A trip from Groom to Pilot Point helped Deke Alexander and his 9-year-old son, Cash Alexander, figure out where hillpoint church will start: Deke's hometown.
The family had been searching for the right place on weekend trips to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and when Deke and Cash came home from their adventure with the answer, Deke's wife Samantha Alexander could tell something was different.
'I said, 'Well, we know what we're doing. We know where we're doing it,'' Deke said. ''She goes, 'Oh, you do?' ... Cash goes,' Yep. Pilot Point. Hometown. We're going back.'' The Alexanders were approached by Pastor Matt Johnson of The LOFT Church in West Texas about planting a church.
Their initial reaction was one of hesitation, because they had witnessed and experienced the challenges of being part of a church plant before, Deke said.
Although they loved their experience with the church plant that grew from Midway Church into Rock Creek Church in Prosper, Deke said they were nervous to take on the calling of leading a church from the ground up, but that hesitation and nervousness melted away.
'We stopped listening and started hearing how the Lord was speaking into us,' Deke said. '... So, the Lord started shifting our heart at that point and started really not only opening up our minds and our hearts to it, to what we were supposed to be obedient to and what our next steps look like.'
The couple spoke with their children, Cash and 15-year-old Kennedy Alexander, to make sure they were on board with the plan to plant a new church.
'Those kids are resilient, but they've been moved around the state and across the ocean from our time in the Dominican,' Deke said. 'So, they had been prepared. ... God doesn't call the prepared; he prepares the called.'
Preaching in his hometown feels a bit humbling, Deke said, but he trusts that the direction is the right one for hillpoint church.
'There are things that I couldn't see in the Panhandle that I've had to see from March to now,' Deke said. 'The name of the church. The vision for what God's doing. The evenings and nights driving around this community, praying for homes.'
' Anchored in Matthew 5:14–16, hillpoint church is driven by a mission pointed toward hope and deeply rooted in community, striving to create an ever-widening circle for imperfect people,' the Alexanders said in a release. 'The name hillpoint church reflects Pilot Point's rich history, Deke's alignment with his alma mater’s school district, and the persistent hope the town has offered generations of families.'
And the lowercase H and C in the church name is on purpose.
'The ministry reflects an approachable, humble stance—a reminder that the focus rests entirely on Christ and community rather than titles or formality,' the release said.
Deke has begun working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to 'serve as chaplain for the Pilot Point football team alongside former coach Tom Swartz,' and Samantha is on staff at the Pilot Point Elementary School.
The start of the church community will come in the form of a soft-launch phase beginning Sept. 9 at the Pilot Point Community Center at 310 S. Washington St.
The Alexanders hope to grow the church over the course of its first year with the plan to move to a larger temporary home.
'This season is all about intentionality,' added Samantha. 'We are excited to grow beyond our family and ministry team, strengthened by our overseers and pastoral advisory team in this next phase. It is about Pilot Point people pointing the community toward the true hope of Jesus. Gathering weekly gives us the chance to build real relationships and prepare for Fall 2027.'
To join the foundational team or to learn more about hillpoint church, email info@hillpoint. church or follow the church on social media at facebook.com/hillpoint. church or @hillpoint. church on Instagram.
