Chip and Joanna Gaines to Host Church at Magnolia Market Silos

HGTV’s Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have invited a congregation to worship on their Magnolia Market property at no charge, reports the Waco Tribune-Herald. 

The church, Church Under the Bridge, has been a gathering place for hundreds of marginalized Waco citizens on Sunday mornings. There, congregants have enjoyed a free meal and a worship service beneath an I-35 underpass in the city. The congregation is moving next year to Magnolia Market at the Silos while the city begins a three-to-five-year project to widen portions of the Interstate, including the part where the church meets.

Jimmy Dorrell, who shepherds Church Under the Bridge, said the offer was a surprise. “I didn’t see it coming at all,” said Dorrell. He was also impressed with a recent tour of the new church location. “It was amazingly quiet, with no 18-wheelers above.” 

Chip Gaines told the WacoTribune-Herald: “I admired Jimmy [Dorrell] from afar. About a month ago, I read about the I-35 project that would impact his church. I was sitting in my office one day, day-dreaming, thinking about making a commitment, and we reached out to Jimmy. He came over to the Silos, and we agreed it would make a great fit geographically. We shook on it.”

According to the Tribune-Herald, Dorrell said he has entered into a one-year agreement with Magnolia to use the Silos at no charge, after which the parties…