Built to serve. Designed to grow.
What began in a former grocery store has become a thriving multisite ministry. Through the right building partnership — including strategic land acquisition, careful due diligence, and future-focused design — Milestone Church built a campus model ready for long-term growth.
By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
Long before Jeff Pelletier became executive pastor at Milestone Church in Keller, Texas, Jeff Little, founding pastor of Milestone Church, was simply “Pastor Jeff.” The two men shared mutual friendships, a common vision for ministry — and, as it turned out, the same first name. So, when the opportunity arose in 2012 for Pelletier to join the church staff, the decision for him and his wife felt like an easy one. Milestone already reflected the values they wanted for their family and the kind of ministry they believed in.
Today, staff distinguish the two leaders by calling Little “Pastor Jeff” and Pelletier “Pastor JP.” The informal solution reflects a deeper reality: strong leadership alignment that has helped fuel the church’s remarkable growth.
Within months of Pelletier’s arrival, Milestone leaders were already discussing a bold step — purchasing land and building a permanent campus that could support the church’s expanding ministry.
That decision set the stage for a carefully planned approach to facilities, expansion and multisite growth that continues to shape Milestone’s impact today.
Finding room for the vision
In late 2012, soon after Jeff Pelletier joined Milestone Church as executive pastor, leaders had what he calls the “first meaningful conversation” about buying land and relocating the church.
“I was pretty new in the saddle, but Pastor Jeff was really feeling the Lord urge us to do both,” Pelletier recalls. “He had a vision for 50-plus acres of land where we would build our permanent base and — this is important — from which we could build and send future ministry leaders to make a significant Kingdom impact.”
It was a big step for Milestone. At that time, the church met in a 43,000-square-foot former grocery store in an active retail shopping center. The worship room held 766 chairs. Even with an objectively generous capacity, growth was being stifled. After all, “the Jeffs” were already leading five services: two on Saturday and three on Sunday. It wasn’t enough.
Another challenge was adequate parking. Not only were spaces in short supply, but it was a long walk to the front door of the church.
With all indicators pointing in the direction of buying land and moving, Milestone leaders soon found a 54.5-acre tract of undeveloped property in nearby Keller. It made sense for a few key reasons.
“Our broadcast campus is in Keller, so it was strategically positioned for the area and the demographic we already served,” Pelletier explains. “The land was also very tightly aligned with significant geographic growth projections, both residentially and commercially. It was really a blessing to acquire it.”
BUILT TO SERVE, POSITIONED TO GROW
Church Executive: What are the key reasons for Milestone’s rapid, continued attendance growth?
Jeff Pelletier: Well, we’re really passionate about people finding a real relationship with God and then taking the next step to grow in their faith. We’re often told that we’re very friendly, warm and authentic, which we love; but what people are really experiencing is the love of God expressed through a local body of believers. You’ll never look more like Jesus than when you’re serving somebody — and our people are extremely generous with their time, talents and treasure. So, we’re able to serve a lot of folks and take care of them when they come. Whether they’re members or guests, our people see a need in them and fill it. It makes [churchgoers] feel welcomed and seen. That has definitely been a big contributor.
CE: How does Milestone differentiate itself in an area like DFW, which has so many churches?
Pelletier: Our focus is on our key mission: reaching people and building lives. So, we burn most of our energy on reaching folks and then developing, discipling them.
After that, we trust God to do the joining.
We didn’t set out to build a big church; we aimed to build big people. As a result, the church gets big, too.
CE: Milestone is enjoying sustained growth with multiple campuses. What multisite-focused guidance can you offer?
Pelletier: It’s not uncommon for churches like ours to use ‘heatmaps’ to figure out where concentrations of church members and guests are already living. But we don’t just see potential with a data-driven approach; we also ask: do we see potential for serving here? We’re always looking through the lens of serving the communities in which we exist.
After that, we get into the factors specific to each location — the site ingress and egress, current and future residential or commercial developments, and so on. Then we look at off-site development, which is everything from traffic impact analysis to TxDOT [Texas Department of Transportation] and beyond.
Again, though, it all starts with us understanding how best to serve the communities in which we exist, or where there’s a concentration of people who are already engaged with Milestone.
CE: It sounds like the desire to serve extends to other church leaders. Tell me about that.
Pelletier: Our lead pastor, Jeff Little, has a passion for helping other churches and leaders ‘win,’ so we created an integrated auxiliary of Milestone Church called Lead to Win. Basically, we equip them with proven, practical ways to empower their churches to grow and to thrive. We offer books, campaigns and more.
Importantly, we host a free Leaders Gathering every January here at the Keller campus. Last year, leaders from 500 churches attended.
Our team is just as passionate about serving the Church — “capital-C” — as our own church.
Due diligence before development
With their land in hand, the Milestone leadership team got serious about expansion. With stewardship top of mind, in 2013, one of their first steps was to enlist Richardson, Texas-based Goff Companies to perform a Strategic Assessment for Facility Expansion, or SAFE, before they moved forward with any plans.
CEO Billy Goff and Pelletier had a long-standing business relationship prior to the latter joining the Milestone team. So, Pelletier was familiar with the firm’s comprehensive approach to construction, including SAFE.
“We were making this big jump,” he explains. “[SAFE] worked well because we needed to clearly understand — in advance — our space requirements to accommodate growth, both with the building footprint and with the parking.”
Importantly, the Goff team also worked with Milestone leaders and real estate professionals to assess the land and identify any buildability issues. A substantial impediment emerged: the local municipality tree-mitigation requirement. Translation: although the acreage was ideally located, it was also heavily wooded. Financial penalties totaling $2 million would be levied if the trees were removed for construction.
Creativity was in order. Luckily, Milestone leaders weren’t on their own. Again, the Goff team came alongside them to negotiate with local officials. It was agreed that five acres would be dedicated as a conservation easement — an agreement that lets the church retain property ownership but permanently restricts development of the land in order to protect its natural value.
Additionally, a portion of the property was dedicated for the development of a Fire Station.
In the end, a multi-million-dollar conundrum became a non-issue, and Milestone accrued zero penalties. The City of Keller also benefited: the conservation easement is the first since its incorporation in 1955.
A campus designed to grow
In 2017, on this acreage, Milestone finished its first phase of construction — more than 75,000 square feet, including a large commons space, kids’ ministry area, and 1,600-seat worship center.
“Obviously, the worship center was a top priority because it’s where so much of the ministry takes place,” Pelletier points out. “It was important that it be large enough to accommodate our growth projections but not feel too large for the current attendance.”
At the time, that figure was 3,800 people, all of them comfortably accommodated in the 1,600 seats. But Milestone leaders were thinking ahead: behind the back wall was 8,000 square feet of empty space that would eventually house 900 more seats, upping worship capacity to 2,500.
The new kids’ ministry area was also at the top of the list, for good reason.
“We have a saying around here: ‘You don’t have to wait to be great — you can be a great kid,’” Pelletier says. “We burn a lot of calories focusing on next-gen. We believe that the future leaders of our church are being developed right now. So, prioritizing space for them to learn about God at an early age is important to us.”
Last but not least, the 11,000-square-foot commons provided ample room for fellowship among members and guests. “We really wanted people to build meaningful relationships with each other,” Pelletier says. “This space was a practical way to help facilitate those connections.”
Designed for growth — and ready for more
All that fellowship did indeed build relationships — so much so that Milestone Church doubled its attendance after moving into the new space.
“The vision was always to expand, so we knew it was just a matter of timing,” Pelletier says. “To serve our people, we quickly realized that we needed more seating and parking.”
The first phase of construction included enough parking spaces to accommodate the church’s historical attendee-to-parking ratio. However, because the large commons area was so inviting, many attendees stayed for more than one worship service to connect with other attendees over coffee from the in-house café or as part of a small-group Bible study.
Accordingly, since 2023, Milestone Church has increased parking capacity in multiple phases.
That 8,000 square feet of empty space behind the back wall in the worship center? As planned, it was used to expand seating capacity to 2,500. Thanks to pre-planning, it took just two weeks of missed Sunday worship services to complete.
Likewise, kids’ ministry and commons spaces have doubled, and a state-of-the-art event venue — with indoor/outdoor glass walls — was added.
A consistent campus model
Today, Milestone Church continues to grow in attendance and influence. It now has multiple campuses, with Pelletier often calling upon the Goff team to help ensure a firm foundation for each.
“We see Goff as a partner; they help us make informed decisions, particularly on the technical aspects of a property or a piece of land,” he explains. “It’s very important that due diligence is completed before we purchase property or land, and their input is of high value to us as subject matter experts. As we’ve seen, they play a key role in helping us understand potential site penalties, which can be very, very costly.”
Another common element at each campus is a “signature vibe.” It’s a formula that relies partly on ratios. In each location, the people-to-parking ratio is consistent. So are the ratios associated with worship center headcount and square feet required for each child.
Moreover, every campus prominently uses the same five building components: glass, wood, concrete, stone and steel. Effectively, Pelletier explains, these make up Milestone’s design calling card — which is important beyond just aesthetics.
“No matter which campus you go to, you’ll feel at home,” he says. “It creates a similar look and feel irrespective of where you engage with Milestone Church.”
Combined, it all helps Milestone leaders deliver the level of ministry they want to deliver.
“While we love our buildings and are happy to share what we’ve learned with other churches, our biggest motivation is the guest experience,” Pelletier explains. “From the time a guest enters the parking lot, walks into the building, gets their kids checked in, and enters the worship center, all of it matters to us. We want to remove any barriers and help guests feel welcomed.”
Future phases of the Keller campus will include a stand-alone chapel and a ministry center.
Although the chapel will be used for additional seating when needed, it will primarily host weddings and funerals. “Our heart for the chapel is simply to further serve families,” Pelletier says. “Here, they can create what we call ‘generational memories’ and celebrate big life moments.”
Meanwhile, the ministry center will house the church’s accredited university, Milestone College.
“Again, we believe in the next generation; we’re dedicated to helping students and young adults grow into all they’re created to be,” Pelletier says. “We need additional space to equip and to empower these young leaders to step into their calling.”
Always ready for what’s next
No doubt Milestone’s proven, designed-for-maximum-ministry approach will be evident in its future projects: namely, in the form of additional campuses.
Recently, this ethos helped shape the renovation of a warehouse in Haslet, Texas — 25 minutes from the main campus in Keller — into an 800-seat satellite campus. The Haslet campus is a great example of how Milestone leaders like to partner with God and meet Him where He’s already working.
Each fall and spring, the church’s youth team hosts midweek services as part of its Super Series, a three-week outreach to students. “The emphasis is for them to bring their friends,” Pelletier explains. “So, it’s really an outreach into the schools, and it’s pretty impactful.”
True to form, the inordinate number of students attending from the Haslet area was hard to miss — a few hundred per week. Milestone even began busing them in on Wednesday nights.
“We took note of it and ultimately, to best serve families in the Haslet area, it made sense for us to explore putting a campus there,” Pelletier says. “Simply stated, it’s exactly how our multisite approach is devised: primarily as a way to best serve and steward our people where they already live and do life.”
Plans for even more campuses are in the works, with the next one likely to occupy land acquired by the church in nearby Justin, Texas.
Beyond this, Pelletier says he and the rest of the Milestone Church leadership team plan to simply stay open-minded.
“We remain opportunistic,” he says. “We continue to prepare for every next opportunity, not only financially but also in developing the leaders we’ll need to actually pull it off. We sit on ready.”
