Pinelake Church
Pinelake Church is the largest evangelical Christian Southern Baptist church in Mississippi with six campuses in the central part of the state: Clinton, Madison, The Reservoir (Brandon/Flowood), Starkville, Oxford and an Online campus. The organization says an average of 11,500 people attend services each Sunday, with thousands more online. History. Pinelake Church was established in February 1971 in a home on Bay Park Drive in Brandon, Mississippi. The first worship service was held on March 21 as Rankin Baptist Chapel with 32 people in a mobile chapel on Spillway Road. JC Renfroe, Director of Mission for the  Rankin County Baptist Association, served as the first Interim Pastor from 1971 until February 10, 1974. The church's first full-time pastor, Gary Watkins, served from February 17, 1974, until 1976. Subsequent pastors were Lannie Wilbourn, who served from August 1977 until July 1995, and Tommy Politz, who served from March 1997 until July 1998. Chip Henderson took over as pastor in January 1999, and the church began to grow quickly. In February 2000, church leaders began to look for a new location. In November 2000, the church purchased 170 acres of land on Lakeland Drive. The church began  to build a new facility on the land, and opened this new campus with services in November 2003. Through 2004 and 2005, weekly attendance increased by 1,500 people, bringing the Sunday attendance to more than 4,000. In the fall of 2006, the church opened a second campus in the Madison/Ridgeland area, meeting in Ridgeland High School. More campuses followed: in Clinton in January 2009, in Starkville in 2011, in the Gluckstadt community of Madison County In April 2012, and in Oxford in 2015. The church has also spent money to train new ministers, expand its global mission, and develop  resources. It runs an 11-month Ascend internship program and a Church Planting Residency. Ranking. In 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2018 Pinelake was ranked one of the fastest-growing churches in America by "Outreach" magazine. Outreach also named Pinelake to its "100 Largest Churches in America" list in 2009 and 2011 through 2020. In mid-2020, it was ranked the 18th-largest church, according to data provided by churches, with some 11,400 in attendance each week, down from 12,000 the previous year.