CONNECT | SERVE | GROW
TFC is a place for everyone to connect, regardless of questions, doubts, backgrounds, or struggles. Our church is comprised of real people from diverse backgrounds who have experienced the transformational love of God and have come to worship God together.
OUR VISION
Building Families. Serving People.
BUILDING FAMILIES: The building blocks of society are families. At TFC, we are giving families the tools they need to help them succeed as they grow and develop in their relationships. As we learn about God and build strong relationships with others, transformation happens!
SERVING PEOPLE: We are ministering to families and helping them with their everyday needs. We have a heart for the impoverished in our area and for those around the world. We look for opportunities to be a blessing here in The Valley through our partnerships with the cities, civic organizations and schools.
OUR MISSION
Connect • Serve • Grow.
CONNECT: Connecting with God is the very life-blood of Christianity. We also believe it is important to connect with other believers. Connecting with a community of believers helps us to encourage and support each other through hard times and to celebrate life together as we learn and grow.
SERVE: Serving is part of who we are because God’s church is more than just a building. We serve in our church, our city, and the surrounding communities because WE are the church, and we represent God to those around us. We strive to communicate the love of God by serving in our church and in our community.
GROW: Our growth track “Doing Life” has Church Life Classes and Community Life Groups. These are small group settings that provide the opportunity to build relationships and deepen friendships as we grow spiritually and live life together. We want to encourage you to find community, get to that next level and go deeper in your relationship with God. There are a variety of groups to help you grow and enjoy the fellowship along the way!
THE HISTORY OF TFC
The Family Church, previously Church of the Good Shepherd, was born out of a Healing Revival in the 1940s. Daisy Wilbanks, from the Dallas area, felt a spiritual prompting to come down to the Valley and hold a tent revival. Traveling evangelists joined her and eventually, due to the constant growth, built an official church and held their first service in 1948.
Through the years, the congregation grew. After years of meeting together the church began actively seeking out a pastor to take over their long-standing heritage. A letter eventually found its way to a man named John Brady, a youth pastor of 10 years in Tulsa, OK. John and his wife Terry had recently been given a prompting from God about ministering to families and decided to check out this church in Texas. Despite the fact that this California guy and West Virginian lady saw nothing but desolate dry land from their plane window, somehow they both knew that was where God was leading them. And the rest… is history.
John and Terry Brady have been the pastors since 1995 and have been instilling their vision for family ministry, and pouring their hearts out into the church ever since.
Today, TFC is a dynamically growing church with over 3000 regular attendees from diverse backgrounds. We strive to meet the needs of the people in our community, and have a heart to transform the lives of young families. Our children and youth ministries and their establishments are evident of how much we value our young people and desire to see them grow in values and truth. TFC is dedicated to reaching out and impacting all who enter its doors and because of its constant growth, it is necessary to continually “think outside of the box” and be prepared for the next step.
God has big plans for The Family Church and it is our deepest desire to fulfill them. We want to be a platform for people to find life changing truth so that they will experience freedom, healing, and restoration.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
THE SCRIPTURES
The Bible is the inspired Word of God – the product of holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The new Covenant, as recorded in the New Testament, we accept as our infallible guide in matters pertaining to conduct and doctrine.
(2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)
THE GODHEAD
Our God is one, but manifested in three persons: The Father; The Son; and the Holy Spirit.
(Matthew 28:19,20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 1:1,14,18; 14:16-18; 16:28)
MAN, HIS FALL & REDEMPTION
Man is a created being, made in the likeness and image of God.
(Genesis 1:26; Romans 3:10, 21-26, 5:12-15, 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10)
ETERNAL LIFE & THE NEW BIRTH
Man’s first step toward salvation is godly sorrow that leads to repentance. The New Birth is necessary to all men, and when experienced produces eternal life.
(John 3:15; Romans 6:22-23; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 3:3-5, 5:12)
WATER BAPTISM
Baptism in water by immersion, is a direct commandment of our Lord, and is for believers only. The ordinance is a symbol of the Christian’s identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
(Matthew 28:13; Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12)
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY GHOST
The Baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire is a gift from God as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers in this dispensation and is received subsequent to the “New Birth.” This experience is accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Holy Spirit Himself gives utterance.
(Matthew 3:11; Luke 11:11-13; John 14:16-17; Acts 1:8, 2:38-39, 8:14-17, 10:34-60, 19:1-7)
SANCTIFICATION
The Bible teaches that without holiness no man can see the Lord. We believe in the Doctrine of Sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the consummation of salvation at Christ’s return.
(1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Philippians 3:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 12:14)
DIVINE HEALING
Healing is for the physical ills of the human body and is brought by the power of God through the prayer of faith and by the laying on of hands. It is provided for in the atonement of Christ and is the privilege of every member of the Church today.
(Exodus 15:25-26, 23:25; Deuteronomy 7:15; Psalms 103:2-3; Isaiah 53:3-5; Matthew 8:17; Mark 16:17-18; James 5:13-15; 1 Peter 2:24)
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST & THE RETURN OF OUR LORD
The angels said to Jesus’ disciples, “…this same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” His coming is imminent. When He comes, “…the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
(Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:6)
HELL & ETERNAL RETRIBUTION
The one who physically dies in his sins without accepting Christ is hopelessly and eternally lost in the lake of fire and, therefore, has no further opportunity of hearing the gospel or repenting. The lake of fire is literal. The terms “eternal” and “everlasting,” used in describing the duration of punishment of the damned in the lake of fire, carry the same thought and meaning of endless existence as used in denoting the duration of joy and ecstasy of saints in the Presence of God.
(2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Jude 7; Revelation 20:14-15)