First Baptist Church of Dallas plans to hold its first service in its worship center since a four-alarm fire engulfed its sanctuary and destroyed much of the historic building last month.
The fire started July 19 and the church was ablaze for several hours. The church has stood for 134 years at its spot on San Jacinto Street downtown.
For the past two Sundays, the church held services at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center as crews worked on securing the sanctuary’s foundation, which got the city’s approval for preservation last Wednesday.
The sanctuary is a separate building from the worship center and was typically used for weddings, funerals and other special services.
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Church leaders announced on their website Wednesday that services will resume in the worship center this Sunday.
This week’s service will be at 11 a.m. and will not include the usual child care services or Sunday school.
“Throughout all of this, the reason we are going to such great lengths to be able to worship together is because we are the body of Christ,” the announcement states.
Jeff Kolb and Sam Gannon welcome Cowboys insiders Clarence Hill (All City Dallas) and Calvin Watkins (Dallas Morning News) for a hilarious breakdown of the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Giving insight, arguments, and plenty of laughs as two of the best Dallas Cowboys writers in the business go head-to-head on what Dallas should do next.
Investigators say last month’s explosion, which critically injured a woman, was caused by a natural gas leak. Atmos Energy said its crews later detected an isolated leak on a short section of pipe buried in the area. The company said the pipe was installed by a predecessor utility company and was made of a material used only in 1970 and 1971.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
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Mar 23, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont during the first half against the Golden State Warriors at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
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This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
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The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
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Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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