First Baptist Dallas revealed plans on Sunday to rebuild its 134-year-old historic sanctuary, which was largely destroyed by fire this summer. The church also launched a $95 million giving campaign to help pay for it.
“The next two years our goal is to raise $95 million,” Senior Executive Pastor Ben Lovvorn said, explaining that the campaign will also support several other church ministries. “This is the largest Mission 18 campaign that we’ve ever undertaken as a church. . . it is also an opportunity for us to make history for the glory of God.”
Lovvorn outlined the proposed plans for the new sanctuary, which feature a larger steeple and more stained-glass windows.
The steeple’s size will mimic the church’s original steeple from the early 1900s, Lovvorn said.
“The steeple has been a symbolic cornerstone for our church, reminding us that Jesus Christ is our true cornerstone,” Lovvorn added.
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Additionally, the church will restore and add in more stained-glass windows to “enhance the beauty of this place of worship,” he said.
Lovvorn noted that the design plans intend to honor the past while looking forward toward the future.
“We intend to celebrate our history and spiritual Legacy but look forward toward what God is going to do here,” he said. “Our plan is to preserve and secure and incorporate the historic exterior walls of the sanctuary and we’ve been doing everything we can to shore those up during this season.”
The rebuilt sanctuary will also include a redesigned pulpit, expanded fellowship space, and an evaluated floor. The church is looking for a new location for its library, as well, he said.
While these are just early renderings of the design plans, Lovvorn said they are “what we believe God is calling us to do in this place.”
He said the design plans can remind congregants how “God brings beauty from ashes.”
Construction for the new sanctuary is set to start in January, CBS News reported.
Church members told CBS News they like the plans to include both traditional and contemporary features.
“(It’s) still planning to keep that magical, that ‘wow moment,’ that ‘wow factor’ as part of the sanctuary but seeing it just a little bit, maybe modernized,” church member Sarah Barrientos remarked to CBS News.
Church member Daniel Ameri reflected that the church’s iconic sanctuary has “always been a symbol of what First Baptist Dallas is.”
He added, “To see the sanctuary rebuilt has meant a lot to me.”
Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire, but arson has been ruled out, according to First Baptist’s website.
Sunday services currently occur in the church’s Worship Center, an unscathed portion of the church sprawling campus. The church’s campus spans six blocks of downtown Dallas, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported.
A four-alarm fire first erupted in the church’s basement on July 19, largely gutting the historic sanctuary. No injuries occurred from the fire.
The church has already repaired the sanctuary’s foundation and restored power to it since the fire occurred.
First Baptist has long served as an iconic symbol in downtown Dallas.
First Baptist was first organized in 1868, according to the church’s website. The cornerstone of the church’s building was then laid in 1890 by a small group of believers determined to begin a Baptist church in downtown Dallas.
Eventually the old sanctuary was expanded to seat 3,000 people. It served as the primary place of worship until 2013, when the church completed renovations and expansions, the church’s website said.
First Baptist has remained in downtown Dallas throughout its history and received a historical marker in 1968, TRR reported. The church has become a point of pride for congregants and preservationists alike.
The church is currently led by Dr. Robert Jeffress, who previously served a spiritual advisor to former President Donald Trump. He is a contributor to Fox News, author of 30 books, and host for daily television program, Pathway to Victory.
The church currently boasts 16,000 members, according to its website. Throughout the years, Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Trump have visited it.
Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.
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11 Responses
You are building bigger barns! God destroyed the man and took his life (in a single night) when he talked about building bigger barns when there were sick and hungry people right outside his walls he could have helped tremendously with food and medicine and shelter. 95 million dollars that could solve the financial problems of millions of people, and you’re going to throw it away on a bigger building and a bigger steeple while the people right outside your walls are supposed to be your ministry and focus??? In the name of Jesus, may God not let this travesty happen. May all that money end up in the hands of those who need it most.
too right. In the building they tore down to build the bigger and badder “worship” center, they had a couple of years prior shut down a day care that was a great service to the working mothers of downtown Dallas, many of whom did not attend the church. They turned it into a mother’s day out running a couple of hours a day instead because of the underlying premise that mothers should stay at home.
Just – shut down a fantastic ministry opportunity to instead only serve their sheep.
“Lovvorn outlined the proposed plans for the new sanctuary, which feature a larger steeple and more stained-glass windows. The steeple’s size will mimic the church’s original steeple from the early 1900s, Lovvorn said. “The steeple has been a symbolic cornerstone for our church, reminding us that Jesus Christ is our true cornerstone,” Lovvorn added. Additionally, the church will restore and add in more stained-glass windows to “enhance the beauty of this place of worship,” he said.”
$95 million dollars?! For a replication of the larger, original steeple (along with additional pretty, shiny, colorful things) simply because there’s nothing like a steeple, etc. (original or not) to remind Dallas Christians that Jesus Christ is the true cornerstone?! Silly me, here I thought charitable giving of such vast monetary resources — that instead focus on the hungry and the sick and the homeless and the poor — are enough of a reminder that Jesus is the true cornerstone.
Especially if Jesus is returning soon and very soon.
What is an “evaluated floor”? And is this fund-raising in addition to insurance money for rebuilding? What is the total cost to rebuild bigger and better?
I think they meant “elevated floor”. Most churches have their pulpits elevated above the main floor where the congregation sits.
And even with insurance, the church has to cover both its deductible (our church had storm damage a few weeks earlier and our deductible was around $3M) plus any improvements it wants to make. Plus, this is (was) a historic building, and they want to try to make it look like the old structure, which is far more expensive than tearing it down and building a more modern one.
Didn’t the church have fire insurance?
It would still have a deductible. My church (also in DFW) had storm damage a few months earlier, our deductible was around $3M.
They believe this is what God is leading them to do. You think God ever gets tired of the stupid things people do in His name?
This right here infuriates me. I believe idolatry pure and simple. Will it really honour God, or will it really be just another monument to mans stupidity and selfishness, like so many others. 93 million to recreate a building, that will cost many more millions to maintain over the years. There are children out there that need help with their learning, parents who need a safe place for their children while working, people who need help with medical bills, veterans who need help and healing. It is time we stop building monuments to Christ in brick and mortar, and instead focus on people. Not one of those bricks or stained glass windows will end up anywhere with Christ. Instead, they will end up in the dust of destruction. While I get the desire for excellence, This seems to me like over reach. Why not build something that can benefit people in practical ways alongside the large auditorium they already have.
I admit I found the First Baptist Dallas (prior) sanctuary to be beautiful (despite some of the ugly happenings within, but that’s a whole other topic).
But wouldn’t fire insurance cover a rebuild? Is this a $95 million campaign ON TOP of that?
Anyone giving money to these people of self want/self promotion, instead using that money to serve God by helping those in need, is supporting the living embodiment of the churchs’ inversion of God’s standards.
Mt 23:
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity