A community of faith connecting people to God through knowing, growing and going.
Who We Are
The Abbey Church provides a context in which the life-changing truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are set free to invade every area of society and walk of life. Just like original Abbeys were communities of faith established to evangelize and serve new regions, the Abbey Church is an ever-dynamic expression of the Kingdom of God, radiating outward from the heart of a local church.
We believe that God is crying out to his people to “rebuild the ancient ruins,” but not in an ancient way! The Abbey Church represents our commitment to express the radical redemption that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ in language relevant to contemporary society.
Our History
Our Story
Every local church has a story. Here is ours.
Over 35 years ago, Paul and Perrianne Brownback felt a passionate calling to scientific research. Believing that God wanted to give revelation, not only about His word and truth but also about His amazing Creation, they completed Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry and Immunology. Though living in Ft. Worth, they were attending church due to a relational connection in the Eagle Mountain Lake area of the Metroplex.
Just when they were about to move away to begin work on Ph.D.’s, Paul and Perrianne
discovered that their growing involvement with and passion for the local church had created a bend in the road in terms of career. Through a series of events, they became the founding pastors of what is now the Abbey Church. They have continued to maintain their passion for science—as well as all the academic disciplines—and very often pepper their preaching with fresh (and fun) analogies and metaphors from science and the arts! In the testimony of one of our community, “You never know exactly what you are going to get–and I love it!”
The team that birthed this church was rooted in Word-based teaching of the day, but also never ceased to be hungry for fresh EXPERIENCE of the Spirit of God in power and presence!
Also, even from the early days, we began partnering with British churches who were bringing a KINGDOM revelation to us: church outside the four walls, loving, knowing and serving the community and the culture! Even the name “The Abbey” grew out of the historic presence of churches that were missional, relational and incarnational and the name spoke to our desire to be that kind of Abbey—a radiative center of God’s Fatherhood right here in the DFW Metroplex—set free to reach as far as the Wind would blow it.
We have realized that, even from the very early days, there was a thread of a non-religious approach to Christianity running through our whole experience. We valued being REAL more than being “right”—the quest for pure Kingdom expression through every unique individual, right in the middle of messy, full-orbed life! Both personally and corporately, we realized God had put us on an ODYSSEY of growth and change that worked its way from the inside out, from center to circumference! To fit in at the Abbey, no one needs to meet a religious benchmark—you simply need join the path of the pilgrimage!
We have a saying among us based on Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” We say: If it’s not yet beautiful, it’s not yet time!” But we can confidently say that right now at the Abbey there are some BEAUTIFUL things emerging! It is more clear than ever that something special is on the horizon for this multi-generational, integrative house where both hemispheres of the brain get fed and we further discover the Cross of Jesus as the complete and total welcome to the Throne of God and supply of the Spirit—not someday but NOW—and then walk it out together with hearts joined as family, truly SEEING (not just “viewing”) each other in true encouragement!
Core Values
We Are Grace
We are obsessed with the unforced rhythms of grace.
We Are Dynamic
In the Kingdom, we are emerging, growing, moving.
We Are Authentic
We honor God’s design and purpose in all creation.
We are Spirit
We are a living expression of the Spirit of God.
We Are Generous
We steward with an open hand.
Beliefs
We believe that there is only one true God who is the eternal King, Creator, and Redeemer of all that is. He is perfectly holy, just, loving, and truthful. He has revealed Himself to be eternally self-existent – one being in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God.
We believe that humankind was created in the image of God to know and enjoy Him, yet we willfully rejected the Lordship and glory of God for which we were intended. Because of this, sickness, death, and judgment entered the world and now creation experiences the effects and consequences of sin.
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is God’s Anointed One, empowered by the Holy Spirit to inaugurate God’s kingdom on earth. He was crucified for our sins, died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, and is now alive today in the presence of God the Father and in His people. He is "true God" and "true man."
We believe that we are saved by God’s grace, through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Anyone can be restored to fellowship with God through repenting, believing, and receiving Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit convicts, regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and adopts us as we enter the kingdom of God as His sons and daughters.
We believe in the ongoing, sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a holy life and minister super-naturally. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 1:4-8 and 2:4, is poured out on believers that they might have God’s power to be His witnesses.
We believe in the victorious, redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides freedom from the power of the enemy – sin, lies, sickness, and torment.
We believe that the Church consists of all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. He gave His Church the ordinances of baptism and communion. The Church exists to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ and further advance His kingdom by undoing the works of the enemy, preaching and living the good news of God’s love, and discipling the nations – baptizing and teaching them to love and obey God.
We believe in the ever-increasing government of God and in the Blessed Hope, which is the glorious, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign with His overcoming bride – the Church.
We believe that heaven and hell are real places. There will be a resurrection of the lost and the saved, the one to everlasting death and the other to everlasting life.