No Gimmicks, Just Jesus

A lot has changed since David Wilson became senior pastor of Southcrest Baptist Church in 1988. He served there for 14 years before being called to a church in Nashville, Tennessee. Three years later, he was asked to return and lead Southcrest once again. Since his return in 2005, Southcrest has become one of the fastest-growing churches in the United States. 

During that time, he has witnessed tremendous growth in the Lubbock, Texas, congregation andWilson  is encouraged at how the Lord continues to provide opportunities to reach their community with the gospel. 

“When I came, we had one worship service on Sunday mornings along with the traditional Sunday school for all ages,” he recalls. “Today, we have five worship services on Sunday morning and still have the traditional Sunday school at three different times.”

Today, the church has more than 90 employees and staff, and a budget of $9 million.  

“We also relocated in 1996 and have built a new campus, and it is paid for,” says Wilson, who credits having worship services air on regional and local television for attracting people to the church along with having a Christian school on campus. 

“We have never tried to be the coolest church in town, or a flash in the pan,” he says. “We don’t try to impress people. We lead people to love Jesus.” 

According to Wilson, the church is well known for its consistent preaching and teaching of God’s Word. “The focus is on worshiping God and not drawing attention to ourselves.” 

Allison Webb, who serves as Wilson’s executive assistant, describes the church as a “friendly family of believers whose purpose is to help attendees and members find that their greatest purpose and pleasure is Jesus.”

Webb reports she has scheduled over 100 baptisms each year for the past several years. 

“From ages 6 up to 92, no one is beyond being reached,” she says. “I am so thankful for the people who share their lives, testimony and knowledge of the Bible within our congregation and in our community. Like David Wilson often says, we are a hospital for sinners. We promote and seek to love others well.”

Ron Bartley, who has been a member of Southcrest since 1994, serves as a deacon. 

“Southcrest is an incredible body of believers that disciple, serve, give and love on everyone who enters its doors,” he reports. “Our outreach reaches far beyond the walls of our building. We have something for everyone because we have Jesus.”

Rodney Richardson, who is the minister of evangelism and has been a member of Southcrest for 29 years, credits the Lord for signing up 396 new members in 2024. 

“We make a great effort to lift up Christ and reach the world around us,” he says. “We pray fervently that we will remain true to the Word of God and not compromise. I talk to approximately 30 new people a week and am always amazed at how they have been drawn to our church by watching us on TV or livestreaming, or by attending our services.” 

Church member Bruce Fellers agrees, adding: “Southcrest Baptist Church is a wonderful fellowship of believers. There are lots of Bible study groups which allow any person somewhere to fit in and become an active part of a caring family.”

Fellers has been very involved in a variety of ministries since he began attending in 1975 and started serving with the youth ministry. He and his wife, Kelly, have taught two Sunday school classes for 14 years. 

“Southcrest pastors and staff are very serious about sharing the Word of God without apology from every pulpit every time,” he says. “The Lord has his hand on the church, and we see people make commitments to him every week. Very rarely do we have a week when no baptism takes place. It is far more frequent that we have multiple baptisms week to week. We take it seriously when we say: ‘We are watching God work and just don’t want to get in his way.’ 

“You are welcome here. If you belong to Jesus, you belong here. If you don’t belong to Jesus, we will be happy to introduce you to him here. We are just a bunch of sinners who are in need of the Savior. You will find the church to be as small or as large as you make it.”

“No gimmicks, no impressive stunts, just loving people and lifting up Jesus,” says Wilson. “People just keep coming, are saved and baptized. You will sense the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our services, and people will love you. No perfect people, just sinners saved by grace.”