Fellowship Church
Coordinates: 32°57′48″N 97°02′00″W / 32.963352°N 97.033224°W
Fellowship Church (FC) is an evangelical Christian megachurch located in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, that is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. FC is one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the United States, with an estimated attendance exceeding 20,000. FC's pastor is Ed Young, who has pastored the church since shortly after its opening.
Though Fellowship is officially a member of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), as part of the "seeker sensitive" movement, it does not publicize its ties with the SBC and is not actively involved in SBC affairs.
FC started in 1989 as a mission church of the First Baptist Church of Irving, Texas, and was initially known as "Las Colinas Baptist Church". Approximately 150 members of First Baptist Irving relocated to the new church. FC initially met in a rented facility next to the Irving Arts Center and across from MacArthur High School, both of which would figure in its history.
Shortly after its opening, the membership hired Edwin Barry Young as its Senior Pastor. Young quickly convinced the church to adopt the "seeker church" style made popular by Bill Hybels and Willow Creek Community Church. One of the church's first actions was to de-emphasize its ties with the Southern Baptist Convention and change its name to "Fellowship of Las Colinas". Another move was to use contemporary music during the services, and to offer services on Saturday evenings. Most notably, FC adopted the concept of "age appropriate" teaching—children 5th grade and under are provided separate services at their level of maturity, and parents are encouraged (but not required) to send their children to those services. FC purports that several families, after initially being hesitant to return to FC—mainly due to its size and non-traditional approach to church—did so after finding out their children loved the activities.
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