First Baptist Church of Dallas today announced a $130 million capital campaign to build a 3,000-seat worship center, a religious education building and parking lot, a glass concourse, and a sky bridge.
“The finest facility in this area should be one that glorifies almighty God,” said the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas.
Five older buildings on the church campus will come down, but the 1890 sanctuary – where the congregation has long worshipped – will remain for weddings, funerals and other special events.
Jeffress said an independent church fundraising consultant, Doug Turner, had determined that this is the largest church building program in modern history.
Many people in the area have told me it was only a matter of time before FBC Dallas became insignificant because of dwindling numbers and the trouble of getting people to actually go to downtown Dallas since everyone now lives in the subards, where all the local mega-churches are located. All that to say, this news came to me as a surprise. I’m not saying I’m wishing for a demise or anything, it’s just what I heard.
But I will say I don’t know how I feel about it being the largest church building plan in modern history. Job creation is a good thing, but I don’t know anything about their financial planning or their current or projected attendance numbers. I will admit I felt that after I watched the last video on the projects website (titled “Overview”) it seemed a bit self gratifying and seemed to stretch scripture a little bit.
No matter the case, I hope they keep their focus and that everything is filled with substance.