A Church on Ovilla Road, Built Around Discipleship
Ovilla Road Baptist Church sits at 3251 Ovilla Road in the city of Ovilla, just south of I-35 in Ellis County. The congregation's motto is "everyday people revealing the unexpected beauty of a life committed to Christ in all we do." That single sentence shapes nearly everything else about ORBC, from the way its ministries are organized to the way preaching is taught, from a yearly Bible reading plan shared by the whole church to small groups that meet in homes across the area.
Sunday Mornings at 9:00 and 10:30
Two worship services meet on Sunday mornings, one at 9:00 AM and another at 10:30 AM. Both services include a sermon, congregational worship led by the music team, and programming for children from birth through 12th grade. Sunday School classes run during both hours. The 9:00 AM hour features an elder-led Sunday School class and a Spanish-language Sunday School class (the Ballesteros' class, led by Jenner Ballesteros). The 10:30 AM hour offers men's and women's classes. Theological equipping classes, including "The Doctrine of Christ" and a parenting-focused class, also meet on Sunday mornings in the Multipurpose Room in 10-week stretches.
Visitors are encouraged to create a family profile before arriving through an online pre-check-in form, which speeds up name tag printing at the check-in stations. Drop-off for children's programming begins 15 minutes before each service, and pickup happens immediately after the service. Parents hold on to the security tag from check-in; it is required to pick up their children afterward.
Worship is also livestreamed at orbc.org/live during the 9:00 AM service for those unable to attend in person. Past sermons are kept on the church's YouTube channel and made available as a podcast on Spotify.
Wednesday Nights: Classes for Every Age
Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM bring a second wave of activity to the campus. Adult theology classes meet on a semester schedule, while preschool, kids, and student ministries run their own programs at the same time. Kid's Church runs from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, with drop-off beginning at 6:15 and pickup starting at 7:55 PM.
Family Discipleship: Preschool, Kids, and Students
ORBC organizes its children's work around a three-part framework: Preschool emphasizes the "story" of the Bible (40 major stories), Kids emphasizes "doctrine" (the truths Christians believe), and Students emphasizes "formation" (doctrine applied and lived out). Preschool programming covers children from birth through Kindergarten, with group teaching, songs, and activities built around six gospel truths: God Made Everything, Jesus Came to Save Sinners, God Wants to Talk with Us, God is Good, The Church is God's Family, and God is in Charge of Everything. The Bible is taught cover to cover each year.
Kids Ministry serves 1st through 5th graders and meets during both Sunday services and on Wednesday nights. Sunday gatherings use The Biggest Story Curriculum; Wednesday nights focus on short doctrinal nuggets drawn from the church's Statement of Faith. Skits, games, large-group teaching, and small-group conversation shape the experience.
Students in grades 6 through 12 belong to RebelBase, ORBC's student ministry. Sunday mornings find students working through Scripture together using the H.E.A.R. model, with leaders and students reading and discussing the same passages. Wednesday RebelBase gatherings begin at 6:30 PM and emphasize fun, friendship, and growth in God's Word. Families can sign up for text updates by texting "Rebelbase" to 469-902-3975. The ministry also publishes a parent and student resource list covering topics such as dating, pornography, self-harm, family worship, and responding to public humiliation.
ORBC also runs a Mother's Day Out (MDO) program for younger children, and a curated list of parenting and discipleship books, including titles like Parenting by Paul David Tripp, Give Them Grace, The Disciple-Making Parent, The Jesus Storybook Bible, and Tales That Tell the Truth, is available from the preschool and kids ministry.
Adults: Home Groups, Sunday School, and D-Groups
Adult life at ORBC centers on three overlapping structures. Home Groups are small gatherings of 12 to 16 adults that meet in homes during various evenings of the week. They commit to one year at a time, study Scripture together, pray for one another, and foster community that reaches outward. New groups typically launch each January, with additional groups formed as needed throughout the year.
Sunday School classes meet during both Sunday services on the ORBC campus. Current offerings include a Women's Class led by Lindy Bowles and Shelby Etter in Room D101, the Ballesteros' Spanish-language class in Room E212 led by Jenner Ballesteros, and elder-taught theological equipping classes.
D-Groups (Discipleship Groups) are smaller still, typically three or four people of the same gender meeting weekly to study Scripture, pray, and intentionally multiply by launching new groups. The D-Group Multiply program prepares existing groups for that next step through a guided podcast series covering identifying potential members, inviting them, and commissioning new leaders.
A monthly Book Club and a yearly Bible Reading Plan round out the adult discipleship offerings. The 2026 Reading Plan walks the congregation through Scripture together, and Pastor Matt often references passages from the plan in Sunday sermons.
What ORBC Believes
The church's Statement of Faith is detailed and explicitly confessional. ORBC affirms the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, along with the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement, and the Nashville Statement.
On Scripture, ORBC teaches that the Bible is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man, "a perfect treasure of divine instruction" with God as its author, salvation as its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter. The Bible is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions are to be tried.
On God, the church confesses one God revealed in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature. Jesus Christ is the divinely appointed mediator between God and humanity, who took on human nature without sin, perfectly fulfilled the law, died on the cross for sinners, was buried, rose again the third day, ascended to the Father, and now lives to make intercession.
Salvation is by grace through faith. ORBC teaches election as God's eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life, not because of foreseen merit but of His mere mercy in Christ. Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit, who quickens the dead in trespasses and sins. Justification is God's gracious acquittal of sinners who believe in and receive Christ, through the satisfaction Christ made. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in believers.
The church teaches that those whom God has accepted will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, though they may fall through neglect and temptation into sin and be renewed again unto repentance.
On baptism, ORBC teaches that it is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, administered by immersion in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a sign of fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ. Baptism is prerequisite to church fellowship and to participation in the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is to be observed with bread and wine until the end of the world, a commemoration of Christ's death and a bond of Christian fellowship.
The church is composed of all true disciples of Jesus, with elders and deacons as its scriptural officers. Marriage is described as divinely ordained, intended for life, and the family as a sacred unit to be defended. Civil magistrates are ordained of God, and believers are to submit to them in all lawful things, while the church and state remain institutionally distinct.
Leadership
Matt Bowles serves as Lead Teaching Pastor. Joe Zinkgraf serves as Family Discipleship Pastor. Jack Blakely is the Student Minister, and Kyle Perdue serves as Music & Home Groups Minister. Erich Lehmann serves as Associate Student Minister and OCS Spiritual Life Director.
The elders of the church are Matt Bowles, Logan Garrett, Joe Etter, Stephen Williams, Austin Burnett, and Joe Zinkgraf. The deacons serve specific areas of church life: Shance Jackson (Grounds and Lord's Supper), Brad Mayes (Grounds), Dennis Fowler (School), Jonny Snow (Preschool & Kids), Zack Brantley (Media), Lee McChesney (Livestream), Brandon McMahon (Men's), Kirk Jordan (Security and Benevolence), and Jeff Kilzer (Young At Heart).
Preschool is led by Candace Snow, Preschool Director. Bob Yttredahl serves as Head of School and Secondary Principal of Ovilla Christian School.
The Covenant and Membership
Members of ORBC enter into a written covenant together. The covenant commits believers to belong to the body of Christ through baptism, communion, faithful attendance at weekly services, gospel-centered community, service within and outside the church, and submission to the discipline of God through His Holy Spirit. Members commit to represent Christ as new creations by submitting to Scripture as the final authority, pursuing Jesus through Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, and spiritual disciplines, and walking in holiness by God's grace through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Those wishing to make ORBC their church home can sign up for an upcoming Membership Class.
Ovilla Christian School
Ovilla Christian School shares a long-standing relationship with the church. The school offers preschool through secondary education, and the Head of School serves on the church's ministerial staff. The church's associate student minister serves as the school's Spiritual Life Director, and the church maintains a Deacon of School to liaise between the two organizations.
Resources and Reaching Out
Sermons are posted weekly on the church's YouTube channel and made available as a podcast on Spotify, with audio versions also available.
Parents can find curated reading recommendations from the preschool and kids ministry, including books on parenting, family discipleship, storybook Bibles, and resources for students and parents on topics ranging from dating to self-harm to family worship. The 2026 ORBC Yearly Reading Plan is available as a downloadable PDF, and a separate Talks on the Road podcast carries additional teaching.
Giving is available online through the church's giving platform, and church members can log in to their Church Center account to manage registrations, groups, and profiles.
Connecting
New visitors can take these practical next steps: pre-check-in for Sunday, sign up for the ORBC News newsletter, register for an upcoming Membership Class, or follow the church on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok at @ovillaroad. The church's YouTube channel carries worship services and additional resources.
The main office can be reached at 972-617-8544 or by email at office@orbc.org.