Saunders Children’s Building Grand Opening

I was with my good friend, Sondra Saunders, yesterday at the grand opening of Prestonwood Baptist’s Saunders’ Children’s Building and to share in a very rewarding time for anyone in ministry in one place for so long. You see, Sondra started at Prestonwood when it was a church plant back in 1977! She oversees 32 staff, 1800 volunteers and over 3,000 children! She is also a dedicated and passionate advocate for ALL children.

There is a great article in the Saturday edition of the Dallas Morning News (6B, or here online http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/plano/stories/DN-sondra_22met.ART.State.Edition1.4a96a5d.html) that does a good job of describing her legacy. Bruce Berry and his wife were there yesterday and he walked me around the artwork that he contributed to this building (he said that it was the first time a church had asked him to include dinosaurs in creation scenes!), but what really stood out for me was the state-of-the-art special education wing!

Jessica Baldridge is the wonderful Director of Special Needs Ministry (jbaldridge@prestonwood.org) and gave me a tour of what can best be described as the premier space for special needs children, youth and adults in any church! There are rooms intentionally designed for Special Friends as they call them. Jessica is the mother of a son with Autism and is a strong advocate and passionate leader in special needs ministry. There were adult changing tables with full hydraulic lifts, tracks in the ceiling of each room that resembled a physical therapy center, tactile rooms with one way mirrors for discreet observations, and close circuit video for security! You’ve GOT to visit this if your in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.