Our History

Our church started in 1980 from a need to express worship more freely. The fifty or so people who began to gather in a cafeteria hungered for God to move in liberty as the Holy Spirit would lead. Paul and Opal Hinton opened their nursing home building as a place of humble beginnings. Someone asked them how they were going to start the church. Opal said, "Well, we're just going to take a step of faith!" And so, the name "Step of Faith" served as a ministry name for many years.

Paul was our founding elder. He was raised next door to Kenneth Hagin, Sr., who founded Rhema Bible Institute in Broken Arrow, OK. Dr. Hagin was Paul's pastor in Farmersville during the late 1930s and early 1940s. They were close friends all of their lives. The church's spiritual heritage has its springs from those early years of Dr. Hagin's ministry.

Paul and his wife, Opal, has since gone on to be with Jesus, but the ministry they started has gone through a new birth. The church affiliated with Church On The Rock - International in 1988, and in 2003 they opened a new 15,000 square foot facility on 20 acres of land just east of town off Hwy 380.

With several pastors over the years, John and Carla Phillips came to Farmersville in 2001 to lead the church to the next level. Their story is seeded with a rich history of ministry that has been forged in the fires of the Holy Spirit. They believe God has planted them here for a long time to come, and that Farmersville and the surrounding region is their promised reward.