Texas megachurch goes viral again for extravagant Christmas service

Last year, video of a drummer hanging from wires inside of a North Texas megachurch went viral, with most people criticizing the tax-exempt entity for putting on such an extravagant show. That same megachurch is going viral again as someone who was new to Texas caught the wild performance with the flying drummers and high-tech light show at Prestonwood Baptist Church.

Prestonwood is located in Plano, in the DFW Metroplex. It’s show, called The Gift of Christmas, that features a live orchestra, flying angels, special effects, and a 1,000-member cast and choir, according to the website. Lawson Martin, who goes by lawsonmaee on TikTok, posted video on Saturday, December 9, showing dancers and drummers wearing LED suits flying through the air to “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman.

“When you’re new to Texas and didn’t realize just how hard Texas megachurches go at Christmastime,” the video caption reads.

See the full video below.

The video had 9.1 million views and 1.1 million likes as of Tuesday, December 12. The top comments under the video tell people not to go to a megachurch. 

“I can no longer tell what’s sarcasm and what’s an actual megachurch,” Shannon Cuff commented.

Other people commented on the Prestonwood’s use of music from The Greatest Showman, which is not considered to be a Christian movie despite its uplifting music. 

“Nothing says the birth of Jesus quite like The Greatest Showman,” Chelsey commented. 

MySA received this statement from Prestonwood Baptist Church regarding the criticism: 

“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. The production serves as family entertainment, which includes three acts and culminates with a beautiful Living Nativity — the true reason for the season.

We are grateful for the many who make decisions to follow Christ or deepen their relationship with Him following the program. 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.”