A Benbrook Gospel Witness Since 1954
At 1015 McKinley Street in Benbrook, First Baptist Church Benbrook is known for a gospel-centered mission that joins worship, biblical discipleship, and service. Its story begins on July 28, 1954, when 53 people met in the abandoned Benbrook Elementary School gymnasium because they felt the need for a new Baptist church in the area.
Seeking to start a mission in Benbrook, the group asked for membership in Ridglea West Baptist Church. A four-person committee was elected on August 4 to look for a building site, and on August 15 the First Baptist Church of Benbrook was organized as a Southern Baptist church with 66 charter members. The congregation entered its first building on McKinley Street on Christmas Sunday.
An educational building followed in 1956, and a new auditorium was completed in October 1961. That auditorium was designed to become a two-story classroom building if a larger worship space was ever needed. In January 1966, the church dedicated a four-bedroom, three-bath parsonage and an educational building with six Sunday School departments, a Fellowship Hall, and a kitchen.
The next major building effort began after the congregation voted in June 1979 to construct a new worship center. Members contributed beyond existing ministry expenses, and the debt-retirement 'Burning of the Note' celebration became part of the 1980s story. The worship center was dedicated on November 30, 1980. The former auditorium was remodeled into a two-story educational building, and its first classes met in September 1982.
In the mid-1980s, FBC Benbrook began two local missions that became Victory Baptist Church in Johnson County and Trinity Hills Baptist Church in Benbrook. During the 1980s it also began a television ministry that carried worship to Benbrook on the Benbrook Cable Network. In the early 1990s, the church began an apartment ministry in Fort Worth, supported two pastors in the former Soviet Union, and carried out ministry in Mexico for more than 20 years, helping begin mission work in Torreon, Chihuahua, and Matamoros. In 2008, Phase 1 of a master plan added a main entrance and preschool and children's ministry space.
Worship, Connect, Disciple, Serve
FBC Benbrook states its mission simply: to connect the community with Christ and His greater purpose. Its vision contrasts the small stories that can confine people with the larger story of creation, redemption, and re-creation that God is telling. The church desires to move people toward the headship of Christ, the transforming grace of Christ, and active participation in the mission he gives his people.
Four practices give that vision a practical shape:
- Worship: The church gathers on Sunday mornings to rejoice in God's glory and hear His voice.
- Connect: People build community around Scripture in small groups on Sunday mornings.
- Disciple: D-Groups meet throughout the week for Bible study, prayer, accountability, and spiritual growth.
- Serve: The church uses the gifts of its people through local ministries and mission work around the world.
This rhythm gives the church's history a continuing purpose: worship on Sunday, relationships formed in classes, discipleship carried into the week, and service extending beyond the congregation.
Sunday at McKinley Street
Sunday School begins at 9:15 a.m. for all ages. Before the class hour, First Impressions team members are in the church lobby to help visitors identify the right group. The morning is designed both for Bible study and for connection with people who encourage one another through the challenges and prayers of life.
Sunday morning worship follows at 10:30 a.m. at 1015 McKinley Street. The congregation can watch the 10:30 worship livestream, and previous messages can be listened to or watched through the church's sermon collection. Music and worship are central to the gathering, while the Sanctuary Choir rehearses each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary.
Extended care is offered during the 10:30 worship service for children three years and younger, with classes divided according to age. Child safety is supported through policies, background checks, volunteer screening, awareness training, supervision, monitoring, and reporting practices. Families can review the church's child protection policies.
The Gospel Across Every Age
Children's Ministry covers birth through sixth grade and partners with parents in raising children to know and follow the Lord. Its teaching centers on three simple truths:
- Each child is loved by God and desired for a relationship with him.
- Each child is created uniquely and for a purpose.
- Each child belongs to a church family that loves and values each person as they are.
On Sunday mornings, the Gospel Project curriculum carries children and preschoolers through the Bible as one unified story of God's redemption, from Genesis through Revelation. The lessons connect Bible stories, theological ideas, and the call to mission with the lives of children at different developmental stages.
Wednesday activities extend from preschool through sixth grade. AWANA gathers children from three years old through fourth grade from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. during the school year. Its rhythm combines large-group teaching, small groups, games, Scripture memorization, missions activities, and handbook achievements. AWANA also staffs infant and toddler rooms so parents who are helping teach have a safe place to bring their younger children. The use of Awana Essentials materials for Sparks and Truth and Training is intended to keep attention on Scripture's meaning and life application while reducing program costs.
Preteen Bible Study is designed specifically for fifth and sixth graders. They meet in their own Sunday class at 9:15 a.m. and use the Gospel Project to see how the Bible fits together chronologically and points to Christ. Wednesday gatherings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. combine energetic Bible study, discussion, worship, events, retreats, mission activities, and camping in an environment built for their age group.
FBC Benbrook Students serves grades seven through twelve with the conviction that students are young adults in training. Sunday at 9:15 a.m., students join adult-led Bible study groups separated by guys and girls. Known to LIFT, the semester-based Sunday evening gathering at 7:00 p.m., brings those groups together to read, discuss, and apply faith. On Wednesdays, students begin gathering at 6:00 p.m. for pizza and worship, then begin Bible teaching at 6:30. The student group works through books of the Bible verse by verse, with honesty, vulnerability, patience, and respect as foundations for growth.
Children in kindergarten through sixth grade can also join Children's Choir, which meets before Awana and Preteen Bible Study during the Christmas season. No previous musical experience is required. American Heritage Girls provides badge work, service projects, leadership opportunities, outdoor experiences, and family involvement for girls ages five through eighteen.
All children's and student workers must follow FBC Benbrook's child protection policies. Those serving with children complete a background check and Sexual Abuse Awareness training through MinistrySafe, along with the church's screening, supervision, and reporting requirements.
Small Groups, Mentors, and Friends
Sunday morning Connect Classes extend Bible study through every adult generation. Some classes work through books of the Bible verse by verse, while others use quarterly or seasonal study materials. The groups range from young adults ages 18 through 30 to senior adults, and many are expressly multigenerational. Their shared pattern is to know God, apply Scripture to daily life, share experiences honestly, and support one another in prayer and fellowship.
Discipleship continues during the week through D-Groups. Each group consists of three to five people who gather weekly to learn, encourage, and pray together. Scripture reading and memorization lead into questions about promises, sin, obedience, and the character of God, followed by accountability and prayer. The groups read from Scripture rather than working from a single teacher's curriculum, and their stated aim is to make disciples who make disciples.
Women's Ministry includes several mentoring relationships across generations. Apples of Gold is an eight-week small group for young married women in which seasoned mentors share experience and teach from Titus 2. The program seeks to strengthen relationships with Christ, family, friends, and the church while encouraging a joyful spirit of service. AppleSeeds gathers sixth and seventh grade girls with women for a meal, games, crafts, Bible teaching, discussion, and relationships that help bridge childhood and student ministry.
Ladies' Night is a monthly, cross-generational gathering for women, usually held on the second Monday from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. It centers on shared food, themed evenings, and fellowship. Men's Night takes place on the first Monday from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. with a free meal and a short devotional. The men's community is open to men age 13 and older, including fathers who bring their sons.
Family Ministry seeks to connect families in Christ, while the young adult ministry for ages 18 through 30 helps young adults understand Christ and their place in the body of believers. Other recurring church life includes multi-generational women's fitness classes three mornings a week, the Sisters in Stitches quilting and sewing fellowship, the FBC Benbrook Library, and GriefShare. Helping Hands is a service team of men and women who assist widows and widowers with basic household projects.
Pastoral and Ministry Leadership
Todd Pylant serves as pastor and has led FBC Benbrook since October 2004. He holds degrees from Baylor University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Bethel Seminary and serves as an adjunct professor at Southwestern. Matt Miller joined the staff as executive pastor in 2025 after more than 25 years in communications, bringing experience in leadership, creative teams, and large-scale projects.
Shera Errico ministers to children and women, drawing on degrees in Christian studies and children's ministry from Dallas Baptist University. Blake Theiss ministers to students and men and brings more than 15 years of experience with youth. Dr. Joe Crider serves as worship pastor and is the author of 'Scripture-Guided Worship: A Call to Pastors and Worship Leaders.' Liz Justl coordinates childcare and has served on the worship team and with students.
Serving Benbrook and Beyond
The missions ministry pairs recurring local service with a global emphasis on Operation Christmas Child and prayer for missionaries around the world. Local commitments include:
- Presbyterian Night Shelter: Several church groups serve meals each month.
- Meals on Wheels: The church receives meals daily, and volunteers deliver them to clients in Benbrook.
- Read 2 Win: In partnership with Tarrant Net and FWISD, trained volunteer reading coaches help first-grade students at local elementary schools build reading skills. FBC Benbrook has worked to place volunteer coaches at Westpark Elementary since spring 2012.
- Pregnancy Help Center: Members sort donations in the supply room.
- Safe Haven: Teams volunteer at a shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
- CASA and Halo Project: Members serve as child advocates and assemble backpacks filled with school supplies for local children.
- Tarrant Area Food Bank: Men from the church help sort donations.
Operation Christmas Child sends shoeboxes to children around the world, with each box presented as an opportunity to share the gospel. The church also holds an annual prayer walk that directs attention toward missionaries and mission work around the world. Adults and children can participate through prayer guides, prayer passports, and notes of encouragement for missionary families.
The Baptist Faith and Message at FBC Benbrook
FBC Benbrook holds to the Baptist Faith and Message (2000). It affirms the Bible as divinely inspired revelation, perfect truth, and the standard for Christian union and human conduct, with Jesus Christ as its interpretive center. It confesses one living and true God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Humanity was created in God's image, which gives every person dignity and worth.
Salvation is offered freely to those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Regeneration, sanctification, and glorification mark its unfolding. Repentance turns from sin toward God, faith accepts Christ and commits the whole person to him, and justification brings believers into a relationship of peace and favor with God. Growth in grace continues through the Holy Spirit's work.
The church is described as a local body of baptized believers associated in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, operating autonomously under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Pastors and deacons are identified as its Scriptural officers. Christian baptism is immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord's Supper is observed in remembrance of the Redeemer. The statement also affirms Christ's personal return, the resurrection of the dead, final judgment, and the eternal state of the righteous and unrighteous.
Preparing a Home for the Generations to Come
FBCNext expresses FBC Benbrook's long-term vision with three aims: 'Celebrating our past. Stewarding our present. Preparing a home for the generations to come.' The church sees previous generations as people who valued Scripture, taught their children, took teenagers to camp, worshiped together, met community needs, and invested time and resources in buildings and parking.
The broader vision includes refreshed worship and educational spaces, improved opportunities for adults and families to study and gather, and a more welcoming place for people who come to the church during the week. Its emphasis is on stewardship: caring for the sanctuary, classrooms, offices, and gathering places so they can continue supporting worship, Bible study, discipleship, and hospitality.
First Baptist Church Benbrook's continuing life can be seen in the rhythm of its mission: gathering at McKinley Street for worship at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday School at 9:15 a.m., building relationships around Scripture, pursuing discipleship through the week, and serving from Benbrook to communities around the world. At its center remains the calling to connect the community with Christ and his greater purpose through the transforming grace of Christ.