The Fountain of Praise

The Fountain of Praise
Name	The Fountain of Praise
Denomination	Pentecostal
Founded	1977
Founder	Professor Frederick K.C. Price
Headquarters	Houston, Texas

The Fountain of Praise is a Pentecostal megachurch based in Houston, Texas, founded in 1977 by Professor Frederick K.C. Price. The congregation grew from a small Bible study into a large institution noted for charismatic worship, televangelism, and community programs, drawing comparisons with institutions such as Lakewood Church, Faith Temple, Christ Cathedral, Bethel Church, and Church of God in Christ. It has engaged with media networks and institutions including Black Entertainment Television, Trinity Broadcasting Network, National Association of Evangelicals, Southern Baptist Convention, and World Council of Churches through ecumenical and broadcasting partnerships.

History

The Fountain of Praise emerged during a period of expansion for Pentecostal and charismatic movements alongside organizations like Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International, Assemblies of God USA, Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), International Pentecostal Holiness Church, and ministries such as Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin. Its founder, Professor Frederick K.C. Price, had connections to institutions like Crenshaw Christian Center, Vineyard Movement, Hillsong Church, Rhema Bible Training College, and figures such as T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, and Joel Osteen. Early growth paralleled developments at The Potter's House, Word of Faith, and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church while interacting with local entities such as Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, Houston Independent School District, and civic bodies including the City of Houston and Harris County.

The church's expansion through the 1980s and 1990s mirrored trends in televangelism associated with Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, Robert Tilton, Jimmy Swaggart, and Sid Roth and media outlets like CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, and The Washington Post. Significant events in its timeline intersected with national conversations involving Civil Rights Movement legacies and civil leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Maynard Jackson, Barbara Jordan, and Lyndon B. Johnson regarding urban ministry and social policy. The Fountain of Praise hosted conferences featuring speakers from Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Urban League, United Negro College Fund, NAACP, and faith-based coalitions such as Interfaith Alliance.

Theology and Worship Practices

Doctrinally, the congregation aligns with charismatic and Pentecostal teachings akin to doctrinal emphases from Word of Faith Movement, Holiness movement, Charles Spurgeon, Aimee Semple McPherson, William J. Seymour, and Smith Wigglesworth. Worship services emphasize contemporary music and praise akin to practices at Hillsong Worship, Elevation Worship, Passion Conferences, and Bethel Music, and they utilize liturgical and musical influences from Gospel music, performers such as Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Donnie McClurkin, CeCe Winans, and choirs linked historically to Howard University and Morehouse College. Preaching styles echo themes common to teachers like T.D. Jakes, Charles Stanley, Billy Graham, A.W. Tozer, and John Piper though framed within Pentecostal pneumatology seen in writings by Aimee Semple McPherson and William J. Seymour.

The sacramental and charismatic life includes practices such as healing ministries comparable to ministries led by Benny Hinn and Kathryn Kuhlman, baptism practices in common with Southern Baptist Convention and liturgical observances paralleled in contexts of Anglican Communion and Roman Catholic Church ecumenical dialogues. Teaching programs draw on theological resources from Dallas Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and authors such as Watchman Nee, E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth E. Hagin, Frederick K.C. Price and R.C. Sproul in broader evangelical conversation.

Leadership and Organization

Leadership has been shaped by the founder's legacy and succession practices similar to transitions at institutions like Lakewood Church after John Osteen and Joel Osteen, The Potter's House after Bishop T.D. Jakes models, and governance comparable to boards at National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., Progressive National Baptist Convention, Council on African American Churches, and corporate structures used by ministries such as Samaritan's Purse and World Vision. The church maintains staff roles analogous to those at Willow Creek Community Church and Saddleback Church, including senior pastors, teaching pastors, worship directors, administrative executives, and community outreach directors, and utilizes non-profit organizational standards enforced by entities like the Internal Revenue Service and accreditation benchmarks referenced by Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

Training and succession programs reflect patterns at seminaries and leadership networks like Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Regent University School of Divinity, The King's University, Leadership Network, and fellowship ties to pastoral networks such as National Association of Christian Ministers.

Congregation and Community Outreach

Congregational demographics include multi-generational membership reflecting urban congregations similar to Ebenezer Baptist Church, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Bethel A.M.E. Church, Grace Temple, and regional megachurches like New Life Church. Outreach initiatives mirror programs at Food for the Poor, Meals on Wheels, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, and engage civic partners including Harris County Hospital District, Houston Food Bank, United Way, Houston Public Library, and local school collaboratives with Houston Independent School District.

Social programs address needs in collaboration with organizations such as YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Catholic Charities USA, Feeding America, and faith-based legal aid networks similar to Christian Legal Society. The congregation has hosted voter registration drives, health fairs with partners like Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and disaster response coordination akin to American Red Cross and FEMA during regional crises.

Facilities and Architecture

Facilities developed over decades parallel construction projects at Lakewood Church's former Compaq Center (Houston) conversion, Crystal Cathedral renovations, and campus expansions similar to Saddleback Church and Willow Creek Community Church. The main sanctuary design incorporates acoustical and audiovisual systems modeled on venues used by Trinity Broadcasting Network studios, and the campus includes educational spaces reflecting partnerships with institutions like Texas Southern University and conference facilities suitable for events comparable to Promise Keepers and Passion Conferences.

Architectural influences draw from ecclesiastical precedents such as Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, modern megachurch typologies exemplified by North Point Community Church, and adaptive reuse strategies seen in conversions of arenas like Compaq Center (Houston). Campus planning emphasizes accessibility standards in line with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and municipal permitting by the City of Houston.

Category:Pentecostal churches