The History of Hill Country Bible Church and the Church Planting Movement

Hill Country Bible Church began on October 23, 1985, when 17 people met together in a home to discuss the possibility of starting a new church in northwest Austin. Most of those present were attending a church in the area but sensed a need for a more balanced ministry. After consultation with the elders of that church, it became clear that this group should seek fulfillment of their ministry objectives in another church. So out of that early meeting, the vision for what has become Hill Country Bible Church was formed.

Attenders of the first meeting were all intent on establishing a church with a “balanced ministry,” one that would effectively minister to every part of the family of God. The consensus of the group was that the church use the best of both traditional and innovative approaches in ministry and outreach. This initial meeting was concluded with a study of Scriptures relating to the New Testament Church, a moving time of prayer, and a bonding in relationships. The group voted unanimously to move forward with the plans for the new church.

God tells us that if we will be obedient and faithful to Him, He will bless us and draw near. That is exactly what has happened at Hill Country Bible Church. Since that early meeting, God has worked in miraculous ways to move His ministry at HCBC forward! We give Him all the glory!

January 5, 1986

God provided Spicewood Elementary School for our use; and the first worship service was held with 75 people in attendance. J. David Drummond was our first pastor, serving until 1988.

1988

The small church prayed for a more permanent home for ministry. With the cost of purchasing too high and rental rates set between $.75 and $1.00 a foot, it looked impossible to find a space. However, the economy took a “mysterious” turn for the worse, and a little cave beetle was killing construction in northwest Austin. Through these events, God provided a seven-year lease on more than 17,000 square feet in a nearby shopping center for only $.50 a foot, and HCBC became known as “the church behind Dairy Queen.” That same year, the church underwent a difficult time for ten months while without a pastor. However, this proved to be a real growth period as the leadership solidified and many in the congregation made personal commitments to godly living and ministry involvement.

1989

The church voted unanimously to call its current pastor, Tim Hawks.

March, 1992

More than 50 people prayed an hour each over a 24-hour period for 8 to 10 acres of land within a $300,000 budget near the Highway 620/183 corridor. God identified 30 acres, broken into 20- and 10-acre pieces, just across the street. The initial appraised value was more than a million dollars, but the appraisal was reduced to $600,000. HCBC made an offer of just over $310,000 for the 20-acre piece. The offer was rejected as the owner wanted to sell the two pieces together. The church lowered its offer by $10,000 for the full 30 acres, and the offer was accepted! Immediately after the sale, the nearby Lakeline Mall project was approved (which had been dormant for half a decade due to environmental issues) and area property values soared.

As we began praying for land in 1992, we also began praying for the funds to finance the purchase. Hill Country families pledged more than $950,000 over a 3.5-year period. The banks said that less than 80% would be collected and that no bank “in its right mind” would loan us money for construction. At the end of the 3.5-year period, more than 105% of the pledges were received, the land was purchased with cash, and one bank agreed to a 15-year fixed note on the construction of our first building.

November, 1994

We moved into our first Worship Center. With our lease about to expire, we needed to start construction of our first education building immediately. This would provide an escape from the more than doubling of our rent expense. Through the sale of church bonds, we consolidated financing for both buildings; and in August of 1995, we moved into the Education building. God had provided ownership of more than 31,000 square feet for approximately the same cost as our landlord wanted for the 17,000 square feet of leased space!

1997

We once again turned to God for direction on expanding our facilities. The cost of the new 1,800-seat Worship Center was projected at more than $6 million. In order to afford the construction costs, God needed to provide us with at least $4.5 million over three years. Professional fund raisers indicated that it would be difficult to receive pledges of this amount from our congregation size and almost impossible to raise more than that. We entered into a one-year biblical stewardship study and prayer process. In November 1997, we received pledges of more than $5.7 million. Once again, our bankers indicated that we would not be able to collect more than 80% of that figure. As we remained faithful to honor our commitments, the new building was paid for by the end of 2002.

1998

We decided to put one and a half acres, located between our driveway and Little Elm Trail, up for sale. We were notified that Highway 620 would expand to a freeway within the next ten years and all this property would be taken for the road. We platted the land, placed significant deed restrictions on the property giving us total architectural control on any buildings constructed, and prayed that the buyer would be a bank. In August, we received a contract from a bank for $530,000! Thus, God sold this small piece of land for over $200,000 more than we paid for the entire property!

1999

The new Worship Center with classrooms and nurseries opened in August. The auditorium would now seat 1,800 people in one service. Through the sacrificial giving by our people, this building was completely paid for in spring 2001.

2001

As our church members reached out into the community to share the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ with their neighbors and friends, this brought more people to our Worship Center, classrooms, and parking lot. We began praying for ways to alleviate all three of these issues, and our God answered these prayers in very creative ways! Through negotiations with two neighboring property holders, we purchased a six-acre tract and a 19-acre tract, bringing our total land area to 55 acres.

2002

With the extra provision of land, we began praying for the way to best utilize it. Our elders proposed adding one more building to the property, bringing all of our children (they were scattered between five portable buildings and three permanent buildings) and adults (they were meeting in homes and rented community centers) under one roof. The projected cost of this new 110,000-sq.-ft. building was to be $16 million.

The church voted to move ahead with the building project, and in the spring we began a three-year capital campaign called “The Great Investment.” Once again, through prayer and God’s leading, 950 families came forward to sacrificially pledge above and beyond the $16 million projected cost for a total of $19.9 million.

2004

In February, we opened up a brand-new, four-story facility housing nurseries, classrooms, two large meeting rooms, a Cafe, and Resource Center, and we renovated our existing Worship Center auditorium to seat 2,200 people. We now house all ministries under one big roof and offer increased parking capacity.

In August, we opened our Church Plant Training Center with our first resident. The plans are underway for strategically planting more churches in and around the Austin area and training the pastors for these churches.

More Hill Country Stories

In keeping with our church’s VISION: That every man, woman, and child in Greater Austin has the chance to experience the life-changing reality of Jesus Christ, God has not only raised up people within our church family, but leaders from across the nation to start other Hill Country Association Churches.

* Hill Country Bible Church Georgetown was commissioned in the spring of 1996.

* Hill Country Bible Church Pflugerville was commissioned at the beginning of 2000.

* Hill Country Bible Church Southwest was commissioned in the summer of 2002.

* Hill Country Bible Church UT was commissioned September 11, 2005.

* Hill Country Bible Church Leander was commissioned on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007.

* Crossroads Community Church was commissioned in the fall of 2007.

* The City Community Church was commissioned in the fall of 2008.

* Origins Church was commission in the fall of 2008.

* Hill Country Bible Church Northpoint was commissioned in January 2009.

Hill Country Bible Church Pflugerville caught the church planting vision and has planted two churches of its own, Hill Country Bible Church Hutto was commissioned on Easter Sunday, 2007 and Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock North was commissioned in August of 2007.

PLUS we are looking forward to the commissioning of four more church plants in the fall of this year.