A Church on Lavon Drive for More Than Sixty Years
Lavon Drive Baptist Church sits just off Highway 78 on the north side of Garland, Texas, at 1520 Lavon Drive. The congregation began in 1961, when about thirty people gathered for prayer at Blaylock's Nursery and felt a call to start a new church. Their first service, held under the name El Bethel Baptist Church, drew 45 people. By July of 1962, the church had moved into a 150-seat auditorium and educational facility on Lavon Drive, and the name was changed to Lavon Drive Baptist Church.
Today the campus includes a 2,200-seat Worship Center, a 40,000-square-foot educational building named the Coleman Center, the Keyes Building (a two-story multi-purpose facility), a Preschool Building, and a school building that houses Garland Christian Academy. Sunday mornings find the parking lots filling early as families arrive for two identical blended worship services led by an Adult Choir and Orchestra, alongside a full slate of children's, student, and adult ministries.
Blended Worship With Choir and Orchestra
Worship at Lavon Drive follows a blended style. The Sunday morning services begin with a music set led by the Adult Choir and a 25-piece Orchestra that includes symphonic instruments and a full rhythm section. The repertoire spans generations, with hymns and contemporary songs set against fresh orchestrations, anthems ranging from art song to inspirational and gospel pieces, and occasional drama, multimedia, Scripture reading, and musical specials. Each service concludes with a Bible-based message from Pastor Robby Greene or another member of the preaching team. Services run about seventy minutes, and both the 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM services are identical.
Music Ministry is led by Worship Pastor Micah Blalock. The Adult Choir rehearses Wednesdays at 7:00 PM in the choir room off the Worship Center lobby and is open to anyone high school age and older with no audition required. The Orchestra rehearses on Sunday mornings at 7:45 AM and welcomes players high school age and older; junior high musicians may audition. The Worship Production team runs on 100% volunteer power, handling front-of-house sound, lyric projection, and video editing.
Children's Ministry: Launchpad Kids, AWANA, and Praise Kids
Children from birth through sixth grade are cared for during every Sunday service through Launchpad Kids, which meets in the East Wing. The program offers age-appropriate Bible teaching, crafts, activity centers, drama, a children's theater, and even an indoor playground. Every volunteer is background-checked, and check-in opens fifteen minutes before each service and remains open fifteen minutes after.
On Wednesday nights, two programs run back-to-back. Praise Kids, a Children's Worship Arts ministry for ages three through sixth grade, begins at 6:15 PM and teaches children to worship through singing, sign language, Scripture lessons, drama, and tech. AWANA follows at 7:00 PM for ages three through sixth grade and is led by Executive Pastor Kerby Richmon as Commander. Lavon Drive runs what is described as the longest continually running AWANA program in the state of Texas, dating to the mid-1980s. AWANA uses three rotating components each night: high-energy game time, small-group Bible learning, and a large-group worship and teaching time.
Special events throughout the year include a four-night Vacation Bible School each June with theatrical lighting, costumed characters, and a Mystery Room; Junior Camp at Forest Glen Christian Camp, about 200 miles south of Garland; and Carnival Day, a community event hosted by the Bus Ministry with bounce houses, games, and a Gospel presentation.
Students: Thrive on Wednesday Nights
Middle and high school students meet on Wednesday evenings through Thrive Student Ministries. Doors open at 6:30 PM at the Hayes Center, a central campus building with a wood pavilion facing Highway 78. Students gather for fellowship, followed by a time of student-led worship at 7:00 PM and a message from God's Word aimed at meeting teenagers where they are. The ministry is currently led by Interim Student Director Jacob Adelman. Each summer, the church sends students to Teen Camp, a week of team games, services, and outdoor activities.
Adults: Community Groups, Men, and Women
Discipleship for adults happens primarily through Community Groups, the small-group ministry at the heart of Lavon Drive's Connect, Grow, Serve, Share process. More than a dozen groups meet throughout the week, on and off campus, in homes across Garland, Sachse, Wylie, and Josephine. Groups are organized by life stage (singles 50+, college and young adults, young married, families) and study topics ranging from the Book of John and the Book of Proverbs to character studies and a GriefShare recovery group. Most groups meet Sundays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, with one meeting on Fridays and another that rotates.
The Women's Ministry, called A Cup of Friendship, gathers women of all ages and stages through Bible studies, fellowship events, and service opportunities. The Men's Ministry runs seasonal Bible studies, including a fall study currently open for sign-up. Care Ministry, known as C.A.R.E., pairs volunteers with members who need meals, transportation, hospital visits, housecleaning, minor home repairs, or simple prayer and phone-call encouragement.
Ministries in Spanish and Burmese
Lavon Drive is intentionally multi-cultural. The Spanish Ministry is pastored by Ivan Rivera, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary who joined the staff in September 2021 after helping grow a Spanish ministry at Sugar Creek Baptist Church. The Spanish-language page offers its own welcome, an introduction to Pastor Ivan, and links to giving, watch-live, and community groups.
In 2025, the church added a Burmese ministry under Pastor Paul Labya, with the goal of reaching the growing Burmese community in Garland and beyond. The Burmese service is the newest of the church's language-specific ministries.
Local and Global Outreach
Outreach at Lavon Drive is built around the phrase "across the street and around the globe." On the local side, the Bus Ministry has been a hallmark of the church for more than fifty years. Each Sunday, fourteen buses travel through Garland, Sachse, Wylie, and parts of Richardson and Northeast Dallas, transporting an average of 200 riders to and from Sunday School. Anyone age four and older may ride, and the church reports that more than one million people have been bused to Lavon Drive over the decades, with many now serving in ministry. The church also partners with Grace Center Texas, which provides dental care to underserved neighbors in the Dallas area, and with Good Samaritans of Garland, a food-assistance network formed in 1983.
Awaken Coffee House, a nonprofit coffee shop on campus, supports missions through every cup poured. Past partners include Livada Orphan Care in Romania, Love Them More Ministries in East Texas, and Deeply Rooted Grounds in Nicaragua. Globally, the church partners with The Timothy Initiative to plant churches in unreached people groups and with Bearing Precious Seed, which has printed more than 192 million Scripture portions since 1973. Each year, the church holds a Go Summit, a week of missions emphasis that includes a Parade of Nations, a Mission Fair, a House of Prayer, a Festival of Nations banquet, and a Life Commitment Service.
Garland Christian Academy and Launchpad Learning Center
Garland Christian Academy, founded by the church in the fall of 1972, occupies its own building on the Lavon Drive campus and serves students from preschool through twelfth grade. The school is administered by Cathey Ondrusek and remains an extension of the church's mission to train young people in the Christian faith.
Launchpad Learning Center is a separate preschool and early-childhood program directed by Jordan Zirpel, offering weekday care and learning for infants and young children of working families in the Garland community.
What to Wear, Where to Park, and What to Expect
First-time guests at Lavon Drive are greeted by the Connect Crew, a hospitality team stationed at entrances, in the parking lot, and at the Welcome Center in the main lobby across from Awaken Coffee House. Reserved guest parking is available near the highway entrances, and the welcome process includes help with children's check-in for families arriving with kids. Casual visitors should expect everything from jeans and t-shirts to suits and ties; pastors tend to wear suits, while the average attender falls on the dressy side of business casual.
Anyone planning a first visit can use the online Plan Your Visit form to reserve a parking spot, request check-in assistance, and receive a small thank-you gift. Services are also livestreamed online, and sermons are archived for later viewing. Giving is available online through Pushpay, and the church's extensive RightNow Media library is free to access for members, friends, and neighbors.
A Heritage of Long-Tenure Pastors
The story of Lavon Drive is in many ways a story of two pastors. Dr. Gary Coleman became the church's pastor on the third Sunday of November 1964 and preached his final sermon in January of 2014, completing nearly fifty years as Senior Pastor. Under his leadership, the church grew from a single auditorium to a multi-building campus, launched Garland Christian Academy, started ministries in Spanish and among the Deaf, and introduced AWANA. He now serves as Pastor Emeritus.
Robby Greene joined Lavon Drive in 1997 as a pastoral intern and rose through the Children's and Bus Ministries before becoming Assistant Pastor and then Interim Lead Pastor. He was elected as the church's new Lead Pastor in October 2014 and installed on November 16, 2014 - exactly fifty years after Dr. Coleman became pastor. Since then, Pastor Robby has led the congregation through a campus remodel project that ran from 2018 through December 2020.
A Multi-Cultural Family of Faith in the Heart of Garland
Lavon Drive describes itself as a local church near the heart of Garland, Texas, serving the community across the street and around the world. Worship services are held in English on Sunday mornings, with additional ministries in Spanish and Burmese. The church offers classes for every age, ministries for men, women, students, and children, a blended music program led by choir and orchestra, and a robust network of community groups meeting throughout the week in homes and on campus. Whether someone is new to church or has followed Christ for years, the doors are open to join in the work of being a lighthouse for Garland and beyond.