“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”
1 John 3:21-22

Prestonwood

Posted on October 3, 2005, 9:00 pm, by Dustin Wright, under Faith.

Yesterday Alina and I and Rachael tried out our first Church here in Texas (well the second, but more on that in a minute). We went to Prestonwood Baptist church for worship service, but so did the rest of the city. It was just up the street from my mom’s apartment so it was nice and close, but there were way too many people. I have nothing against large churches, but I’m not too fond of large crowds of people and long lines of cars in the parking lot. Last weeks attendance, over only 3 services, was over 15,000 people, if you can’t do the math, I’ll do it for you; that means over 5000 people per service.

It was a nice service though, the preacher was pretty good, he actually used the Bible for teaching (imagine that), but every one of his illustrations had to do with football (it’s true what they say that Texas is fanatical about football). The worship was pretty good, but some of the people that were leading seemed like they had plastic faces, in other words they didn’t seem to be real (which I hate). The choir was easily 100 people with an orchestra and another 10 or so lead singers (only some of which had plastic faces). Rachael seemed to enjoy herself too, I think she was the only baby who was not crying when she was dropped off (I hope that doesn’t say anything about us).

Anyway, it was a whole lot better than the other church (I use that term loosely) we tried. We tried it when we where out here last time visiting, and I’m sure we won’t ever try again, and I think that is what the pastor (again a loosely used term) meant when he said that people that “cry and whine” for more worship and more prayer and more teaching (instead of directing traffic for the church parking lot on Sundays) are a bunch of babies and apparently they need our seats at the church, well they have them.

Please pray that God would lead us to the church that He wants us to be in and that He will use us as He wills.

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  • Hey Terrie. Good to hear from you. When I wrote this post originally (4 years ago) we had just moved from California to Plano, Texas and were searching for what I thought (at the time) made a good church. Since then I have learned that I need to give such important decisions more than a fleeting thought and to at least give a second chance to something that has made me uncomfortable.

    Saying that, large crowds (in church or not) are always hard for me to deal with. That many people just do something in me that makes it hard to take the next step. You are probably correct that had I gotten involved in their Bible Fellowship classes, I might have enjoyed it. But I was looking for the kind of deep relationships that I needed to support, challenge, and rebuke me when necessary, and for me it was too hard to get past the oceans of people and see individuals, or them see me. I guess that's something God will have to work in me, after all I bet there's going to be oceans of people in Heaven as well.

    You make great points, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but now that we are living in McKinney, Prestonwood is just too far away to engage with people or be engaged. So, thank you for your comment, and I pray that God would continue to work His way in you and in Prestonwood, and I pray that He would continue to work His patience and compassion in me toward a church and world full of sinners of whom I am chief.
  • terrie turner
    Dustin,
    I grew up in a small town and went to a church of about 150 - on a 'good' Sunday. Now I'm a member of Prestonwood. I had the same feelings initially - TOO BIG!! Too contrived. But, I'd heard that they had an excellent children's ministry so decided to hang in there for a bit. I'm so glad that we did. While it's true - in a crowd this large, you're going to encounter plenty of people that are plastic (this IS Dallas remember?!). But, once we visited half a dozen Bible Fellowship classes (i.e. Sunday School) we found a wonderful class of genuine, authentic Christians. People that were normal - they were authentic about their job problems, kid problems, family problems - but all had the common bond of eternal hope. The other thing that was HUGE on the plus side was the multitude of opportunities for Bible study throughout the week. Then I attended a few and WOW! I probably have learned more about God's Word in the past 5 years at Prestonwood than I did the past thirty-five years. (Granted, I am at a different place and much more interested in learning - but still, the quality of teaching is superb.) Finally, the reality that the church sits in the wealthiest zip code in Texas allows it to have many, many outreach programs that go from inner city Dallas to Romania and the Amazon; a huge sports organization who's goal is reaching the lost; a pregnancy center; a ministry to boys of single moms; multiple prison ministries - and the list goes on and on. So, I hope you'll be able to get past the large crowds (because you could go to PW for 5 years and never know anyone unless you get involved in a small group); the praise and worship leaders that you feel look plastic and yes... the football analogies! It's a wonderful church and ultimately, it can be a place where a relationship with Christ is deepened, knowledge of the Word is increased and lifetime friendships are formed.
  • John
    I'm glad that you had the opportunity to visit Prestonwood Baptist Church. I've been a member of the church since 1998. Prestonwood has been an important extension to my family through worship, preaching, and teaching. I enjoy the worship service but like any church there are times when the service (worship, praise, and preacing) is more 'real' to me. My ture love is the bible study time. Small groups (ours has about 25 member) where there is an intimate study of the bible.

    I invite you to return and explore the many different ministries of Prestonwood. Of course with all things your decision should be based on the will of God through personal prayer and study.
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