Our Story

The name Fellowship Bible Church is deceptively simple and common. It was, however, chosen quite intentionally. Fellowship Bible Church began when a group of about twelve couples began meeting with Dr. Gene Getz, a faculty member at Dallas Theological Seminary. The couples wanted to know why individuals could experience deep, authentic fellowship at weekend retreats but that same type of community did not exist in the church on Sunday mornings. Dr. Getz had been examining scripture to learn more about what the Bible had to say about the role of the church, and conversation between the couples and Dr. Getz led to the conclusion that they should start their own church and put some of Dr. Getz’s scripture-based ideas to the test.

What were these ideas? First was the idea of Biblical absolutes combined with cultural relevance. “We must have absolute dependence on the authority of Scripture,” Dr. Getz said, “for God provides us with certain absolutes. This is where we must get our focus of what the church should be. But the church must not close its eyes to contemporary culture. We must understand it, penetrate it, and teach our people to live in it. We must not equate tradition with biblical absolutes.”

Dr. Getz had other ideas about the church as well. He believed that there were “three vital experiences” needed for members to experience growth: to learn and to obey the word of God, to fellowship with God and with each other, and to witness. This is why the name of the church - Fellowship Bible Church - was so intentional. Each word, in a way, represented one of those vital experiences.

As church planning began, a former Episcopal church building was rented with a purchase option. Then, on November 12, 1972, Fellowship Bible Church began with 139 people. By February, seating had to be expanded to accommodate new people, and by May the building was purchased, the auditorium was remodeled, and the parking lot was expanded. The rapid growth continued, and in October a Sunday night service was added.

The next two years continued to see incredible change, and the members were impassioned by their learning and relationships. This was evidenced when members raised over fifty-five thousand dollars in just one week to build a learning center. In March of 1975 - less than three years after FBC’s first church service - the first branch church was started: Garland Bible Fellowship. Over two more years four more branch churches also took root in the greater Dallas area: Bethany Bible Fellowship, Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, Richland Bible Fellowship, and Fellowship Bible Church of Park Cities.

In June of 1975, FBC had outgrown its learning center and was in need of office space. Once again the members rallied and raised over $65,000 to build a new learning center. Something about the “Fellowship Philosophy” seemed to be working.

Today over 350 churches in the United States and around the world trace their roots back to the small church on the corner of Spring Creek and Arapaho roads in Dallas, Texas. These churches each have unique qualities and characteristics, but each most likely began with the idea that the Bible comes first, but the Bible allows “freedom of form.” Some of the churches have kept the name “Fellowship Bible Church” somewhere in their title, and others have not. It’s their prerogative… it’s all about change at Fellowship.