In North Dallas, Prestoncrest Church of Christ is known for three Sunday worship gatherings shaped by unaccompanied singing, practical Bible teaching, and a church life organized across every age. At 6022 Preston Crest Lane, with classes and other ministries also meeting at Preston Place across the street, the congregation pairs first-century worship patterns with extensive care for children, adults, families, local neighbors, and mission partners around the world.
Three Sunday Gatherings on Preston Crest Lane
Sunday worship begins at 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., with evening worship at 6:00 p.m. All three services can be attended in person or through the church's YouTube livestream. The morning services are upbeat and dynamic, with a cappella singing, Bible-centered messages, and a relaxed, secure, and welcoming atmosphere. Casual dress is welcome, and people of all ages and life stages are welcome.
The schedule leaves time for teaching and fellowship between the morning services:
- 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Early Worship Service
- 9:35 to 10:30 a.m. KidsLife Bible classes for nursery through sixth grade
- 9:45 to 10:30 a.m. Adult and youth Bible classes in the Main Church Building and at Preston Place
- 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Late Worship Service
- 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Evening Worship, with children's classes and PCYG meeting alongside the service
Communion is served every Sunday at both morning services and at the evening service. Digital and printed weekly bulletins are available, and sermon notes are offered through YouVersion and the Bible App. The church also maintains an extensive collection of sermons and series organized by Bible book, topic, speaker, and theme.
Parents can keep younger children with them during either morning sermon through Children's Worship, while trained staff provide nursery care throughout the morning worship and class period. A nursing mother's room is also available. The practical Sunday rhythm allows worship, teaching, fellowship, and care for children to happen within the same day.
Simple Christianity in Word, Song, and Table
Prestoncrest calls its approach “Simple Christianity: the Bible, God, Jesus, salvation, baptism.” It states that it has no creed beyond Christ and is not connected to an earthly religious body or headquarters, submitting only to the rule of heaven. The church seeks to worship as the first-century church did when it was established by Christ and the apostles.
The Bible is believed to be the inspired word of God, and Prestoncrest worships the God revealed there as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is affirmed as the Son of God who came to save humanity from sin. His birth of a virgin, sinless life, sacrificial death, resurrection on the third day, ascension, and promised return are central to the church's beliefs.
Salvation involves hearing the word of Christ, trusting the grace of God, turning from sin, confessing Jesus, and submitting to baptism by immersion. After this new birth, Prestoncrest emphasizes walking in the light, seeking guidance, and receiving God's forgiveness. The Holy Spirit lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation and provides understanding of spiritual truth, strength, and guidance.
Each first day of the week includes singing, prayer, teaching, Communion, and financial giving. Congregational singing is a cappella, without instrumental music, and includes songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. The church is led by a group of elders, ministers do not hear confessions, and members address one another simply as brother or sister.
KidsLife from Birth Through Sixth Grade
KidsLife is Prestoncrest's ministry for infants through sixth grade. Its goal is to partner with parents and help children know, love, and follow Jesus while becoming “A Leader In Faith Every Day.” Nursery care serves children from birth through 30 months with trained staff during the Sunday morning schedule.
Children's Worship is offered during both morning sermons for children ages 2 1/2 through second grade. The younger group meets in The Backyard, while Kinder through second grade meet in The Clubhouse. Bible classes for nursery through sixth grade begin at 9:35 a.m., with age-specific rooms for The Backyard, The Clubhouse, and The Attic.
The ministry describes KidsLife as safe, welcoming, fun, and nurturing. Age-appropriate activities support the children's wider church family, while lessons, memory work, videos, and other resources help families continue the same teaching at home. Children and youth volunteers are expected to complete a background check before serving.
Sunshine School extends the church's work for children into weekday preschool. It serves children from 12 months through Pre-K from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. during the school year, primarily on Mondays and Thursdays, with Tuesday classes for older preschoolers. Hands-on learning is used to develop social skills, academic foundations, independence, respect, and love for God's word.
Sticky Faith for Teens, Young Adults, and Couples
PCYG, the Prestoncrest Youth Group, serves students in grades 7 through 12. Its stated vision is to develop “sticky faith” that reaches up, inward, and outward, becoming part of a teenager's worship, service, relationships, and future plans. The group gathers for Sunday Bible class, weeknight small groups during the school year, retreats, mission trips, and social events.
Discover welcomes students, young professionals, and singles in their 20s and 30s. Its rhythm includes Sunday Bible class, worship, lunch, and a Thursday small group, along with meals, retreats, social events, and service projects. A separate class for adults ages 18 through 29 and older provides discussion-based fellowship and accountability around living out the mission of Jesus.
The Young Couples ministry welcomes seriously dating, engaged, and newly married couples in their 20s and 30s. Couples share Sunday Bible class and homes for small groups during the week, with monthly social activities, quarterly community projects, and a yearly retreat. Groups meet in Addison and rotating Dallas suburbs.
Prestoncrest also provides premarital education through Together Forever, a 13-week biblical workshop offered twice each year. Topics include mentoring, personality traits, expectations, communication, conflict resolution, in-laws, finances, sexual intimacy, spiritual marriage, and service. Counseling and mentoring extend beyond the classroom. The church teaches that marriage is a lifelong relationship between one man and one woman, and its premarital course is required for weddings hosted or officiated by Prestoncrest.
A Place for Every Adult Bible Class
Adult Bible classes meet at 9:45 a.m. each Sunday in both the Main Church Building and Preston Place. The selection is organized around life stages while retaining room for singles, married couples, and families to study together. Belong+ welcomes adults of every age, while Discover and 28:20 focus on college students, young professionals, and adults in their late teens and twenties.
Young Couples serves couples in their 20s and 30s. Kingdom Seekers, FOR12, Bound by Faith, and Rooted gather adults in their 30s and 40s around Bible study, family life, faith, and encouragement. Families in Christ and Life Builders focus on adults in their 40s and 50s, including parents of teens, empty nesters, and couples whose children are entering adulthood.
Additional classes include SHOUT! and Hearts in Action for many adults in their 50s and 60s, 24:7 for close Bible study, prayer, and worship, and C-Life and Single Purpose for mixed life stages. Friendship and Pacesetters welcome adults aged 60 and older, while Living Faith is centered on senior adults in their 70s and beyond. Each class seeks sound biblical teaching, friendship, care, and opportunities to serve.
Small groups provide a more relational level of church life. They meet in homes and other settings for Bible study, conversation, prayer, introduction to Jesus, leadership development, and service. The Spiritual Formation ministry also guides yearly Spiritual Journey groups through a process of inner change in solitude, community, and service.
Women of Worship, Heart Sisters, and Spiritual Formation
Women of Worship meets on Tuesday mornings during the school year. Coffee and fellowship begin at 9:15 a.m., followed by worship, Bible study, and discussion. Monthly luncheons, service opportunities, and free childcare during study and meals are part of its rhythm. The ministry invites women of every age to participate.
Heart Sisters gathers younger and older women monthly in homes for food, fellowship, mentoring, Bible study, discussion, and prayer. Each group includes two or three mentors and six or seven younger women, usually in their 20s through 40s. The day is flexible, and dinners or other shared activities often precede the study.
Spiritual Journey groups normally meet weekly for an hour and a half, either very early in the morning or around midday. Groups of five or six work through an inner-life theme with Bob Chisholm. Completed participants can join retreats at Glen Eyrie in Colorado. The ministry describes spiritual direction as a one-to-one relationship centered on the present moment with God, distinct from counseling about the past or life coaching about the future.
Cover Dallas With Love
Prestoncrest's urban mission, Cover Dallas With Love, began in 2007 as a network of volunteers and local partnerships. Its work reaches people dealing with homelessness, addiction, mental health needs, natural disasters, incarceration, divorce, and grief. The mission also supports workshops in premarriage preparation, communication, and unity among Dallas's diverse cultures.
Member and community benevolence provides temporary help with immediate food, clothing, and shelter needs, along with emergency assistance when appropriate. The church also provides rides to worship for people who need transportation and coordinates weekly Communion for homebound members through Bible classes.
FriendSpeak has taught one-to-one conversational English since 2002. Volunteers meet international students, many from The University of Texas at Dallas and Taiwan, to practice conversational English and pronunciation through the Bible and other study helps. Sunday and Wednesday volunteer sessions are part of this ongoing outreach.
The Prayer Quilt Ministry meets on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month at Preston Place. Volunteers sew quilts for people facing serious illness, grief, or another crisis. A displayed quilt can include silent prayer and a tied knot representing a prayer from the church family.
Other recurring service includes a Thanksgiving food drive, a Christmas toy drive, Pumpkinfest, rides for senior adults, assistance for widows and widowers, and periodic men's prison ministry in Huntsville. The prison team provides worship, classes, encouragement, and transportation. Mission volunteers also support children's homes, while an annual Guatemala trip combines a medical clinic with Vacation Bible School.
Mission Work Across Africa, Europe, and Beyond
Since the congregation began in 1972, Prestoncrest has supported mission work in Africa, Latin America, Guatemala, Europe, Ukraine, and the Middle East. Its missions committee distinguishes between partnerships receiving oversight, spiritual guidance, accountability, and financial support, and mission works receiving partial financial support under the oversight of another congregation.
European partnerships include the Irpin Church of Christ in Ukraine, where Dennis and Julia Zolotaryov have served in preaching, youth work, and local outreach, and a long-term ministry in Salzburg, Austria. The Ukraine work has been deeply disrupted by the Russian invasion. A second partnership in Athens connects the Prestoncrest family with Dino and Debbie Roussos and ministry in Greece.
African mission relationships extend across Northern Ghana, Kikwit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the French-speaking Hilton Terry Bible School in Kinshasa, and Mondou in Chad. The Ghana partnership supports evangelists and congregational growth in predominantly Muslim communities of northern Ghana. The Kinshasa school offers a three-year program for approximately 15 evangelists at a time, while the Kikwit congregation was established through the training and leadership of Charma Wampie and Doyle Kee.
In Guatemala, Prestoncrest supports work in Antigua and Chimaltenango. Its recurring medical mission includes a clinic and children's Vacation Bible School. In the Philippines, the Bible Study Center in Cebu City has continued through the family and successors of Barry and Sherry Murrell.
The Middle East partnership with Nathan and Mahsa Elyaar includes internet ministry, church planting, and leadership development connected with Iran. Deacons, elders, mission families, and other supporters remain directly engaged in the church's mission work through prayer, financial support, communication, accountability, and service.
From a 1966 Dream to a North Dallas Congregation
The vision for Prestoncrest began in 1966 at Skillman Avenue. A steering committee drew from the Skillman Avenue, Preston Road, Waterview, Walnut Hill, and Lake Highlands congregations to plant a new church in North Dallas. Prestoncrest held its first meeting in January 1972. George Bailey preached the first sermon on March 22, 1972, to 243 people.
After gathering in several temporary locations, the congregation moved to 6022 Preston Crest Lane in 1973. Mike Peters became pulpit minister in 1981 and shared those duties with Bailey until 1987. Dr. Prentice Meador joined as preaching minister in 1988 and served until his retirement in 2007. Dr. Gordon Dabbs continues in the preaching ministry, leading biblical teaching with a focus on faith expressed through everyday life.
Ministers, Elders, and a Culture of Service
Prestoncrest's ministers carry distinct areas of responsibility. Gordon Dabbs leads preaching; Bryan Borden and Bryka McNeill minister to youth; Caleb Elrod works with young adults and singles; Gary Cochran serves singles aged 35 and older and leads urban missions; and Robert Stolte oversees adult education and pastoral care. Rebecca Sutton directs children's ministry through sixth grade, Rod Hawkins leads worship, and Bob Chisholm oversees spiritual formation and small groups.
The church is shepherded by elders including Bryan Pruitt, Charley, Don Carroll, Don Witt, Ernie Richardson, George Miller, Jeff Clevenger, John Cawyer, Kirk Ellison, Mark McClure, Mike Pipkin, and Phil Jackson. Deacons coordinate practical service within the congregation, including benevolence, worship assistance, technology, facilities, safety, and outreach preparation.
Service opportunities extend from nursery care and youth Bible class to adult teaching, senior support, First Friends, rides, men's breakfasts, grounds, information technology, audio and visual production, and safety response. The church describes service as an integral part of family life, with responsibilities ranging from greeting guests and assisting at baptisms to teaching, fellowship coordination, and caring for homebound members.
Stewardship and a Family That Belongs
Giving is treated as part of Christian worship and can be offered through regular or special contributions online, text giving, in-person drop boxes, or the church office. Prestoncrest identifies the tithe as the starting point of financial faithfulness and maintains separate funds for missions, disaster relief, urban ministry, children, youth, benevolence, Bible schools, and other designated purposes.
Membership is described as an intentional decision to belong to the fellowship. Quarterly PC101 gatherings called Coffee and Conversations introduce Prestoncrest's history, beliefs, leaders, vision, and mission to people considering membership. The gathering has a relaxed format with presentations and conversation led by a minister and an elder.
At Prestoncrest, those commitments meet in a consistent rhythm of a cappella worship, teaching across generations, open doors for children and adults, practical care in North Dallas, and mission support extending around the world. Its vision is stated in two parts: Passion for God and Compassion for People. Prestoncrest carries that vision through reaching up to God, reaching in through its church family, and reaching out in service to Dallas and the world.