Texas megachurch faces backlash for opulent Christmas show

TikToker lawsonmaee posted footage from Prestonwood Baptist Church’s “The Gift of Christmas” show six days ago. The clip shows drummers with full-body LED outfits soaring through the air, attached to cables moving up and down suspension tracks attached to the church ceiling. Dozens of dancers dressed in bright red outfits perform a tightly choreographed routine while dozens more musicians and singers blast music from a stage adorned with neon lights and puffing smoke machines. “When you’re new to Texas and didn’t realize just how hard Texas megachurches go at Christmastime,” the caption reads.   

As of Friday evening, the clip has pulled in 1.2 million likes and nearly 33,000 comments. Many comments focused on the church’s tax-exempt status and questioned church leadership’s use of money. “No taxes just vibes,” one user commented, drawing nearly 93,000 likes and over 400 replies. “They are so genuine with how they spend their money,” another commented sarcastically, earning more than 12,000 likes “Yeah this doesn’t feel right man,” wrote a third.   

The Plano megachurch’s Christmas show drew attention and backlash online last year, when a clip of the flying drummers went viral on TikTok. Users scrutinizing and debating leaders’ use of funds and the church’s tax-exempt status also dominated the comment section in last year’s viral clip.

In a statement sent to the San Antonio Express-News, Prestonwood Baptist defended its over-the-top holiday tradition: “The Gift of Christmas is a ticketed Christian production, not a church service, and a long beloved Christian tradition celebrated by the many hundreds-of-thousands in our community and surrounding states who have attended for more than 25 years. Prestonwood Baptist Church is not ashamed to pull out all the stops in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ during the Christmas season,” church officials said in the statement. 

“At Prestonwood, we believe Jesus deserves our absolute best, especially during Christmas. It’s unfortunate that the perennial American tradition of the church Christmas program now draws criticism. We pray that they, too, may come to know the joy of Christmas and the love of our Savior,” they continued.    

Prestonwood Baptist Church is one of the largest megachurches in the U.S. and is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Jack Graham, Prestonwood’s longtime lead Pastor, was identified in an investigation into the SBC last year as one of the prominent leaders who helped protect an alleged abuser from criminal charges and internal accountability.