Oaks Church: Stewarding Growth, Revival, and a Surprising Generation of Youth

Chris and Cara Railey, lead pastors at Oaks Church in Red Oak, Texas, knew that Aug. 4 was going be one of their most impactful Sundays ever at the church as 170 people had registered to be baptized.

What the Raileys did not anticipate was the Holy Spirit moving so powerfully that morning that 141 people accepted or rededicated their lives to Christ and 71 would accept Chris’ impromptu offer to also be baptized that morning — many who didn’t care that they didn’t have dry clothes to change into!

“What we’re seeing is genuine,” Chris states. “It really is a genuine move of God and we’re trying to be good stewards of it.”

STARTING OUT

The move of God at Oaks Church has roots in two distinct arenas — a 15-month-long Wednesday night study on the Holy Spirt and within the youth.

“Every Wednesday we taught on the Holy Spirit — the person of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit,” Chris says. “We also gave people opportunity to receive the Baptism. We had 80 Spirit baptisms with evidence of speaking in tongues during that time, and I believe that has helped set the groundwork for the numeric growth we’re seeing now.”

Cara and Chris also realize that, especially after COVID, systematically teaching the Bible is vital to the health and spiritual growth of the church — so many in their church today have little or no church history and, at best, tainted biblical knowledge.

“People want to know what the Bible says — they don’t need to be entertained — they want to know what the Bible says so they can make a decision for themselves,” Chris says. “Think about it. If they’re going to get themselves to church on Sunday, it means they genuinely want to hear God’s Word — What does it say?

“I believe our responsibility is to teach the Bible, call the church to pray, and meet needs,” he continues. “Other things might get people to church once, but they keep coming when they feel like they’re learning and growing and something real is happening.”

YOUTH WITH A PASSION

“What’s happening in our youth is a beautiful thing,” states Andrew Prescott who co-pastors Oaks Church youth with his wife, Lauren. “Many people have made the mistake of underestimating the faith of this generation — once they get the revelation of who Jesus is, they’re pretty unstoppable.”
“Our whole goal,” Lauren says, “is to help students step into leadership roles where they lead people to Jesus.”

And by any measure, what’s happening in the Oak Church youth is reason to give glory to God.

The youth group averages about 420 on Wednesday evenings, but just a few weeks ago, some 600 youth, staff, and volunteers from the church attended church camp, with an estimated one-third of the youth not from the church.

“At camp, students made decisions for Christ, there were 127 Spirit baptisms, and 103 were baptized,” Lauren says.

When asked about students returning from camp on a spiritual high note, only to see that fade, Andrew shared their philosophy.

“One of our goals is to see God moments (such as camp) turn into God movements,” he says. “If you don’t have mobilization, those moments just turn into memories. So, we steward activation. Before the students left camp, they chose an activation — they could choose to start a Jesus Club, choose a semester-long Bible-reading plan, join student leadership and serve at the church, or choose to start a giving project.”

The activation approach has proven highly successful as students bolster and openly live out their faith.

JESUS CLUBS

Likely one of the key catalysts to the move of God among the youth and pouring into the church are the youth groups’ Jesus Clubs, developed by Andrew and Lauren in cooperation with the district’s Youth Alive office.

The clubs have become so effective and the students so passionate about them, that Jesus Clubs are no longer limited to Oaks Church, but are being promoted and established throughout the state, across the country, and recently Youth Alive sent a team to Croatia to launch a Jesus Club!

“The clubs started in response to COVID,” Andrew says. “Youth pastors were no longer allowed on school campuses.”

“We realized we needed to empower students to be a light on their campuses,” Lauren says. “What’s cool is, Jesus Club works better than for us to be on campus!”

Although many programs are “step-by-step,” Jesus Clubs are designed to conform to a student leader’s (or leaders’) strengths and interests.

“It’s a creation tool with guard rails,” Andrew explains. “Rather than telling students how to run a club, we ask them questions to help them decide how they want the club done.”

However, the guard rails/requirements for the club include: Leaders must use God’s Word, they must pray for felt needs and the lost, they must share the gospel, they must always have a plus-one (always inviting people), and if someone gets saved in Jesus Club they must connect them to a local church.

Students who want to be leaders of a Jesus Club are required to go through a student leadership program. The Prescotts invest in them on a weekly basis, discussing godly character, teaching them skills, and calling them to a higher level of purpose and commitment to Christ as leaders.

Last school year, there were 22 Jesus Clubs in 16 different schools. This school year, the Prescotts are hoping to see 30 clubs.

Both Andrew and Lauren believe that the Jesus Clubs are not only effectively drawing students into relationship with Christ, but also maturing student leaders in their own faith journey.

“We are seeing students spending more time at the altar, praying with and for each other,” Lauren says. “We’re also seeing students taking the initiative to share the gospel . . . students who have led clubs have become passionate about holding revival services in the city park!”

The revival services have been student-initiated and completely student run, though the Prescotts have been on hand to observe and assist, if needed. The church provides baptism tanks and sound equipment, but the responsibility of promoting the event, reserving the park, having speakers, music, and other needs have been handled by the students.

“This Sunday, 175 people came to the revival service — four gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized in the middle of the park,” Lauren says.

The youth group also has small groups meeting at homes throughout the city during the week.

“We’re not a Wednesday night youth ministry with small groups, we’re a Wednesday night youth ministry of small groups,” Andrew says. “In fact, we have more students attending the small groups than who attend on Wednesday nights.”

JUST WOW!

Throughout the year, Oak Church holds several Splash Parties — a more modern (and possibly interest-generating) way of saying “baptisms.” It’s a party more because it’s not uncommon for 60 or 70 people to be baptized on those days, with several baptismal tanks being used, and a lot of excitement as people frequently come back out of the water giving glory to God.

And it’s also not that uncommon for a parent to participate in the baptism of a child.

“We see dads that just got saved baptizing their entire families,” Chris says. “A couple of weeks ago, a dad who had been taking pictures of his daughter being baptized, came up to me and, with tears in his eyes and pointing toward his daughter, said, ‘two years ago, that girl told me she didn’t believe in God.’”

Yet as inspiring as parents seeing their child declare their faith and being baptized — and sometimes even helping to baptize them — what is possibly even more inspiring is witnessing the roles reversed!

The Raileys and Prescotts have long become used to the familiar scene, but many students who have come to Christ through the youth group are dedicated in praying for their unsaved parents and family members . . . and their prayers are being answered.

“This isn’t just something I heard about, I watched it with my own eyes in the tank in front of me,” Chris says. “Several students baptized their parents!”

The change in behavior, the passion for Christ, the prayers, the repeated invitations to come to church frequently result in students’ unsaved parents coming to check out what has made such a difference in their kids’ lives.

“When kids come back from camp on Sunday morning, before they get their stuff off the buses, they attend the third service,” Chris explains. “This year, we had Michael Jr., the Christian comedian and evangelist, speaking. So, parents, including many who are not saved, come to pick up their kids from camp and get to hear the gospel.”

And this year, when Michael Jr. made the altar call, about 150 people, including many campers’ parents, responded. Chris then led people in a prayer for salvation, followed by encouraging each one to connect with volunteers in the back of the church for a free Bible and information on their next steps.

“That’s when I just felt led to offer those who just committed their lives to Christ an opportunity to be baptized right then,” Chris recalls. “It was amazing. We had T-shirts and towels, but people didn’t care – 70-some people got baptized in whatever they had on!”

MOVING FORWARD

Chris and Cara say that they do try to strategically plan things to make the gospel message available to as many people as possible, but their strategy is flexible to God’s direction.

“Really, we’re just stewarding what God is doing — responding to what we see God is doing,” Chris says. “We don’t have some master plan; we’re just trying to steward more than we’re trying to create. We focus on staying open handed and humble before the Lord, because we’re just not smart enough to this on our own.”

For Andrew and Lauren, the increasing youth group size — having recently moved into the old sanctuary, which seats 900 — and the increasing passion to share Christ by a growing number of students, the growth comes with increased needs.

“We’re praying that the Lord of the harvest would send more harvest workers,” Andrew says. “We need more adult leaders — spiritual mothers and fathers to come alongside our youth. We’re also praying that the student-led revival nights would mature into one-on-one discipleship, where students not only share the gospel, but help new believers grow in their faith.”

What’s happening at Oaks Church is remarkable. Yet, it may only be the beginning — the church’s county, Ellis County, was recently recognized as the eighth fastest-growing county in the nation, so it’s not difficult to imagine that what has already taken place will pale in comparison to what God has planned.

“Our community is really booming,” Chris says, “and we’re doing whatever we can to get ready for what God has coming!”

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.