A new chapter is beginning here at Stonebriar, and we’re eager to share the news with you. It’s our joy to announce that beginning May 1, Senior Pastor Chuck Swindoll will take on the role of Founding Pastor, and our friend Dr. Jonathan Murphy will join our staff as Senior Pastor of Stonebriar Community Church.
In these roles, Pastor Chuck will continue to preach God’s Word at the pulpit on Sundays, while Jonathan will shepherd our day-to-day ministries and fill in at the pulpit when requested. Pastor Chuck will continue to serve as mentor and advisor to Jonathan, and at the appropriate time in the future, Jonathan will then assume primary pulpit duties.
We believe the Lord has gone before us in this decision from the beginning. Two years ago, as some of us elders gathered to pray, we talked about considering Jonathan as a candidate for the future role of Senior Pastor. When we approached Pastor Chuck with the idea at that time, we were happy to find out that he had already been mentoring Jonathan for the past several years, and he excitedly agreed that Jonathan would be a great fit for the position. We then extended a letter of intent to Jonathan, and he gladly set his expectations to become our Senior Pastor in the future. In March of 2024, after prayerful consideration, Pastor Chuck and the entire elder team unanimously decided that now is the time for Jonathan to step into his new role.
For a closer look at their mentoring relationship and the heart behind this next chapter, we invite you to watch this short video conversation with Pastor Chuck and Jonathan.
Want to see more? Watch the full interview to hear Pastor Chuck and Jonathan discuss everything from their mentoring sessions to their biggest ministry influences and more.
From one chapter to the next, we look forward to seeing how the Lord will lead us in our mission to love God and love others. We are excited to welcome Jonathan as our Senior Pastor, and we’re grateful that God has provided this servant-hearted leader who aligns with our commitment to teaching biblical truth. May Christ be glorified in this new season and every day ahead of us.
For God’s glory,
The Elders of Stonebriar Community Church
Commissioning Service: May 19
To celebrate this new chapter in our church’s story, you’re invited to a special time of worship on Sunday, May 19. Our traditional, contemporary, and Stonebriar en Español services will all meet together in the Worship Center at 9 and 10:45 a.m. that day as we praise the Lord Jesus, gain insights from Scripture, commission Jonathan through prayer, and get to know the Murphy family.
Note: This service was initially planned for April 28 but has been rescheduled to allow Pastor Chuck time to fully recover from his mild fall on April 17, and to allow previously scheduled ministry events to continue as planned. Pastor Chuck is doing well and looks forward to returning to the pulpit soon. Jonathan will continue to fill in at the pulpit until Pastor Chuck’s return.
I’m not at all surprised by this announcement. I’m actually quite pleased and excited by it. Pastor Jonathan is a natural fit for Stonebriar Community Church. To God be the glory, great things He is doing.
Would love to know his background, family, etc?
Congratulations to Jonathan on his new role i enjoy his preaching and i know that is a great choice. I’m also thankful for pastor Chuck and his knowledge of the word of God i enjoy worshipping online each Sunday may God continue to bless him with many more years of preaching.
I first encountered Pastor Chuck in 1982, and have been blessed by his wisdom and teaching ever since. This is such a bittersweet announcement, joy for a new chapter with sadness for the close of the previous chapter.
Pastor Chuck, words cannot express my utmost respect and love. Your dedication and genuine love for our Lord has been a source of comfort, encouragement, and guidance for so many people for so many years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have meant to me and my wife for so many years. We love you and are grateful to God for your presence in our lives and in the lives of so many people around the world.
I, too, have been praying that the Lord would make a way for Jonathon to step in as senior pastor when and if Pastor Chuck decided to step down✝️🙏🏼💜
Bless Stonebriar Church as you all go forward. I will continue to lift you up to our Lord today and everyday!
By the way, me and my family are faithful online followers watching from Henderson, Nevada each and every week✝️🙌🏼. My daughter and I traveled to Israel with Pastor Chuck ten years ago and we have never been the same🥰. Also, my daughter, Destiny Teasley, attended DTS and Jonathon Murphy was her professor!!! She’s always had a tenderness in her heart for him. ☺️
Blessings and love,
Sheila Teasley
Very very very very happy to hear Jonathan was the one to show himself qualified and to be selected after careful examination and prayers. Chuck is and has been a faithful pastor for decades and happy to see Chuck will still preach as he is able to.
Congratulations Stonebriar! Pastor Johnathan is an excellent teacher, I always enjoyed his sermons when he would teach here at Christ Chapel. He will be missed, but our miss, is your wonderful gain! Goodluck Johnathan on this next chapter in your life!
Ditto Bill Richardson’s words about Pastor Chuck. So well said!
Pastor Chuck, your wisdom, passion for our Messiah, Jeshua, and love for God’s people help me get through each day. Additionally, I am so grateful you mention Israel every week!
Thank you, dear brother, with all my heart!
“Custom care.”
This was the word that was impressed upon my heart for 2024; and this is exactly what is unfolding at Stonebriar, whose Sunday service my husband and I watch from Alberta Canada each week.
Cast a line – not a net. The action and result are very specific and targeted. Thus it has been in the process of appointing Dr Jonathan Murphy to his new position as senior pastor. Pastor Charles Swindoll, the elders and Jonathan himself were all of the same mind, the mind of Christ.
We had sensed this day was coming. We praise God along with you for His custom care over your church these past 25 years and look forward to the next 25 or as many as the Lord sees fit to give.
The message on custom care was, of course, delivered over Christmas time by none other than your future Senior Pastor. Thanks be to God.
“How good is the God we adore
Our faithful, unchangeable friend
Whose love is as great as His power
And knows neither measure nor end.
“‘Tis Jesus, the first and the last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home
We’ll praise Him for all that is past
And trust Him for all that’s to come.”
—How Good Is the God We Adore
On behalf of Newtownbreda Baptist Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the elders of NBC would like to express our heartfelt congratulations to Jonathan on his appointment to this role.
We are deeply grateful for all the LORD has seen fit to do through Jonathan’s life here in Northern Ireland, Gran Canaria and in the US. His abiding love for the LORD, His church and a lost world can be clearly seen in every area of his life and ministry.
We along with many others have been richly blessed through the ministry of Charles Swindoll. We are thrilled that the LORD has made this partnership in ministry possible and will be praying for Stonebriar Community Church in the coming years.
We wish Jonathan, Sarah Jane and the family our richest blessings and will continue to pray for you all as you follow God’s direction in these exciting days ahead.
In Christ,
The Elders of Newtownbreda Baptist Church
I have been blessed to attend worship online at Stonebriar for a few years, due to a variety of reasons. One of these is appreciating the worship – traditional hymns accompanied by a gifted full orchestra, with men-women-children’s choir, is a great blessing! While schools offer choir, orchestra and great music training, these are often under-utilized in churches. Stonebriar, is very much part of the music skillset in the Frisco area, and it is a real blessing to worship online!
I have enjoyed Butterworth’s humor filling-in for Chuck. Chuck has, of course, no easy shoes to fill!
To Jonathan, may I say what we are not ashamed to teach our youth:
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 NIV
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 KJV
In my humble opinion, studying & preaching are no easy tasks, and the need is great!
I am so happy to hear this good news about Jonathan Murphy. I am an online watcher in Charlotte, NC every Sunday. I have gained so much understanding of the Bible from listening to Chuck. Have not missed one time that Jonathan has filled in for him. I just wish I lived there so I could join Stonebriar. My prayers for all of you.
GOD, we thank YOU for directing these steps. My husband and I praise YOU for the privilege of hearing, learning, and growing through Chuck for 40 years. We’ll continue to learn through Chuck and Jonathan until Christ calls us Home.
Chuck with heartfelt tears we say thank you.
We pray for Jonathan and his family as they minister in the years ahead. We hear YOU GOD at work through Jonathan. We send our love from WA state.
Bob & Pam Bolls
My introduction to Chuck Swindoll in the early 1980s came by way of messages broadcast on Insight for Living. During the 40+ years of listening to his true-to-the -Word messages, reading his many publications, and “attending” services in Fresno and now at Stonebriar my life has been changed. A multitude of seekers and believers are deeply indebted to you, Chuck, for your years of selfless service and your faithfulness in proclaiming the Truth of the Bible. How blessed we are to have known such a mighty man of God. You are greatly loved and revered, Chuck.
Due to various health reasons, I eagerly “go to church” each Sunday online in my home in El Paso TX with Stonebriar CC. Music has been a part of my life since singing in the “junior choir” at Moody Church, Chicago, so I am enthralled with the music each week. It really sets me up for the prayer times and sermons.
The first time I heard Pastor Jonathan preach, I was excited and told my husband, “I can’t be sure, but I think he is God’s new pastor of SCC when Pastor Chuck ‘retires’.” So, Sunday morning, seeing “Senior Pastor” tagged to the online introduction of Pastor Jonathan gave me a huge smile and a spirit of Thanksgiving. The text of Acts 21 was very apt and became obvious as the Holy Spirit’s leading.
I want to thank you, SCC, for always make the online audience feel right at home. I view via my computer on my lap, so I feel I am right there with you each Sunday.
I look forward to hearing Pastor Church as often as he is able. Over the years I’ve grown through Insight for Living, books, etc. and feel I can fully trust his ministry.
God bless you both.
Ann Parkhurst
El Paso TX
Pastor Chuck, you have been my anchor in the world of tumult and chaos since 1979. Your instruction, clarifying explanations, understandable expository preaching has made me the man that has honored God for as many years as you have been instructing. Thank you so much for your love for the word and your unwavering commitment to biblical truth. In Christ and Christ alone, Lonn
We Give God All The Glory. I pray Jesus Christ continues to fervently lead Our Pastor Dr. Jonathan Murphy, Amen.
Delighted to hear that our former Pastor, Dr Jonathan Murphy has been invited to join Stonebriar as Senior Pastor.
Very best wishes to Jonathan and Sarah Jane and family as they minister to the saints at Stonebriar. We will be following their input with interest and prayer.
Pastor Chuck, thank you for putting Our Carpenter’s tools for living this life in my toolbox for well more than four decades. With the selection of Jonathan, I see that you’ve done it again. He will be an energetic leader to our church community and as much of a spiritual friend my family could possibly have. Stay strong, Marine! Jonathan and all of us need every message you have still to teach.
God bless this church and Pastor Swindoll. Though it is sad to hear the news, it was not unexpected. I first discovered Pastor Swindoll’s preaching on Youtube years ago as he gave speeches to the DTS students and was simply amazed as he is one of the best public speakers I have ever listened to and an such an inspiration for those interested in the word of the Lord. I can never repay Mr. Swindoll for all his words of wisdom and how he unknowingly changed my life, but simply say thank you sir for your service to this country as a Marine and to the Lord. All the best to Pastor Chuck and his family, to Stonebriar Church and Pastor Jonathan and his family.
I was wondering if it’s appropriate to ask if Pastor Swindoll will be returning to preach some time in September. Thank you!
Pastor Chuck Swindoll plans to return on September 22, 2024.