by Karen Garcia
FORT WORTH (BP) — Prestonwood Baptist Church and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary formally marked the opening of Prestonwood Pregnancy Center during a March 26 ribbon-cutting ceremony on the seminary’s Fort Worth campus.
“This facility has been sitting here, waiting for how it was going to be transformed and sanctified and to be able to be used for Kingdom purposes, and so God has answered our prayers in so many ways,” President David S. Dockery said, noting that the seminary’s partnership with Prestonwood is a demonstration of the institution’s commitment to the sanctity of human life. He added that seminary student volunteers and biblical counselors will be able to walk alongside people during a stressful time in their lives.
The center, located on the south part of the campus in a building on Townsend Drive, provides support and resources to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Services include ultrasounds, pregnancy testing, classes, and more. The Fort Worth center also will be used as a national training facility for other pregnancy centers.
Dockery said the seminary has no better partner than Prestonwood and thanked Jack Graham, longtime senior pastor of the congregation and a Southwestern alumnus. Graham spoke of the “incredible ministry” at the seminary, adding that, “as God gave us this opportunity, we couldn’t say yes fast enough.”
Prestonwood Pregnancy Center was founded in 1991 as a vision of Graham’s to bring light to the darkness of abortion. Additional centers are located in Richardson and southwest Dallas, and a mobile clinic serves clients throughout the Metroplex.
“This is a labor of love,” Graham said at the Fort Worth center opening, noting that the centers are “a hospital, in ways, for people who need hope.” He added that those who serve in the centers “are not here to judge; we are not here to condemn. We are here to love.”
Leanne Jamieson, the center’s executive director, described the center as “a mission field, and God does amazing things through this ministry.” She noted that, though the Fort Worth center had a soft opening in January, “already in this building, 105 clients have chosen life.”