Our History

| Where We Have Been

In January of 1999, three families began meeting together weekly as a small group to worship, study and pray together about starting a new church. At around the same time, another group of families had begun a Sunday evening Bible study, taught by Bernard Bourque from Denton Bible Church. By the summer of 2000, the one group had officially begun meeting together as Fellowship of Texoma, and the Sunday evening Bible study had become the regular Sunday morning meeting of Faith Bible Church. Each group having around 35-50 worshippers each week, the two churches announced that Fellowship of Texoma would be joining with Faith Bible Church beginning on June 4, 2000.

Meeting at the Starr Aircraft manufacturing facility, this new, merged congregation had 75 attendees that first Sunday, 100 the next, and 125 the next. The group quickly had to move from meeting in the Executive Break Room to the Employee Break Room and soon to the the plant manufacturing floor.

It was an exciting time. The church was blessed by the Lord with many salvations through the teaching of God's Word and ministry of this group of believers in the community. There were numerous baptism services of adults and children as God added to our numbers as He saw fit.

In the fall of 2000, Todd Wortham was hired as a the church's first full-time youth pastor, Bernard Bourque continuing to serve as the church's pulpit minister.

By the fall of 2001, it was clear that Faith Bible Church needed a permanent, full-time pastor. Upon the recommendation of Denton Bible Church, the elders began meeting with Robert Livingston and presented him as pastor to the church on June 2, 2002.

By the spring of 2003, with over 200 people in weekly attendance, the church had outgrown the facility at Starr Aircraft. After much prayer and research the decision was made to move the congregation to the campus of Texoma Christian School in the fall of 2003. Also in the fall of 2003, in answer to prayer, the elders hired Kendall Ellis as a full-time worship leader.

Because of confusion with another church in the area, the leadership decided that the church should consider a name change. In the spring of 2004, with input from the congregation and a desire to follow God's leading, the decision was made to change the name of the church to Legacy Bible Church.

Garner Simpkins was hired in the fall of 2004 as Pastor of Lay Leadership to take on the task of training leaders, developing ministries, and overseeing the small groups structure of the church.

In June of 2008 after many months of seeking God's will in prayer, Robert Livingston, our senior pastor of six years, announced that he felt God's leading him to serve Christ and His Church in a new place and with new opportunities. That Sunday the elders also announced that they had been talking and praying with Garner Simpkins about his moving from the position of lay leadership pastor to the senior pastor role. In July, 2008 after getting feedback from the congregation, the elder board-Robert, Jimmy Grimes, and Craig Watson-officially commissioned Garner to be a member of the elder board and the new senior pastor of Legacy Bible Church.

In September 2008, the decision was made to begin a fundraising campaign and building plans for a new home on the property on FM 691.

With a desire to integrate and connect our student ministries and children's ministries with the rest of the church, and to begin a new ministry to meet the needs of young adults, in the spring of 2010 the church decided to hire three new staff members. Doug Greene joined the staff team as family life pastor, overseeing and ministering to all aspects of family life--from parents to children to grandparents to soon-to-be-parents. Lincoln Golike came on as pastor to students, directly working with the high school and junior high ministries. And Simon Keizer began heading up a ministry for collegians and twentysomethings.

We are so thankful to God for His faithfulness in bringing about this ministry here to the Sherman-Denison area and for blessing us with innumerable blessings as a church. But most of all we give Him praise for His greatest blessing of all - salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

To Him alone be all praise, glory and honor forever and ever! Amen!