WELCOME TO CHASE OAKS

About Us

We are a diverse, multi-cultural, and multi-generational community. We strive to create environments where anyone can come as they are, be transformed, and make a difference in our community and our world.

COME AS YOU ARE

The only way we come to God is “as we are.” We are not fooling Him. He knows the real us, and He loves us completely, warts and all. Chase Oaks strives to be a place of honesty where we’re all in the same boat and on a journey that is far from perfect. You don’t have to get your act together, dress up, or clean up your life before you come. Just come, as you are.

BE TRANSFORMED

God invites us to come to Him as we are. However, it’s also His desire that we allow His love and grace to transform us over time to be more like Jesus. That means there’s hope for all of us. We can learn to love others like Jesus did, have courageous compassion like Jesus did, and experience what Jesus called “life that is truly life.” All Jesus followers are on this journey of transformation together. We hope you will join the journey with us.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

You can make a difference in our world. As God transforms us to be more like Jesus and as we demonstrate love and grace as Jesus would, things change. Whether locally or globally, whether through large acts of heroism and generosity or small acts of kindness and compassion, whether noticed or not—we all have a part to play in changing our world for the better. We all have the power to make a difference.

Our Ten DNA Values

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1. We Keep It Simple.

We seek to do a few things well: weekly large-group gatherings and small-group communities.

2. We’re All In The Same Boat.

We are all on a journey of transformation. We celebrate momentum over destination and inspire through grace rather than shame.

3. We Boycott Boycotts.

We are known for what we are for, not what we are against. We seek to shine God’s light and love rather than bringing condemnation and judgment.

4. We Glow In The Dark.

We move into hopelessness, need, and injustice with the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. We realize that God has called us here to be a light.

5. This Is Not Our Party.

This is the Father’s party, and we are His servants, privileged to prepare the party and invite the guests. We design our environments to not only be relevant for us but for those who have yet to come.

6. We Don't Go It Alone.

We do life together in groups and ministry in teams and serve our community in partnership with others.

7. We Pass the Baton.

We invest in the next generation and give influence to emerging leaders, allowing us to stay effective for generations.

8. We are a Salad, Not A Soup.

We are intentionally diverse, believing that the mix of generations, ethnicities, and cultures helps create the rich and surprising unity Jesus prayed for in John 17.

9. We Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.

We strive to focus on our common mission and core biblical beliefs. We refuse to allow secondary issues to divide our church.

10. We count the Change.

 As the agents of God’s redemption on this broken planet, our effectiveness is measured by both personal and community transformation.

What We Believe

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The Trinity

We believe God is One, the only God, eternally existing in three equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each completely and fully God. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; Eph. 4:4-6)

God the Father

We believe the Father is fully God and His fatherhood is eternal and personal. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who believe in Christ. (Gen. 1:1; Matt. 6:9; 2 Cor.1:3; Eph. 4:6)

God the Son

We believe Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is fully God and fully man, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect, complete sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He physically rose from the dead, demonstrating His victory over sin and death, and then He ascended to heaven where He is at the throne of the Father, interceding for us. One day, He will return to earth to reign as King of Kings. (Matt. 1:18-25; John 1:1-2, 14; 3:16-18; Acts 1:9-11; Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:20; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:20; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 4:14-15; 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2)

God the Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is equal in deity and person with the Father and the Son. As the living Spirit, He moved the human authors of the Bible to write God’s Word. He makes people aware of their need for Jesus Christ, performs the miracle of new birth, and comes to live in every Christian the moment they trust in Jesus Christ. He unites all Christians into the one Body of Christ, providing each of them with power for service, understanding of spiritual truths, and comfort in life’s trials. (John 3:3-8; 14:16-17; 16:7-11; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 2:13; 12:11-13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)

The Bible

We believe the Bible, composed of the Old and New Testaments, is God’s revelation to us, written by human authors who were supernaturally guided by the Holy Spirit. As the very word of God, it is without error in the original manuscripts and serves as our supreme and final authority in all matters about which it speaks. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21)

Human Beings

We believe all people are created in the image of God, to be like Him in character. However, we are all marred by sin, both from Adam’s original sin as well as our own sinful acts. Our sin alienates us from God, makes us liable for His judgment, and ultimately results in eternal death apart from God’s salvation. (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 1:18-23; 3:23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3; 4:18-19; 1 Pet. 1:15-16)

Salvation

We believe salvation is God’s gracious gift, offered to all people, which we must accept. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ alone can we be forgiven for our sin, overcome our alienation from God and be saved from God’s judgment. The moment we turn from our self-ruled lives to Jesus Christ in faith, we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one places his/her faith in Christ, and it can never be lost or taken away. At salvation, we are justified by God, meaning that we are declared positionally righteous before God because of our identification with Jesus Christ. (Jn. 1:12-13; 6:37-40; 10:28-29; Acts 16:31; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 1:7, 13; 2:8-9)

The Christian Life

Before salvation, we were enslaved to sin, but at salvation, the dominant power of sin in our lives is broken. Beginning at salvation, God begins to progressively work within believers to make us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives. The Christian life is a process of cooperating with God’s sanctifying work in our lives by our obedience to Christ and deepening our relationship with Him. It is God’s will that we continually grow over the course of our lives until we get to Heaven and then are made perfect in Christ. (1 Cor. 6:11; Rom. 6:1-8:39; 1 Thess. 5:23; Phil 1:6, 2:13)

Baptism

At Chase Oaks, we believe that baptism is an important part of the Christian walk and is an act of obedience to Jesus Christ. Christ Himself both modeled it and commanded it in His ministry. We believe that baptism is a picture of salvation, but is not necessary for salvation, and therefore, is merely an outward sign of an inward reality. Because of the significance of baptism, we believe that baptism is an important event for the community to witness. We practice baptism by immersion. The method of total immersion most clearly shows the meaning of baptism as identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. We do not practice infant baptism. Since water baptism pictures a spiritual relationship with Christ beginning at salvation and since salvation can only happen through a personal confession of faith in Jesus Christ, no person should be baptized until he/she is able to personally understand and respond to the Gospel. (Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:12; 1 John 2:6; Matthew 28:19-20a)

Eternity

We believe people were created to exist forever, and we believe in the bodily resurrection of all people. Unbelievers will be raised to exist eternally separated from God by sin in Hell, and believers will be raised to exist eternally with God in Heaven, through forgiveness of sin & salvation. (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-14)

The Church

We believe the Church is the family of God, the Body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit and that it is expressed in local churches. It was created by God to display His glory on the earth by reaching out to people who do not know Him, lifting up worship to Him, loving one another as His family, growing in maturity to be like Christ, and serving others in His name. We believe that the Church is the primary instrument through which God is working in the world today. The Church celebrates baptism and the Lord’s Supper until Christ returns. (Matt. 26:26-29; 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 12:27; 2 Cor. 6:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:10; Col. 1:18; 1 John 3:14-18)

Our History

Chase Oaks Church has a rich history of reaching out to its neighbors, bringing them into community, and helping them develop into maturing Christ-followers.

Chase Oaks Church was born out of the Fellowship Bible Church movement, which began in the early 1970s after Dallas Theological Seminary’s Dr. Gene Getz was challenged by his students to reevaluate the viability of the local church. Together, they dove deep into the New Testament for wisdom to answer basic questions such as “Why does the local church exist?” and “What about the way we do church… should it be flexible as culture changes? What should stay the same?”

The results of this study were published in the landmark book, Sharpening the Focus of the Church, which argued that while God has called the church to various functions that must not change (i.e., teaching the Bible, worshiping God, etc.), He has given us freedom to adjust the forms these functions take in response to changing cultures. That way, the church can remain both faithful to God and relevant to today.

Called to leave the comfortable world of academia and to put these principles into practice, Gene and his colleagues launched the first Fellowship Bible Church, which was unlike any that Dallas had ever seen. It grew quickly, paving the way for around 350 like-minded churches to spread throughout the United States and even more worldwide. In 1981, after building up Fellowship Bible Church and Fellowship Dallas, Gene founded Fellowship Bible Church North, which would eventually become Chase Oaks Church.

In the years that followed, two young leaders—Bruce Miller and Jeff Jones—emerged to create The Center for Church-Based Training, an organization committed to leadership development. Their experience and dedication prepared them both to answer two enormous calls—Bruce was sent out to launch Christ Fellowship in McKinney, and Jeff was asked to succeed Gene as FBC North’s Senior Pastor. The leadership baton was officially passed in January 2004, allowing Gene to retire earlier than expected. However, to this day, he continues to represent us as our Pastor Emeritus through his writing, consultations, and speaking events.

For twenty-five years, FBC North proved reasonably effective at reaching one generation, but as cultures continue to change, the time had come to reach another. Pushing the restart button, our leaders once again sharpened their focus, envisioning a more external outreach, fresh ministry forms, and a more visible location to “replant” ourselves with room to expand. Because this location was in the vicinity of another church called Fellowship, we decided to change our name to Chase Oaks Church.

With our new focus came the goal of ministering to the 920,000 people living in the 10-mile radius of our new location. After much prayer and consideration, Chase Oaks developed a strategy that involved multiple campuses in the hearts of our neighboring communities. Rather than ask people to come to us, we would go to them!

In 2010, we launched our second campus, which is now our Sloan Creek Campus that serves the Allen/Fairview area. In the summer of 2013, we launched our Spanish-speaking campus, Chase Oaks En Español, to help minister to the area’s growing Hispanic population. In January 2015, we launched our fourth campus, Chase Oaks Woodbridge, that serves the area of Murphy, Sachse, and Wylie. In October of 2018, we launched our fifth campus, Chase Oaks Richardson, that is now meeting at the Richardson Family YMCA.

In 2020 we transitioned Chase Oaks Online into a full digital campus.

Plans are underway to launch our next campus in McKinney in 2021, with two additional campuses launching shortly thereafter (locations TBD). One of those campuses will likely be our first regional campus outside of the north Dallas area.