KYLE — Pastor Dakota Adair and his wife felt a calling to Central Texas to start a church that would not only promote their faith to God, but also create an opportunity for community.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAKOTA ADAIR
Community members gather at Heirloom Church, held at Negley Elementary School. Heirloom Church is a new Christian church started by the Adair family in hopes of spreading its love of God and creating a community for all.[/caption]
The family’s journey started when a list of the fastest-growing cities had Frisco, McKinney and New Braunfels on it. Adair explained that he knew of the first two, but, having lived in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, had never heard of New Braunfels, so he felt like it was an opportunity to visit and serve at a church in the town.
While serving, they often visited Kyle — a place that was quickly beginning to feel like home. He not only loved the city itself, but reveled in the diversity offered; thus, in May 2023, his family, including his pregnant wife and son, moved to Kyle, with the hope of doing more in their faith: “The reality is that about three to 4,000 churches close their doors each year and the number is increasing … So, we felt called [and wanted] to be part of starting a church,” said Adair.
When opening Heirloom Church, Adair felt it was important to create an environment where “everyone is safe and no one is comfortable.”
“Every church has the same mission, but we’re all expressing it differently,” began the pastor. “I think there’s an authenticity that we show in our church. I don’t mind people asking hard questions, people who wrestle with faith, those things … I believe that we should be constantly changing or evolving. That when God meets us where we are, he doesn’t just leave us there.”
The Adair family’s strong belief in faith is also attributed to the name of the church. An heirloom is a valuable object passed down through generations and Adair, who maintains that everyone leaves behind a legacy, said that this is what faith feels like to him.
“Our faith to the world is useless. It’s harmful; it’s stupid. But for us, we see this value in it, just like an heirloom. The pearl necklace that your great grandmother hands down to you. To everyone else, it’s junk and needs to be brought to the antique shop, needs to be thrown away, but to you, you see it as precious,” he explained. “Because with that object, it carries great significance for generations before you that you eventually want to pass down. So, that’s the idea of [faith] is that it’s as precious as priceless. It’s something to be prized, but also something that we are to keep. We’re the barriers of this hope that we want to carry. That’s the idea of ‘Heirloom.’”
The Christian church operates in Negley Elementary School, located at 5490 McNaughton, and although a church building of his own is something he would like in the future, the pastor said that his focus is rather on ensuring that there is a community for attendees.
One of the recent community-focused endeavors that the church took on, even before its first service, was allowing Kidz, Cutz and Curlz to use its facility to host the back-to-school haircut event in the gym and cafeteria the church uses at the school. Adair explained that he worked with the event host, who was unsure if the event would continue another year, to make sure that the community was able to have this event, as he believed that it was important. This type of community service is an aspect that Heirloom Church hopes to maintain.
“Our kind of heart is that we ask the question, as we grow, ‘If we were to close our doors tomorrow, would the community miss us?’ … Some churches get bigger and bigger and grow, grow, grow [and] they’re thriving, while the community around them is surviving,” stressed Adair. “We can’t do everything, but we can do something. That’s what we’re trying to be intentional about, just having an intentional presence within the community.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAKOTA ADAIR
Families check into the children’s center at Heirloom Church on Aug. 11.[/caption]
On the same day as the event, Aug. 11, the church held its first service. According to Adair, more than 100 community members attended. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday, along with community groups that take place throughout the week at homes of members of the church. The pastor explained that these take the sermon from a monologue to a dialogue, where discussions about what was said can take place.
To those who have not attended church or are skeptical in their faith, Adair encourages them to simply show up and ask questions.
“Come investigate what we’re about, what we teach, what we believe,” said Adair. “I’m just very honest and blunt and I’m like, ‘Hey. I want you to follow Jesus.’ That’s always going to be my heart because it’s important to me … [But] if you want all the benefits of what we offer as far as community services, if we’re giving out free snow cones and you want a free snow cone, but don’t have any interest being part of what we’re doing, I don’t care. I’m happy for you. I want you to have community regardless. I want people to belong before they believe.”
Heirloom Church will hold a grand opening at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15 for community members to celebrate. Along with food and an opportunity to gather, there will also be a collection of talks occurring.
“I hope people know that they are loved by God [and] that they belong to others in the community [after coming to our church] … I think one thing we offer is [being] part of something bigger than yourself.”
For more information, residents can visit heirloomchurch.org or on social media at and @heirloomchurch on Instagram.
Heirloom church to hold grand opening, create community
Pastor Dakota Adair and his wife felt a calling to Central Texas to start a church that would not only promote their faith to God, but also create an opportunity for community.
- 08/21/2024 09:10 PM
