Sundays at the Corner of Northwest Highway and the Dallas North Tollway
Northwest Bible Church sits on a busy corner of north Dallas where Northwest Highway meets the Dallas North Tollway, and it has been gathering in that same neighborhood since the early 1950s. On a typical Sunday, families begin arriving before 9:00 a.m. for one of two identical worship services in the Worship Center. Guest parking is available on the east side of campus along Douglas Avenue, and a Welcome Center sits just inside the Main Entrance to greet first-time guests. Worship is contemporary, supported by a band and vocal team, and runs through the second service at 10:35 a.m. The style is intentionally casual. As the church puts it, you are welcome to dress however you are most comfortable to worship.
Programming for the church's youngest attenders runs at both hours: nursery and preschool for birth through Pre-K4 and elementary classes for kindergarten through fifth grade. Middle school and high school students gather at the 10:35 a.m. service, where they move into a separate student area by the Family Entrance. Adults who want to settle into a pew can also use the Family Entrance off Northwest Highway and follow a hallway to the Worship Center. A family cry room is available in the back of the Worship Center for parents of infants, and there is a mothers-only nursing room down the Preschool hallway.
For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed each Sunday morning through the church's online platform, and the recording remains available afterward. Giving is also handled online, and visitors who want to take a next step are invited to fill out a Connect Card or email the connecting team at connect@northwestbible.org.
From Fourteen Families to Seventy-Five Years
The story of Northwest Bible Church is one of the longest continuous ministries on this corner of Dallas. On January 18, 1951, fourteen families came together for the first official meeting of what was then the Independent Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Their stated purpose was to teach their children the Word of God and reach the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ while growing in community with other believers. The early congregation met at Greenhill School and then at University Park Elementary, and by 1953 it had purchased a four-acre tract along Northwest Highway for $25,000. The first chapel and Sunday school building was dedicated in November 1955.
From its earliest days, Northwest developed a close relationship with Dallas Theological Seminary. Professors from DTS helped fill the pulpit, taught classes, and created an atmosphere of seriousness in the study of the Scriptures, and the church still maintains that tie. In March 1971, the congregation officially adopted the name Northwest Bible Church, and a new doctrinal statement came with the change. A 1,000-seat auditorium was dedicated in June 1979, the Christian Life Center was completed in August 1987, and a new Children's Building followed in December 2012. The campus has expanded gradually over the decades through property purchases along its northern boundary, with a Worship Center renovation in September 2022 that installed the church's signature messy cross above the baptistry.
Neil Tomba became the church's senior pastor on March 11, 2001, after joining the staff in 1996 as Minister to Singles. He is the longest-tenured senior pastor in the church's modern era. Under his leadership, the church launched its Conversations about Jesus vision, established the Discovery Experience small-group curriculum, and opened the Northwest Community Center as a hub for refugee ministry in Vickery Meadow.
The Messy Cross, Core Values, and a Doctrinal Foundation
Northwest Bible Church is non-denominational in identity and evangelical in conviction, with a doctrinal statement that affirms the Bible as the verbally inspired Word of God, the Trinity, the substitutionary death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, salvation by grace through faith, the baptism of the Holy Spirit into the universal Church, and the personal return of Christ. The church practices two ordinances: believer's baptism by water and the Lord's Supper, observed as a memorial. Infants of believing parents are dedicated to the Lord rather than baptized.
Around that doctrinal core, the church has built a set of four values that guide how it lives out ministry together. God's truth over our opinion. God's people over our programs. God's healing over our hiding. God's mission over our comfort. Members are encouraged to ask each other four core questions as a way of keeping focus on Jesus: Who are you inviting into conversations about Jesus? Where are you desperately dependent on Jesus? When have you taken a risk because of Jesus? And how are you experiencing unexpected joy from Jesus?
The church's logo is a crinkled, organic cross that has come to be known as the messy cross. It was sketched, tossed into a trash can, and later pulled back out and refined. The story is intentional. The church teaches that God takes the broken pieces of life that people would rather hide and transforms them into something that showcases Jesus' redemptive power.
Children, Students, and Family Ministry
Family ministry is organized around four stages. Preschool serves birth through Pre-K4 on Sunday mornings at both 9:00 and 10:35 a.m. Cara Alexander leads the preschool ministry, and Susanna Lewis serves as Children's Minister overseeing both preschool and elementary. The preschool area uses a secure check-in system with alpha-numeric matching tags, and Dallas police officers patrol the campus weekly alongside private security. A mothers-only nursing room and a family cry room give parents options for caring for infants and toddlers. Periodic Parent/Child Dedication services give families a public opportunity to raise their children in biblical instruction.
Elementary ministry for kindergarten through fifth grade meets at both Sunday services in the Children's Building, with Taylor Ray serving as Elementary Ministry Director. The Gospel Project, a chronological Bible curriculum running from Genesis to Revelation over three years, anchors the teaching. Midweek programming for birth through fifth grade runs on Wednesday evenings during the school year, and a four-week How to Read the Bible series is offered for fifth graders in October.
Middle school ministry for sixth through eighth graders meets on Sundays at 10:35 a.m. in the Theater by the Family Entrance, with worship, teaching, and small groups divided by grade and gender. Wednesday night Swerve gathers middle schoolers from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. for free dinner, games, and Bible study. Sarah Makasini serves as Middle School Minister, with Jake Murphy overseeing student ministry at large.
High school ministry for ninth through twelfth graders also meets at 10:35 a.m. on Sundays in the Theater, with high schoolers encouraged to sit in a designated student section at the front right of the Worship Center at the 9:00 a.m. hour. Wednesday Midweek runs from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. during the school year for hang out, Bible study, and discussion. Jason Steele leads worship for the student ministry. The Northwest Family Ministry strategy guide, available online, lays out the developmental and theological benchmarks the church uses as children move from one stage to the next.
The Northwest Community Center and Refugee Outreach
One of the defining features of Northwest Bible Church is its commitment to the Vickery Meadow neighborhood, just west of the campus. The Northwest Community Center is funded out of the church's missions budget and serves as the church's corporate platform for living out its vision of having thousands of surprisingly easy-to-start conversations about Jesus. The center's mission is to aid, empower, and invite refugees to experience new life in Christ.
The NCC team is led by Marshall Reeves and includes several Refugee Ministry Leaders - Burim Bytyqi, Jean Congera, Jeff Cross, Katie Joy Irwin, and Daniel Mutia - who come from places like southeastern Europe, central Africa, Kenya, and East Africa. The team runs ESL classes, a career development program, and ongoing community support to help refugee families transition to life in Dallas. Vickery Mission Trip, a local three-day trip designed for families with children eight and older, is one of the most accessible ways for Northwest members to engage with this ministry. The church's young adults ministry also holds an annual Serve Day at the NCC.
The broader outreach ministry is led by Justin Gaspar. Beyond the NCC, the church partners financially with more than fifty missionary families and twenty-five missions organizations each year. Faith Promise giving, pledged each February during World Passion Week, supports those partners across five high investment areas: Latin America, Guatemala, South Asia, South Sudan, and the Northwest Community Center. Giving to Faith Promise surpassed $1 million in July 2007 and exceeded $2 million in July 2022. Short-term mission trips go to places like Guatemala, South Asia, Uganda, and Alaska, and a new family-friendly Alaska trip launched in 2026.
The Gym, Sports, and Fitness Outreach
The Gym at Northwest is a full athletic facility on the church campus that uses sports and fitness as a platform for outreach and discipleship. The facility includes a regulation basketball court that was re-finished in recent years, exercise rooms, free weights, machine weights, treadmills, elliptical machines, and dedicated training areas. Athletic Performance Training classes serve everyone from fourth graders to professional athletes through HIIT, weighted resistance training, plyometric work, basketball skills, and group fitness. A women's-only class meets on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
Yoga classes run Monday at noon, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 5:45 p.m., and Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Vinyasa Flow, Christ-centered Holy Yoga, and meditation options are offered, and men and women ages fifteen and up are welcome. Sports & Fitness Minister Brian Lonergan has led the ministry since 2013 and emphasizes the spiritual needs of athletes alongside their physical development. Aubrey Jones, a member, uses the gym platform to share the gospel locally and also ministers behind prison walls to incarcerated men.
Small Groups, Young Adults, Men, Women, and Seniors
Small groups are the backbone of adult discipleship at Northwest. The tagline is Better Together by Growing in Christ. Groups meet on campus and in homes across the metroplex and include co-ed, men's, women's, and large group options. Shannon Sciandra serves as Groups Director and Angela Cirocco as Group Life Minister. Newcomers start at Explore Groups, held several times a year, which explains how Northwest does community and helps people connect with a group that fits.
Young Adults in their 20s through mid-30s gather at The Well on the first and third Tuesday of each month (except June and July) at 7:00 p.m. in the Theater. Coffee and treats are always provided, and the ministry also runs small groups, socials, a fall retreat, and an annual Serve Day. Dane Salter, who also serves as Men's Minister, leads the young adults ministry alongside his wife Kacy. Men's ministry centers on small groups, intergenerational Mentoring Triads, and a free monthly breakfast on the third Thursday morning of each month.
Women's ministry is led by Betsy Cruz, who previously served as a refugee ministry leader at the NCC and spent years as a missionary in Central America and Turkey. The 2026-27 theme is Anchored in God's Eternal Purpose. Women's Bible Study groups run on Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings each fall, with the current study walking through God of Freedom: Exodus 19-40. Other women's offerings include Sugar and Dice, a Working Women's group using the 4word curriculum, an Empty Nest group, Heart2Heart Mentoring, and the long-running Women's Christmas Lunch. The first Women's Christmas Lunch was held in December 1985, and the tradition continues.
Senior adults enjoy a large inter-generational community at Northwest. The Berean Group gathers each Sunday at 10:35 a.m. in the Christian Life Center for teaching and fellowship, and a Tuesday morning Bible Study addresses topics of faith and aging. The 3 Score monthly luncheon, which dates back to May 1980, brings seniors together for Christ-centered fellowship on the fourth Tuesday of most months. Care Ministry Administrative Assistant Cecili Kennedy and Care Minister David Rogers work together with this community.
Care, Counseling, and Recovery
The Care Ministry exists to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people in the midst of struggle or crisis. Care volunteers pray, visit those who are hospitalized or homebound, and provide short-term financial assistance through Northwest Cares, which began in December 2010. While the church does not have staff counselors, ministers are available to pray and provide professional guidance, and referrals to outside counseling are offered as needed.
Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered Twelve Step recovery program, meets every Thursday evening in the Christian Life Center. Childcare is available from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. for infants through fifth grade. The evening opens with dinner at 6:00, large group worship and teaching at 6:30, and open share small groups for men and women at 7:15. The program started at Northwest in September 2002 and uses Celebrate Recovery's biblical Twelve Step curriculum alongside men's and women's Twelve Step discipleship groups.
Pure Desire groups provide a confidential, safe place for people working through unwanted sexual behaviors and betrayal trauma. Men's tracks include Sexual Integrity 101, Seven Pillars of Freedom, and The Compassionate Warrior. Women's tracks include Betrayal and Beyond and Unraveled. GriefShare offers support for those grieving the loss of someone close. Both meet on Thursday evenings. Marriage ministry runs re|engage, a marriage-enrichment program for couples at any stage. David Rogers, who joined the staff in 2012 after graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary and developing a counseling practice, oversees care, marriage, Pure Desire, and grief ministries.
Prayer is woven through everything. The church gathers for prayer each Sunday at 8:00 a.m. in the Prayer Room, located halfway between the Douglas Entrance and the Courtyard entrance, and elders are available at the front of the Worship Center after each service to pray with anyone who has a special need. A weekly Prayer Newsletter distributes prayer requests across the congregation.
Worship, Communications, and the Weekday Preschool
Worship at Northwest is led by April Payne, who became Worship Director in June 2017 after more than a decade as a K-5 music teacher and many years of volunteering in the Worship Ministry. She is supported by Worship Leader Cassie Watson, Worship Coordinator Ann Fuller, and Student Ministry Worship Leader Jason Steele. Technical Arts Director Miguel Noyola oversees the production side, while Communications Director Jennifer Sharp leads a team of graphic designers and coordinators.
Northwest Weekday Preschool runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., September through mid-May. The program serves children ages 12 months through Pre-K4 and operates with low teacher-to-child ratios that range from 2:8 in the youngest class to 2:14 in Pre-K4. Two teachers staff every room, both with background checks and current CPR and First Aid training. PK-3 and PK-4 lead teachers hold teaching certification. The curriculum emphasizes Bible stories, principles, and scripture throughout the week, with monthly teaching topics and weekly Music and Movement classes for all ages and weekly chapel for twos through Pre-K4. The preschool is led by Director Patricia Martell and Assistant Director Kelli York.
A Pastoral Succession at a Milestone Year
On Sunday, January 18, 2026 - the church's 75th anniversary - Senior Pastor Neil Tomba and Elder Board Chairman John Gajdica announced together during worship services that the church was beginning the search for its next senior pastor. A Pastoral Search Committee was formed, and a national search firm was engaged to assist the process. After seven months of prayer, discernment, and dependence on the Holy Spirit, the committee unanimously recommended Dr. Tim Robinson to the Elder Board, which then recommended him to the congregation.
On Sunday, August 30, 2026, members of Northwest voted overwhelmingly to affirm calling Dr. Robinson as the next senior pastor. He will be installed in January 2027, at which point Neil Tomba will assume the title of Pastor Emeritus. Dr. Robinson is a Teaching Team Leader at Fellowship Bible Church in Dallas and an Assistant Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, where he also earned his Th.M. He holds a PhD from the University of Aberdeen focused on Paul's Christian spirituality amidst missional suffering, a DMin in expository preaching from Talbot School of Theology, and a Cambridge PGCE. He is originally from Northern Ireland, and he and his wife Carrie have three children. Until installation, Neil Tomba continues to serve as Senior Pastor, and Dr. Robinson preaches at Northwest on a handful of Sundays through the fall semester.
The pastoral succession unfolds alongside the broader leadership of Executive Minister Michael Volbeda, who partners with the elders and the senior pastor to lead the overall direction of the church. The current elders include John Boynton, who has served since 1979, John Gajdica as chairman of the Elder Board, John Gilbert, Andrew Guthrie, Brad Hairston, and Chris McGuirk.
Faith Promise, the Budget, and Giving
Northwest does not accept credit cards for tax-deductible charitable giving in order to avoid tens of thousands of dollars in credit card processing fees each year. Members and supporters can give online through the church's secure giving system, set up an electronic check or ACH transfer through their bank's online bill pay, mail a check, drop a check in one of the offering collection boxes at the rear entrances of the Worship Center, or donate stock or retirement assets. In January of each year, the church receives an audit and has consistently received an unqualified opinion, the best type of report available, which is shared with the congregation.
Faith Promise giving funds the outreach budget separately from the general fund. The annual World Passion Week celebration each February invites the church to pledge toward the next year's global missions and local outreach partners, including the Northwest Community Center. Gifts to Faith Promise are the financial backbone of the church's partnership with missionaries in Latin America, Guatemala, South Asia, and South Sudan, and they underwrite the work of the Northwest Community Center in Vickery Meadow.
For 75 years, the church at the corner of Northwest Highway and the Dallas North Tollway has taught its children the Word of God, welcomed refugees, sent missionaries, raised up elders, and stayed rooted in the Bible. The next chapter is already underway.