The Potter's House Church, Dallas

The Potter's House is a megachurch in Dallas, Texas, United States founded by T. D. Jakes. Outreach Magazine ranked it the 10th largest in the USA as of 2008 based on a weekly attendance of 17,000 and a capacity of about 8,000.HistoryThe church building was established by televangelist W. V. Grant as the Eagles Nest Family Church. It is located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas right next to Dallas Baptist University. After Grant was convicted of tax evasion in 1996 he sold the facility to T. D. Jakes, a fellow televangelist, who renamed it and relaunched it as The Potter's House. Jakes had moved from West Virginia with 50 families, who formed the nucleus of the new congregation. To handle expansion, the church built a 191000sqft sanctuary at a cost of $45 million, paying off the debt in four years. The auditorium was completed in August 2000 and features cascade seating, a large stage, a choir loft that can seat 450 and a state-of-the-art audio-visual system. The sanctuary seats about 7,600 people and is also used for non-church events such as graduations, concerts and corporate presentations. By 2000 Jakes was holding three services every Sunday, with attendance of over 23,000 in the sanctuary and the overflow room.In December 2009 the church held its New Year's Eve Watch Night service at its main worship center, but also let people watch the service by satellite at the Fort Worth Convention Center and the North Church in Carrollton. As of 2010 the church had 30,000 members and four campuses in Dallas, Fort Worth, North Dallas and Denver. The Fort Worth campus was opened in March 2010, initially meeting at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The campuses are linked by Satellite video. The Denver campus, formerly the Heritage Christian Center and led by the Rev. Chris Hill is a separate organization, but Chris Hill is a protégé of T. D. Jakes and the two churches are associated.