Facility Tour: Fellowship Bible Church Part 1

In 2005, I went to Fellowship Bible Church in Dallas, Texas for their C3 (Creative Church Culture) conference. One thing unique about this church — they painted their logo on the roof of their church so as my plane was landing I could see it from the sky!

Getting to the location was a bear. This was before the days of Google Maps on my phone. I had a map but I drove in circles over and over again — somehow I missed the turnoff and ended up having to go around the (very large mile-long) block, and ended up on the freeway going home! I could see the church but couldn’t figure out how to get to it. I think I wandered in circles something like 15 or 20 minutes, watching the church go by every time I made a turn.

I was in a really bad mood by the time arrived… and then everything changed.

They had so many traffic directors, like every 10 yards it seemed, all wearing orange vests and smiling at me before I even made it to the entrance.

More smiles as they directed me to the parking spot. After I got out of my car, there were greeters outside greeting me. I was blown away and my mood instantly changed!

Here’s the side of one of the buildings. I went out during break and looked around. That is one very long covered walkway.

I liked the fountain to the side.

You can just sit there and enjoy the (hot) outdoors if you want.

Some sail-like overhangs for shade. Notice the fans mounted on the posts.

A fountain in the lake.

Here’s how the inside looked. Huge lobby. The centerpiece is the Guest Services booth. Sure can’t miss that!

I’m sure this is not everyone’s taste but I thought it was a pretty cool modern eye-catching tower. At least you could see it across the room and knew where to go to get information!

The lobby had lots of places to sit.

Like these sofas.

Inside, the stage was amazing. They were doing a sermon series “Retro” so it was decorated to look like the past, including a bow to lava lamps. I got a picture right as the countdown clock went to zero!

The C3 logo was made of little words, I think. It was a long time ago but this conference made a lasting impression in my mind. I even remember where I was sitting.

Another view of the stage with different lighting.

This was Rob Bell speaking. It was the first time I had heard him speak before.

And here’s how the stage looked with the instruments on it. That’s a really big stage. The drum kit at my church alone takes up half the stage! Here it is like a little drop in a big bucket.

The had a video on a crane that swept back and forth.

Here’s another view of the video, including a shot of how the walls on the side looked. It was quite dim in there.

I always drool over this video equipment. That is one huge camera lens! Not to mention a large tripod. Looks like 3 video cameras. That’s probably hundreds of thousands of dollars of video equipment just in this picture!

In the lobby was a case illustrating the sermon series. I guess they must change this out every series. This was a perfect church to put on a creativity conference!

This was an interesting stand promoting … their bookstore? Not sure.

Overhead sails again, this time indoors. I can’t remember what area this was.

The youth center was in another building. (I think.) There was an Apple iPod type of feel to this place.

These lighted kiosks were their check-in stands. Fellowship Church was the church that started Fellowship One, the church database system used my many churches now. The check-in stations used their software to check kids in.