It all started in a living room. If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve seen the photo. Nine families sitting around a living room praying together. It seems so different from the gatherings hosted at Watermark on Sundays (or any night of the week!). But in many ways, it’s just the same: God’s people seeking God’s will together. In this week’s Watermark News, we’re going all the way back to the very beginning to reflect on how God first used nine families to begin the church we call home today.
In the summer of 1998, a group of friends began to meet and consider what it would be like to prayerfully pursue a life of faithfulness to Scripture as they devoted their lives to Christ together in Dallas.
Those families were Todd and Julie Anders, Burke and Charla Autrey, Kyle and Christy Fagin, Kyle and Tresha Kaigler, Martin and Linda Massinger, Kirk and Cathy McJunkin, Scott and Stephanie Polk, Jeff and Laurie Richardson, and Todd and Alex Wagner.
“In the early days, we were holding each other accountable and lived in biblical community,” shared Kirk McJunkin. “We aimed to show our kids how following Jesus is the best path.”
As they prayed and studied God’s Word, it became increasingly clear that the best way to accomplish God’s purposes for them was through the formation of a new local gathering of God’s people.
After months of prayer, planning, and agreement on purpose and values, the core group grew from nine families to dozens more. On October 30, 1999, 150 prayerful, passionate people joined together to serve Christ and His purposes in Dallas as Watermark Community Church. Watermark was founded on November 7, 1999.
“There were a lot of prayers for daily bread,” Todd Anders reflected. “God has done exceedingly and abundantly more than I could have ever asked or imagined. My prayers were, ‘God, I don’t know what you want to do but allow us to be a part of it.’ Sometimes we didn’t even know where we were going to meet the next week, so we’d pray for God to provide a space for us. It required daily dependence on the Lord. And we were able to see Him come through in miraculous and unexpected ways.”
Scott Polk reminisced on those formative moments, “We felt like it was a calling, and we quickly experienced growth. It was honestly a lot of fun and so exciting. But it also was a lot of work, frankly. We were in awe as we watched it grow.”
“Whether it was 100 or 400, people would come and experience something that was different than they’d experienced in church before,” said Cathy McJunkin. “It didn’t take long for people to go out and suggest to their friends to come and see.”
Stephanie Polk looks back fondly, “I joke that we were just young and stupid! We were in our early 30s, and the idea that God wanted to use us to do His work always blew us away. Now, 25 years later, it is never lost on me when I walk into a full auditorium and look around. It really builds some faith that God equips those He calls.”
“We had no idea what it would become, but we’re also not surprised because God’s going to do what God’s going to do,” Kirk McJunkin noted. “It’s humbling to look around the place any day of the week and see the ministry being done with the same heart for Christ as the beginning.”
When reflecting on his prayers for the future of Watermark, Todd Anders expressed, “I pray that over the next 25 years, we will be faithful to whatever it is God calls us to. Just like in the early years when I didn’t have an idea of what God would call us to, I still don’t! If each of us is faithful to do what the Lord asks us to do, we can be faithful as a church. And that’s the win.”
The story of God’s work through Watermark’s founding families can encourage us all to remain faithful and trust in the Lord’s plans—you never know what God will do with living room prayers.
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