“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
Perhaps no other passage of scripture means more to the people who are Christ UMC than this passage from Jeremiah. In 1995, Jerry and Jana House were appointed to start a new church in south College Station. On August 20, Christ United Methodist Church held it’s first worship service in a junior high cafeteria on Rock Prairie Road marking the beginning of what would become one of the fastest growing churches in the Texas Annual Conference. In November of 1998, the congregation established it’s permanent home on 9.2 acres of land on Highway 6 between Rock Prairie and Greens Prairie Roads with a sanctuary, classrooms and offices.
In December of 1999 CUMC purchased and renovated the adjoining property which had previously housed the Desert Hills hospital facility. Known as The Annex, the church buzzes with life through the 500-person capacity Fellowship Hall, swimming pool, youth suite, classrooms, and the Salt and Light Mission Bookstore. Recently, in March of 2008, the congregation was excited to move into its new sanctuary, allowing the original building to be devoted entirely to children’s ministries—including a sanctuary for children’s church.
Marked by dynamic children and youth ministries, an expansive music ministry, strong adult ministries, and active mission and outreach ministries, Christ UMC has continued to respond to the call of God to reach people with the transforming message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The strength of Christ UMC is found in the people who call Christ UMC home. Since even before the first worship celebration, Christ Church has been blessed by faithful, dedicated, driven men, women and children who have not only “belonged” to the church; they have “become” the church.
“Leading people of all ages into fruitful Christian action” is the purpose statement that expresses their strong desire to “bear fruit” in their community and the world. Not willing to contain their faith within their walls, the people of CUMC connect their lives and gifts to spread God’s love and hope to others—whether in prisons, nursing homes, foreign mission fields, or the neighborhoods of our community.
An example of their eagerness to support people in crises was evidenced last September when on short notice, CUMC accepted the patients and staff of Edgewater Nursing Home from Galveston as they fled Hurricane Ike. Retrofitting The Annex to serve highly specialized needs, the church rearranged their schedules and lives to provide shelter, love, and hope to these displaced and frightened people for five weeks.
Christ United Methodist Church embraces the words of Jesus in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last...”
