November 4, 2002

MISS JESSIE and the gang bring children on stage with them for a routine in the "Dude Ranch" program offered on Sunday mornings by Preston Trail Community Church.

Frisco church start stages a new approach
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___FRISCO--House lights dim as children and their parents stretch the suburban movie theater with the power of their voices, screaming down the seconds to showtime: "Ten! ... Nine! ... Eight! ..."
___At "One," a bundle of energy known to the children as "Miss Jessie" bounds onto the stage. Decked out in straw hat and boots, followed by a smiling posse of sidekicks, she looks like a cowpoke pied piper. And before you can say, "Pecos Bill," she has everybody on their feet, singing and waving and shouting along to her song.
___Howdy, and welcome to one of the newest Baptist congregations in Texas.
___Preston Trail Community Church offers "Dude Ranch"--a cross between Roy Rogers, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street and worship--to a growing

MISS JESSIE (Amy Mixon) pays a personal visit to children in the audience.

number of families in Frisco every Sunday morning.
___ The church and its unique ministry are the vision of founding co-pastors Paul Basden and Jim Johnson, who feel compelled to share the Christian gospel with one of the youngest communities in the country.
___Actually, Frisco grew old long before it got so young. For many decades, it remained a quiet hamlet nestled in rich farmland on the Collin and Denton county line. But then Dallas and its suburbs expanded far to the north.
___Now, Frisco is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It's one of the youngest, too, Basden and Johnson have learned. Frisco is home to 372 percent more "traditional" families--two parents and one or more children--than the national average. And although three new elementary schools opened just this fall, more preschoolers live in town than the entire enrollment of the Frisco Independent School District.
___Such a unique community needs a unique congregation, Basden and Johnson agreed, noting a successful church must reflect the culture and needs of the local population.
___So, they didn't try to launch Preston Trail Community Church with three worship services a week, a pipe organ and age-graded everything. They started Sept. 8 with "Dude Ranch," a kid-themed variety show that weaves the Christian message into fun and frivolity. It's gospel for the whole family, built around the notion parents will respond to a ministry that strengthens their kids.
___Basden and Johnson began this venture more than a year before it actually started. Both of them were mid-career pastors of successful Southern congregations--Basden at Brookwood Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., and Johnson at Dunwoody Baptist Church in Dunwoody, Ga., an Atlanta suburb.
___Johnson felt a strong and growing compulsion to help unchurched people come to know Jesus as their Savior. Basden sensed God leading him to deepen Christians' desire to grow in their faith.
___Even though they served strong churches, Basden and Johnson felt they needed to start a church in order to follow the vision God had given them.
___"In every church both Jim and I were in, we sought to make it more open to the future and to the culture, open to change," Basden explained.

MEMBERS of Dude Ranch Gang perform a skit illustrating a month-long emphasis on determination.

That meant updating worship to be more contemporary, helping members understand Sunday School is "not the only environment for discipleship" and leading people to get directly involved in missions activities.
___"I always wanted renewal of the church," he said.
___"And I always imagined I would go to churches and see adults coming to Christ," Johnson added. "But in most churches, the only people there are churched people. That began to be increasingly frustrating."
___They noticed a common denominator among churches that effectively reached unchurched people. "They've built a church that is indigenous to the lost culture," Johnson explained. "It's something people instinctively understand. But in established churches, the surrounding culture changed under our noses, and we had not changed."
___For people who don't go to church, Daytimer Christianity--"you go to church because it's on your calendar"--doesn't mean anything, Basden observed.
___Although both pastors affirmed their established congregations, the longtime friends shared a growing sense that God had something new for them to do. That was in mid-August 2001. They got their families together that Labor Day weekend to talk about their vision for a new kind of church. Then they prayed separately for two months and cam

CO-PASTOR Paul Basden welcomes families to "Dude Ranch." Currently, Sunday mornings at the new Frisco church feature dramatic presentations rather than traditional worship.

e together in early November to talk specifically about the values and objectives of the congregation they wished they could lead.
___"It became clear we were on the same page," Basden recalled.
___Next, they researched where they might start a church. They considered Austin; the Research Triangle of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, N.C.; Atlanta; and Nashville.
___"We recognized the churches that do the best are pastored by people who are from the area," Johnson said. "We got to thinking, 'If we're going to start a church with no money and no people, it would be wise to go back where people know us and where we're indigenous to the culture."
___So, they settled on North Texas. Basden grew up in Dallas, and Johnson is from Midland. They both prepared for ministry at Baylor University in Waco and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. And they both had been pastor of Texas Baptist churches.
___Then they resigned from their churches in December.
___"Both churches have been very generous and blessed us, providing support for our ministry," Basden said. "Apart from Dunwoody and Brookwood, we would not have been able to do this."
___"They're very missions-minded, or they were very glad to see us go!" Johnson quipped.
___Paul and Denise Basden and their youngest daughter, Kristen, and Jim and Robin Johnson and their youngest son, Brady, moved to Frisco last February. (The Basdens have another daughter in college, and the Johnsons have two sons in college.) They began rounding up funding and planning their ministry.
___In addition to Brookwood and Dunwoody, Preston Trail Community Church has received support from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Collin and Denton Baptist associations, First Baptist Church in Denton, First Baptist Church in Lewisville, First Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., Legacy Drive Baptist Church in Plano, North Point Community Church in Atlanta, Preston Ridge Baptist Church in Frisco and Valley Ranch Baptist Church in Coppell.
___North Point also helped by providing the idea for "Dude Ranch." That church and its pastor, Andy Stanley, started a similar program, "KidStuf," when it met part-time in Dunwoody while Johnson was pastor there.
___"The idea is to give parents and children a shared worship experience," Johnson said. "Parents are longing for their families to do things together spiritually. So, instead of bringing children into an adult environment, we create a program that is creative and warm, that children will enjoy."
___They added a third staff member, Amy Mixon, a professional actor, to take the lead role of Miss Jessie, the hostess for "Dude Ranch."
___The program will explore 27 values--a different value each month--such as kindness, joy, patience, determination. Throughout the month, every aspect of every program, from drama, to music, to videos to the Bible teaching section called "Good Book Look," will focus on that month's value.
___"This gives unchurched parents a real handle on how to teach their children the values they want their children to have," Johnson said. "It is non-threatening, not like you're inviting them to church."
___Early every Sunday morning, about 10 to 12 volunteers arrive at the movie theater in Stonebrier Mall to help set up 7,000 pounds of equipment, including a stage, facades of three barns, hay bales, lights and sound equipment. They make sure gallons of coffee and dozens of donuts are ready for guests. Then they pray together and disperse to greet children and their parents, making them welcome for the 45-minute program that may mark the first time anyone has told them about Jesus.
___The movie theater is the perfect venue for a new church, Johnson said. Since people are used to visiting the mall, they're not as intimidated as they might be in a church building. Besides, a new church meets in every one of Frisco's elementary schools, and Preston Trail was seventh on the waiting list.
___About 185 people attended the first service Sept. 8. Half were either part of the launch team or well-wishers from established churches. Attendance dipped to 100 the second week, but it has grown by 10 or 20 each week.
___The ministry has begun to reach a range of people, like:
___ A Jewish woman and her autistic son, whose condition has improved remarkably since he began singing and dancing with the Dude Ranch Gang. Even his therapist wants to come see "Dude Ranch" to check it out.
___ An unchurched businessman who knows nothing about the Bible but has asked Johnson to meet with him every week and teach him.
___ A pregnant woman with a young son, who grew up in a rigid church and hasn't attended any worship in years but is willing to talk to the Basdens about God's grace.
___ A little girl who told her mother, "I wish we could go to 'Dude Ranch' every day."
___ A boy who cried on Monday when he discovered he couldn't go to 'Dude Ranch' for another whole week.
___While "Dude Ranch" provides the base for the new congregation, Basden and Johnson are layering other outreach and ministry opportunities.
___They've started Life Groups, or home Bible studies that meet during the week, and they plan to begin a midweek worship service to develop Christian believers.
___And although 80 percent of the church's target audience is comprised of young families, the church will start student ministry and adult outreach as needs develop and support becomes available.
___Beginning Jan. 12, they will offer a worship service in the theater at 11 a.m., following "Dude Ranch" at 9:45.
___For now, however, Miss Jessie and the Dude Ranch Gang are big buckaroos with Frisco's children and their moms and dads.
___"We believe God has given us the right vision in the right place at the right time," Johnson said. "We want to reach the right people."
___

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