FC started in 1989 as a mission church of the First Baptist Church of Irving, Texas, and was initially known as "Fellowship of Las Colinas". Approximately 150 members of First Baptist Irving relocated to the new church. FC initially met in a rented facility next to the Irving Arts Center and across from MacArthur High School. Prior to its opening, the membership hired Edwin Barry Young as its Senior Pastor. Young quickly convinced the church to adopt the "seeker church" style made popular by Bill Hybels and Willow Creek Community Church. One of the church's first actions was to de-emphasize its ties with the Southern Baptist Convention and change its name to "Fellowship of Las Colinas". Another move was to use contemporary music during the services, and to offer services on Saturday evenings. Most notably, FC adopted the concept of "age appropriate" teaching in separate services for children 5th grade; parents are encouraged to send their children to those services. FC purports that several families, after initially being hesitant to return to FC—mainly due to its size and non-traditional approach to church—did so after finding out their children loved the activities. The strategy proved highly successful, and FC quickly outgrew its original facility. Thus, it moved across the parking lot to the nearby Irving Arts Center. During this time, FC tried the concept of "simultaneous services"—one group would meet at FC's facility while another would meet at the Arts Center. The FC music team would play at one site while Young preached at the other, then midway through the services the teams would switch places. The concept proved unsuccessful and was shortly dropped. Meanwhile, FC began to look for a suitable site for its permanent facility. FC discovered a site on heavily traveled State Highway 121 north of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, which was being auctioned by the Resolution Trust Corporation. Though larger than FC wanted, FC did not have the option to bid on only a portion of the site—it had to bid on the entire site or not bid at all. FC agreed to bid on the site, and was the successful bidder; however, it had to borrow $1.675 million to make the payment. Approximately two years later, the announcement was made that Grapevine Mills would be built across the street from FC. Unsolicited offers came in for portions of the FC property, and eventually FC sold a parcel on the north side of the property for the exact amount it had borrowed earlier, thus allowing it to begin construction debt-free. Meanwhile, when FC outgrew the Irving Arts Center before its permanent facility was complete, it moved across the street to MacArthur High School. In order to maintain the "age-appropriate" services for preschoolers and children, this required volunteers to undergo a difficult preparation procedure. In April 1998, FC finally completed and moved to its current facility and adopted its present name. Young and Hybels spoke at the dedication service. In 2018, the weekly attendance was 24,162.
Satellite locations
In early 2005, FC opened two satellite campuses, Fellowship Church Plano and Fellowship Church Uptown. Fellowship Church Uptown was renamed to Fellowship Church Downtown after it moved to a church-owned facility in Downtown Dallas. Later in 2005, a third satellite campus was added, Fellowship Church Alliance. In October 2007 the campus relocated to in a new facility west of downtown Fort Worth, near the museum district, was renamed Fellowship Church Fort Worth. In 2006 FC opened a fourth campus and its first outside the DFW area, Fellowship Church Miami in South Miami. In 2008, FC opened Allaso Ranch camp and retreat center in Hawkins, Texas, which also hosts a satellite weekend service. In 2012, FC added an internet campus called Fellowship Live at FellowshipLive.com. In 2017, South Biscayne Church in North Port, Florida became part of the FC family. In 2018, the FC Celina/Prosper campus relocated and is now in Frisco, TX In 2018, FC opened a new campus in Frisco, Texas. In 2018, FC purchased Journey Church in Norman, Oklahoma. All satellite campuses act as extensions of FC; though they have live music and their own staff, all sermons are broadcast from the Grapevine campus.
Programs
Fellowship Church is the location for Ed Young's annual leadership conference, the C3 Conference, also known as the Creative Church Culture Conference. In September 2007, FC launched a website, ineed2change.com, in conjunction with a sermon series of the same name. Shortly after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Fellowship Church, in partnership with C3 Global, began to support local orphanages, providing food, water and medical supplies. Since then, Fellowship Church, C3 Global and its partner churches have provided over 8 million meals to orphans in Haiti. Since March 2013, Fellowship Church has hosted an annual citywide Good Friday service for the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex at the newly built Klyde Warren Park.
Bible college
In August 2013, Fellowship Church opened a leadership college, University of Next Level, designed to develop a generation of leaders to lead. Areas of study include theology, leadership development, and spiritual formation with a required internship. Degrees offered are a 2-year Associate in Church Leadership & Ministry and 1 year Diploma in Church Leadership and Ministry.
