20 Reasons to Celebrate
As we celebrate 20 great works of God in this, our 20th year, we are sincerely grateful for how each of you has stewarded the resources and time He has entrusted you with to advance the life-changing hope of the gospel in our community and beyond. What you read in our 2019 Year in Review is just a glimpse of what the Lord has accomplished through His people at Watermark.
We’re convinced that as we continue to ask, “Lord, why not use us?” over the next 20 years, we’ll see even greater things as the Lord works in and through His people. We pray that the Lord will continue to resupply, strengthen, and encourage you as you devote yourself daily to Him and seek to serve our King.
1. Kids & Family
1,050+ Kids’ Ministry leaders disciple 3,000+ children each week across all our campuses – 6% more kids than last year.
90% of the 115 kids and students with special needs in our Kaleidoscope ministry learn alongside their peers in an inclusive setting.
31 women whose children are in foster care were mentored through the Family Restoration ministry. To date, 48% of them have successfully reunited with their children.
3. RE:GENERATION For Students
87 students took part in the fall launch of RE:GENERATION for Students, where anyone in grades 6-12 can seek God’s help with the brokenness in their life.
“My small group and RE:GENERATION for Students helped me grieve my sin appropriately so I wouldn’t return to it. Community and biblical recovery have changed everything and helped me understand who I am in Christ.”
- Emma Lokey
5. The Porch
17 locations across the country host The Porch, making it the largest young adult gathering in the country. Porch messages have been downloaded 6 million times in the past 12 months.
“I see God’s grace as the most beautiful thing in my life. Now that I have a relationship with the Lord, I don’t know how I ever lived 29 years without Him.”
- Nancy Xu
Nancy was baptized at Watermark Dallas, which began holding weekly baptisms this year.
6. Marriage Ministry
1,109 engaged/seriously dating couples completed Merge in 2019. 8% of engaged couples in Dallas take part in Merge.
1,400+ newlyweds are in 163 Foundation Groups for newly married couples.
800+ adults allowed Christ to enrich and restore their marriages through re|engage. 60% had no prior connection with Watermark.
7. Community
379 trusted leaders are now serving as Community Shepherds, supporting the leaders of our 1,178 community groups.
8. Equipping
28 editors, 254 writers, and hundreds of photos help create the Join the Journey devotionals sent to 19,000+ email subscribers and more than 13,000 people who have downloaded our app.
1,700+ men were encouraged to be the leaders God has called them to be through Summit Men’s Bible Study.
1,600+ women ranging from 18-82 years old have gathered this year to study Scripture and build relationships at Women’s Bible Study.
In 2020, we’ll launch The Collective, a Watermark ministry designed to unite, inspire, equip, and unleash women to transform our city for the cause of Christ!
9. The Watermark Institute
17 Residents and 21 Fellows were chosen from almost 200 applicants to be trained in God’s Word and biblical leadership principles this year through the Watermark Institute.
10. Watermark Health
Our two Watermark Urgent Care Clinics in Plano and Dallas have conducted 11,189 patient visits with people from 129 countries this year, saving DFW residents around $12.1 million.
In 2020, we’ll launch a Mobile Clinic on wheels, bringing health services to those who lack access.
“Serving at the Clinic, I’ve learned how to engage with patients and to keep the mission front and center. Modeling what I’ve learned at Watermark Urgent Care has given me a chance to share Scripture with patients at the hospital where I work and pray with them before they go in for brain surgery.”
- Sarah Jannusch
11. Serving Our City
2,800 Members served externally this year, many with our 35 local ministry partners which include RISD Academy, Reclaimed, Cornerstone Crossroads Academy, 2ndSaturday, Thrive Women’s Clinic, and more.
Our prison ministry teams serve in five Texas prisons and have reached 300+ people with the gospel through recovery programs and relationships built through weekly visits. 25 men graduated from re:generation at the Sanders-Estes Unit in Venus, Texas. This is the first group to commence from re:generation while incarcerated.
In 2019, we launched an Impact Area Strategy focusing on serving through local partners in 10 strategic areas: Health, Life Initiative, Family Restoration, Prisons, Poverty Alleviation/Homelessness, Local International, Mentoring, Schools, Community Development, and Anti-Sex Trafficking.
“Whether I’m serving at The Porch, Unashamed, or with our External Focus ministry, I want people to know that God has used His Word and other believers to radically transform my heart. The only thing that has ever truly sustained me is not alcohol or relationships, it’s a personal relationship with Jesus.”
- Anthony Anderson, Watermark Institute
12. Community Development Corporation
Through the Watermark CDC, 200 people have taken Faith and Finances – a financial literacy program contextualized for people living around the poverty line.
Today, 30 people are participating in Individual Development Accounts, which provide matching funds toward savings for a car, a home, or a small business.
13. International
This year, 357 Members participated in 20 trips to Watermark’s international partners in El Salvador, The Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands, Haiti, Turkey, India, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Burundi. Another 100+ Members served in Albania, Cuba, and along the Amazon River.
Leaders in our International Student Initiative are building relationships with
students from 15 different countries.
70 different countries are represented through our Watermark Membership.
14. Watermark Worship & Music
2020 will mark the launch of Watermark Music, which will produce albums and resources by artists in Watermark’s own studio. The goal: produce engaging, inspiring, and theologically sound music for the Church.
15. AWAKEN: Redefining Church for a New Generation
3500 young adults (20s and 30s) from 45 states and five countries took part in our first-ever Awaken Conference on Memorial Day Weekend.
16. Watermark Resources
Our 2019 Elder Forum – our largest to-date – strengthened leaders from churches across the country.
1700+ church leaders joined us for our 4th annual Church Leaders Conference. We can’t wait to do it again April 28-30, 2020.
450 churches offer at least one of Watermark’s ministries (e.g., re|engage, re:generation), an increase of 31% over last year.
1100+ ministry leaders have been equipped by Watermark Resources training conferences for marriage, recovery, and young adult ministries in 2019.
17. Frisco
The Frisco team celebrated one year of weekend services at Frisco High School in October 2019. This year, Watermark Frisco has launched 25 community groups, added 186 new Members, and hosted four new families per week in Kids’ Ministry.
In 2019, the Frisco campus launched re|engage, Men’s Summit, and Women’s events. Wake continued to reach students throughout Frisco, and we partnered with the Plano campus for The Porch North.
Earlier this year, the Frisco campus leased a midweek ministry space. Please join us in praying for a permanent home for our Frisco campus.
Pray for us as we pilot re:generation, launch Shoreline for high school students, and prayerfully consider what else God would have us do in 2020 to be and make disciples.
The team begins load-in at Frisco High School at 5:30 am. It takes 100+ people to make Sunday services happen.
“The Lord is at work at The Porch North through His provision of a smaller setting where young adults can build meaningful, Christ-centered relationships. He has provided opportunities for young adults to lead as we grow The Porch North from the ground up.”
- Lauren Lubke, Frisco
18. Plano
Watermark Plano will celebrate five years of ministry on January 11, 2020.
In conjunction with the Frisco team, young adults from the Plano campus launched The Porch North at the Angelika Film Center in September.
Re:generation now meets in the Plano Auditorium to make room for the 200+ men and women pursuing a new life in Christ.
The Plano body raised over $1.3 million for Phase 2 of their master building plan which will make more room for Kids’ Ministry, adult community groups, and staff teams.
The number of Plano community groups grew by 11% this year. We have added 36 community shepherds and 16 new community group leaders to care for our 147 community groups.
19. Fort Worth
In September of 2019, Watermark Fort Worth celebrated one year in our new home at 8000 Western Hills Blvd.
After much prayer and the provision of a strong team of leaders, Campus Shepherds, and Members who have assumed full ownership of the doctrine, culture, and work of the ministry, the Fort Worth campus will become an independent, local church on July 1, 2020. This move will allow the Fort Worth staff to dedicate 100% of their time and energy to the mission.
“I sound like a broken record when I talk about the importance of confessing sin and walking in the light. Healing for me began with confession followed by repentance, all made possible through Jesus. On the other side was the truly abundant life my wife and I have now in Christ.”
- Graham Robbins, Fort Worth Campus Shepherd
20. South Dallas
We are humbled by the opportunity before us to continue to serve our city. Prayerfully, we are working to renovate the Pearl C. Anderson property in South Dallas to serve the community through a church that offers midweek services for community care and development. Since acquiring the property in late October 2019, our priority has been to meet with local leaders, residents, and organizations to listen and further understand what services will be most helpful to the community. While the exact mix is still being determined, potential community services could include health care, youth development, job placement, vocational training, financial literacy, and recovery.
Our body has had the privilege of serving in South Dallas for years – through partners like Cornerstone Baptist Church, Cornerstone Crossroads Academy, 2ndSaturday, Act, and Men of Nehemiah; and through efforts like Dallas Experience, Unashamed, GLOW, and the 2019 expungement event hosted by Watermark’s Dallas Justice group. We are grateful for this opportunity to be able to deepen our friendships, partnerships, and work in the city that we love. We are encouraged by ongoing conversations with our neighbors in South Dallas and thankful that the Lord has entrusted us with an opportunity to love and serve even more of this city in His name.
Over the coming months, we will continue the cleanup of the building and meetings with community members. Our prayer is that the future of the Pearl C. Anderson property will continue to honor its namesake, the history of the school, and the name of Christ by serving as a place of care and hope.
