outgrew the Irving Arts Center before its permanent facility was complete. It thus moved across the street to MacArthur High School. (As part of the lease agreement, FC agreed to install an upgraded sound system in MacArthur's auditorium.) In order to maintain the "age-appropriate" services for preschoolers and children, this required an enormous logistical feat each weekend—volunteers would have to unload several trucks early on Saturday morning (the building was unavailable until then), install temporary partitions and furniture in several areas, then after the final Sunday service tear down and reload all the items onto the trucks, and make the school building ready for use on Monday morning.

In April 1998, FC finally completed and moved to its current facility and adopted its present name. Young's father and Hybels spoke at the dedication service.