Colorful streamers fall as church and civic officials, including senior pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress and his wife Amy (center) shovel sand during the First Baptist Church Dallas groundbreaking ceremony for its historic sanctuary in downtown Dallas, June 7, 2026. Scaffolding surrounds what was left of the sanctuary after the devastating fire in 2024.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Nearly two years ago, First Baptist Dallas senior pastor Robert Jeffress was driving home from Vacation Bible School when he got a call: A fire raged at the church’s 134-year-old historic sanctuary.
Recounting the story Sunday during his sermon, Jeffress said he thought it might be a small kitchen fire at first. But when he turned his car around, he saw a “gigantic plume, a black cloud over the city of Dallas.”
“I can’t tell you what it did to my soul,” he said, “to see this church going up in flames.”
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The four-alarm fire in July 2024 destroyed the old brick church. The church has spent two years clearing the site, stabilizing the remaining walls and fundraising to rebuild the structure.
In a Sunday ceremony, First Baptist Dallas broke ground on the $130 million reconstruction of the historic sanctuary in downtown Dallas. The church plans to finish construction by Easter 2028.
Mark Lovvorn, chairman of the church’s planning and development committee, led the ceremony in prayer. He told the story of how his grandparents attended the historic church. Now, the fifth generation of his family sits in First Baptist’s pews.
“If you’ve been a member for 50 years, if you’ve been a member for five weeks, we’re all a part of the body of Christ here at First Baptist Dallas,” he said.
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Related: First Baptist Dallas sanctuary rebuild
The Bible and anchor keystone is lowered into the First Baptist Church Dallas sanctuary following a groundbreaking ceremony for the historic structure in downtown Dallas, June 7, 2026. The keystone stone carving was salvaged from the north wall following the devastating 2024 fire. It is fitted with a protective steel frame.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
‘You have led me through the fire’
During Sunday’s service, the church, which says it has 16,000 members, paid homage to its long history.
Jeffress told the story of First Baptist’s history in downtown Dallas, from its first members in 1868 to its 2013 expansion to present day. Video screens presented black-and-white photos of the church’s original structure and many of its members throughout its history.
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“God has answered the prayers of those 11 original members, as that church continues today to stand for truth, for righteousness, and seeks to be a light to a darkened world,” he said.
First Baptist is built on commitment, the Gospel and the Bible, he said. Referencing the New Testament book of Matthew, he said the church is established on a strong foundation of rock, not on sand.
The choir led the congregation in song: “You have led me through the fire, God you’re so good to me.”
Senior paster Dr. Robert Jeffress listens to his triplet grandchildren (from left) Barrett, Blair and Blake Sadler deliver the opening scripture during the First Baptist Church Dallas groundbreaking ceremony for its historic sanctuary in downtown, June 7, 2026. Senior Executive Pastor Dr. Ben Lovvorn is pictured on the right.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Anchoring the church
Following the service, church members and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson broke ground outside the historic sanctuary’s remaining walls, still surrounded by scaffolding. Heavy rain let up just in time for a construction crane to lower a surviving piece of the church into the construction site: a large stone relief of a Bible and anchor.
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Parts of the brick outer walls stand as construction continues at the site of First Baptist Dallas’ historic sanctuary in Dallas, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The church broke ground Sunday on the new construction of the sanctuary which was destroyed in a fire two years ago in downtown Dallas.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
“One of the remarkable things about First Baptist Dallas is that while our city has expanded and transformed around it, this church has remained firmly rooted in downtown Dallas,” Johnson said.
Last week, three major downtown Dallas institutions announced their planned departure from the area, including the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Stars and the flagship Neiman Marcus store.
Jeffress told reporters while there’s ongoing discussions about the future of the area, the church will always be in downtown Dallas.
Bruce and Pam Courtney, members of the church for about 10 years, said the church worked quickly to clean the site after the fire and keep the community together. Bruce Courtney said the new sanctuary will be a testament to the church’s strength in the face of tragedy.
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Pam Courtney said they have a group of friends who sit near each other on Sundays, and they regularly check in on each other.
“You can get lost in a big church,” Bruce Courtney said. “But this church has really made an effort to try to bring community and people together.”
Patrick O’Brien loads large electrical panels taken from First Baptist Dallas’ historic sanctuary in Dallas, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The church broke ground Sunday on the new construction of the sanctuary which was destroyed in a fire two years ago in downtown Dallas.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Newly designed steeple
No injuries were reported in the 2024 fire, and the cause remains unknown.
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The church announced the groundbreaking and released new renderings of the design earlier this year on Palm Sunday. The sanctuary will serve as a secondary space to complement the church’s large worship center, which was completed in 2013. Church leadership said Sunday that the cost of the 2013 expansion was $135 million.
Red shovels and hard hats were the order as people cleanup after the First Baptist Church Dallas groundbreaking ceremony for its historic sanctuary in downtown Dallas, June 7, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Executive pastor Ben Lovvorn, son of Mark Lovvorn, said congregants will recognize red cushioned pews, stained glass windows and organ pipes in the sanctuary.
Sixteen new stained glass windows will tell a story through the Old and New Testament, and a newly designed steeple will once again stand in Dallas’ skyline. Two walls of the original church were saved from the disaster and will be incorporated into the new structure.
Expanded lobby space and event space in the basement will allow for more community events. The new interior will feature a pulpit facing south, reflecting how the church was originally oriented before a later renovation.
Last December, two major donations, one from the CEO of Hobby Lobby and one from the family of Jim Donald, boosted the church’s fundraising efforts by $14 million. The Donald family was honored at the groundbreaking ceremony Sunday.
With insurance, First Baptist will be responsible for about $27 million of the $130 million rebuild.
With the end-of-the-year donations, “we have pretty much everything we need,” Jeffress said in March.
Senior Executive Pastor Dr. Ben Lovvorn (left) helps unveil a plaque honoring the generous dedication and gifts of the Jim and Geneva Donald family during First Baptist Church’s groundbreaking ceremony for its historic sanctuary in downtown Dallas, June 7, 2026. Members of the Planning and Development Committee assist with the drape. The Donald family gave a $7 million gift to match an equal amount from Hobby Lobby’s CEO.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
Related: First Baptist Dallas’ Sunday service marks anniversary of fire; church honors firefighters