First Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist megachurch located in Dallas, Texas. It was established in 1872[1] and as of 2011 has a congregation of about 10,000.[2] The church, considered influential among evangelical Christians in the United States,[2] also owns and operates a school, a college, several radio stations, and Dallas Life, a mission for the homeless on the southern edge of Downtown Dallas. The current pastor is Robert Jeffress.
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Since the 1970s, the church has established a number of ministries that are affiliated with the church. First Baptist Academy of Dallas and Criswell College (formerly Criswell Bible Institute) were formed to champion Christian education. In the mid-1970s, Criswell College purchased KCBI, to be used as a Christian radio station and has resided on the lower frequencies of FM. Now at 90.9 FM, KCBI broadcasts as part of the Criswell Radio Network, and includes KCRN of San Angelo, Texas and KSYE of Frederick, Oklahoma.
In September 2010, Pastor Jeffress branded Islam as an "evil, evil religion."[3]
In December 2010, Pastor Jeffress established a "Naughty and Nice List" where businesses are identified based on whether or not they openly celebrated Christmas, saying " "I wanted to do something positive to encourage businesses to acknowledge Christmas and not bow to the strident voices of a minority who object to the holiday."[4][5]
In October 2011 at the Values Voter Summit, Pastor Robert Jeffress branded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as "a cult." He has received widespread criticism for his statement, but has not retracted it despite U.S. presidential candidate and church member Mitt Romney's request for him to do so.[6]
First Baptist Dallas has had eight pastors since its beginning, and only two pastors, George Truett and Dr. W.A. Criswell, for the period 1897 through 1995, when Dr. Criswell was named Pastor Emeritus. Since that time, four pastors have held the pulpit: Joel Gregory, O.S. Hawkins, Mac Brunson, and, currently, Robert Jeffress.