Prestonwood Baptist Church

Prestonwood Baptist Church
Location	6801 W. Park Blvd Plano, Texas 75093
Country	United States
Denomination	Southern Baptist
Membership	45,000+
Weekly attendance	Approximately 17,000
Website	prestonwood.org
History
Founded	1977
Founder(s)	Bill Weber
Architecture
Completed	1999 (Plano Campus), 2006 (North Campus)
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)	Dr. Jack Graham
Pastor(s)	Dr. Jarrett Stephens (teaching), Michael Neale (worship), Mike Buster (executive), Neal Jeffrey (pastoral & preaching), Jeff Young (spiritual development), Gilberto Corredera (Prestonwood en Español - lead pastor), Orbe Perez (Prestonwood en Español pastor - Lewisville Campus)

Prestonwood Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist multi-site megachurch, with a main campus in Plano, Texas (the Plano Campus) and a second campus in Prosper, Texas (the North Campus). It is one of the largest churches in America, with a membership of over 45,000 and a weekly attendance of around 17,000.

The Plano campus covers an area of 140 acres (0.219 sq mi; 0.567 km²), and includes a 7,000-seat worship center, a school offering Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (including a football stadium, a baseball field, and a fieldhouse for basketball and volleyball), a fitness center with outdoor sports fields, a café, a library, and a bookstore.

In 2006, the church expanded to include a second campus of nearly 128 acres (0.200 sq mi; 0.518 km²) in Prosper. The North Campus also has a school (K-9 as of fall 2019 with plans to expand one grade each year, so that the Class of 2023 will be North's first graduating class).

Core Values and Beliefs

Core Values

The official mission statement of Prestonwood is:

Our mission at Prestonwood Baptist Church is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord to as many people as possible and to develop them in Christian living using the most effective means to impact the world, making an eternal difference in this generation.

The church has summarized its core values in six words, all beginning with the letter "E", and expanded on each value:

• Excellence ("to glorify God"): The Prestonwood family believes that honoring God with our very best is an essential quality of Christian living. Through all of our ministry programming and campus facilities, we strive to display excellence in all things to the glory of God. Great care is taken to ensure a wonderful, worshipful environment in every area of ministry.
• Evangelism ("by introducing Jesus Christ as Lord"): Under the direct commission of Jesus Christ, Prestonwood exists to reach those in our neighborhoods and around the world who have yet to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Our church programming, services and ministry models all point toward sharing the message of the Gospel with individuals and families. In every service, a public invitation is given to allow people to respond to this clear message of hope and eternal promise. We also provide multiple opportunities to invite unbelieving friends and family members to hear the Gospel. And every member of the church is challenged to share their faith daily in work, schools and social settings.
• Engagement ("to as many people as possible"): The joyful responsibility of every member of Prestonwood includes fully engaging in the life of the church. We ask and expect members to faithfully volunteer in multiple areas of church ministry. We challenge every member to participate in a local, national or international mission activity. And finally, we believe that every member has a financial responsibility to support the work of Christ on earth through the Church. By participating in each of these areas of service, a member will experience the fullness of this church fellowship.
• Equipping ("and to develop them in Christian living"): One of the great passions of this church family is to intentionally share in the process of Christian growth and development of individuals and families. Prestonwood offers many outlets for discipleship—personally and corporately—through training, mentoring and our vast Bible Fellowship Ministry. Classes are offered on weekends and throughout the week to strengthen the faith of those who believe, and to encourage those who are on a journey toward faith.
• Expansion ("using the most effective means to impact the world"): Prestonwood is committed to using new and innovative strategies to reach people for Christ. Through our radio and television broadcast ministry, PowerPoint, the message continues after the weekend Worship Service has ended. Locally, Prestonwood has added campuses so that members can invite neighbors to church, allowing us to reach new communities with the same message. In addition, the Prestonwood Network assists and connects pastors and church leaders who have been launched from Prestonwood to serve Christ in other locations. This network expands the work of the church exponentially and helps plant new churches in strategic cities around the world.
• Encouragement ("making an eternal difference in this generation"): Beyond growth in faith, we believe in the whole development of every individual, and strive to be an encouraging and comforting body of believers. Prestonwood exists for people … those here and those yet to come. As we develop our people in Christian living, we desire to see individuals and families strengthened by the love shared among the people of this church.

Beliefs

Prestonwood's full statement of faith is the Baptist Faith and Message (2000 version); the church has summarized its beliefs centering on nine principles:

• Our God - There is one God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; who subsist in unity, and also as three separate distinct Persons
• Jesus Christ, God's Son - Jesus Christ is God's Son. He was born of a virgin as both God and man, lived a sinless life, died to atone for the sins of human beings, was buried, arose from the grave, ascended into heaven, and will literally return to earth
• The Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is the divine helper, assistant, counselor and instructor and His work is to reveal Christ, convict of sin, lead to repentance, guide believers, comfort, strengthen, and sanctify the soul
• The Bible - The Bible is God’s Holy Word, without error, and is the sole authority for life
• Created Man's Need for God - Human beings are the special creations of God, made in His image. They fell through the sin of the first man, Adam, and all human beings are sinners in need of salvation
• Salvation - Salvation is a gift through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Every person who truly is saved is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ and will spend eternity in heaven, while those who die in their sins will spend eternity in hell
• Baptism - Baptism is by immersion after salvation and is done in obedience to Jesus Christ’s command
• Believer's Access to God - Each believer has direct access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ
• The Church - The Church is a local body of baptized believers with the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head

History

Dr. Jack Graham is the Senior Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church

Prestonwood was founded on February 6, 1977 in North Dallas, as a mission church of Northway Baptist Church. Under founding pastor Bill Weber, the new church grew considerably, and in 1979 moved into a permanent facility near the corner of Arapaho and Hillcrest Roads in Dallas.

By 1988, Prestonwood had grown to 11,000 members; that same year, Pastor Weber confessed to an extramarital affair and stepped down from the pulpit, but behind the scenes was actively seeking to regain his position as pastor, and failing that had convinced several of the church's wealthier members -- including cosmetics magnate Mary Kay Ash -- to support a new church he was starting..

In 1989, Dr. Jack Graham replaced Weber as Senior Pastor of Prestonwood, by this time considered a "megachurch" because of its rapid expansion into one of the fastest-growing churches in the United States. By the mid-1990s, it became apparent that the church had outgrown its north Dallas home; the facility was landlocked with no ability to expand. In 1994, the church's leadership began plans for a 7,000-seat worship center in Plano. Services were first held on May 2, 1999. The church continued to expand its facilities throughout the next decade. Soon after the opening of the new worship center, the first phase of the new Prestonwood Sports and Fitness Center was completed. In August 2003, the church completed the second phase of the building, which featured a new chapel, a 100 foot (30m) tall "Faith Tower" topped by a cross, a student ministry area, restaurant and commons, additional space for Bible fellowship and administrative offices. Two years later, the Prestonwood Christian Academy Upper School opened on the west side of the church campus.

2006 saw the continued expansion of Prestonwood with the opening of its second campus in Prosper, near U.S. Highway 380 and Dallas Parkway. That same year, the church also completed a new children's wing and updated its facilities for PowerPoint Ministries, including an upgrade to High Definition (HDTV).

In 2009, Prestonwood launched a weekly Worship Service in its Faith Chapel to reach Spanish-speaking communities. Prestonwood en Español has experienced tremendous growth, and in September 2012, the service moved to the Plano Campus Worship Center to accommodate the thriving congregation. A second Spanish-speaking campus opened in Lewisville, Texas originally at Christian Community Action, a local organization providing assistance to families, but later relocated to share space with another Southern Baptist congregation in Lewisville.

On September 23, 2012 Prestonwood's North Campus in Prosper celebrated the opening of a 75,000 square-foot building expansion. The new building provides space for growing ministries, including children's and adult Bible Fellowship classrooms, full-size gymnasium, student ministry space, bookstore and commons area for gathering.

The church reached the 45,000-member mark in 2019, with regular attendance at worship services averaging around 17,000.

Campuses

Prestonwood operates two church campuses: Plano (the Plano Campus, which houses full services in both English and Spanish, as well as smaller fellowships to other ethnic groups) and Prosper (the North Campus). The Lewisville branch of the Spanish services are held at Northview Baptist Church, an existing and independent Southern Baptist congregation.

Ministries

Prestonwood provides biblical teachings and worship services in the Southern Baptist tradition.

As one of the largest churches in the United States, Prestonwood has a staff of over 50 ministers, overseeing its various ministries. The following is a list of notable ministries:

• Bible Fellowship classes, which includes specialized ministries for adults, students, children, persons with special needs, and non-English speakers
• A choir of over 500 members and an orchestra
• Mission outreach at local and global levels.
• Prestonwood Sports Outreach (PSO, a/k/a Prestonwood Sports Organization), a sports and fitness ministry which offers youth baseball, basketball, cheerleading, football, futsal, and soccer, each serving approximately 1,000 children annually, along with adult basketball, softball, volleyball, fitness training, as well as other activity programs.
• Prestonwood Pregnancy Center (PPC), providing (from a pro-life viewpoint to women who may be pregnant and considering abortion) free and confidential guidance, pregnancy tests, early pregnancy sonograms, educational classes and post-abortion support groups. The center operates two permanent locations (Richardson and Duncanville) along with mobile sonogram services at various locations around the Dallas area.
• The Prestonwood Foundation raises funds for various endowments of church ministries, and also provides financial counseling and estate planning services. One of its offerings is to provide a free "basic" will (i.e., one with simple distributions upon death, as opposed to multiple bequests to multiple heirs) to any person attending a free one-hour seminar on the necessity of having a will (though registration in advance is required, the seminars are open to anyone in the community, not just members or church attendees).
• The Prestonwood Network assists pastors and other church leaders in planting churches in other areas. The Network consists of former Prestonwood staff who are now lead pastors, pastors with a relationship to Prestonwood, and former Prestonwood church plants.
• PowerPoint Ministries, launched in 1994, is a ministry which broadcasts Dr. Graham's sermons on radio, television and online. The television broadcasts air on major networks such as Trinity Broadcasting Network and Daystar Television Network.
• Prestonwood Christian Academy (PCA) is a fully accredited private Christian school, with two campuses: the main campus is located at the Plano campus and has approximately 1,500 students enrolled in pre-kindergarten through grade 12, with over 1,100 graduates, and a second school at Prestonwood's North Campus in Prosper which serves more than 100 students in Pre-K3 through ninth grade as of Fall 2019 (the Prosper campus will add a new grade each year, with the Class of 2023 planned as the first high school graduating class). PCA also operates an online program (PCAplus) and maintains a partnership with St. Timothy Christian Academy, a school for students with learning challenges (St. Timothy is located at the Prestonwood Plano campus). In 2018 PCA announced a partnership with The King's Academy, a private school which started operations in Fall 2019 in the Bonton area of South Dallas with K4-1st grade, opening a new grade every year thereafter.
• The Gift of Christmas (GOC), one of the nation's largest Christmas pageants, as well as one of the top-rated Christmas-related events in the state of Texas. Each year the production features thirteen performances (nearly all of which sell out shortly after tickets are available) attended by almost 70,000 members of the public.

External links

• Official website
• PowerPoint with Jack Graham official website of PowerPoint Ministries