Our Cypress and Sienna Campuses both celebrated their 10 year anniversaries on Sun, Apr 23. (See photo gallery below.) Launched on Easter Sunday 2013, these campuses have expanded not only in size but in missional impact as God has used them to reach their respective communities.
Jason & Paige Swiggart at our Cypress Campus under construction.
Our Cypress Campus faithfully gathered at Smith Middle School from the day it launched until Sun, May 28, 2017 — over four years of setting up and tearing down each week. Thanks to the generosity of our church family, Houston’s First built a new home for our Cypress Campus off the Grand Parkway next door to Cy-Fair ISD’s newest educational village, including Bridgeland High School. Opening its new doors on Sun, June 11, 2017, our Cypress Campus now averages 1,500 people each Sunday and continues to impact the community and beyond with the Gospel.
“We’ve continued to grow not only in numbers, but in our hearts for living out the Great Commission,” says Cypress Campus Pastor Jason Swiggart. “We desire to be a relevant biblical community in the actual facility but more so in the hospitality and culture of our people. The church is a lighthouse, blessing to the community and a place where people ‘do life’ together, not just on Sunday, but every day.”
“My family and I have been blessed to be a part of helping launch the Cypress Campus for the past 10 years. We’ve had a front row seat to watch God at work drawing people to salvation, my family included,” adds church member Jenn Hamm. “I also can’t help but think about all the new people moving into the Cypress area who need to hear the Gospel. I want our Cypress Campus to still be proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ when I’m gone.”
Campus leaders are seeking God’s guidance as they look forward to the next ten years.
Praying over our Cypress Campus under construction.
“The HUB Student Ministry and Adults are at capacity as far as space with First Friends and First Kids right behind them,” says Swiggart. “We are working on a conceptual master plan currently, asking the Lord for His timing and provision.”
Our Sienna Campus began with 1,800 square feet in a rented space in a retail shopping center. Worship services held fewer than 100 people at the time, and Life Bible Studies met in rented rooms from other tenants in the building.
Thanks to the generosity of the Houston's First family, the entire shopping center was purchased in 2014 resulting in an expansion to 21,000 square feet. As the church has continued to reach out to neighbors, every square foot of the facility is being used. Through Kainos, land adjacent to the current facility was purchased and a new facility is currently under construction. Once completed, the prime location on the main road entering Sienna will expand to 72,000 square feet and provide more room for community impact.
A meeting in The Loft at our Sienna Campus (now a FirstKids room).
“By God’s grace, more people continually visit the church, and many of those coming are young families with school aged kids,” says Sienna Campus Pastor Malcom Marshall. “About 1/3 of our church is under the age of 18. We’re also a very diverse faith community across geographic, linguistic, socio-economic, ethnic, and generational lines.). By 2028, our area is expected to add approximately 100,000 people. Sienna continues to build new homes, and the master planned community right next to us is not zoned for any churches. All of this points toward us needing this new facility to create capacity for a future congregation. The additional space will meet our current and projected growth needs.”
“So much life has happened at our Sienna Campus over the past decade,” adds Sienna Campus Deacon Kevin Jordan.“We've celebrated salvations, baptisms, births, and parent commitments. We've lamented deaths, hurricane damage, flooding, and COVID shutting our doors for a time. Today, our crowded worship center and fenced off construction site is a tangible encouraging reminder that God is still doing miraculous things and that He has a passionate desire to transform our community. No one but God could have brought our campus to this level of growth and health. God is real. He's alive. And He is very, very busy in Sienna. Our campus is an incredible source of encouragement in our lives.”
Sienna Campus staff and members forward to continuing to reach their community for the Gospel for the next ten years.
“Sienna’s vision for the next 10 years will be exactly the same as our current church vision: to be a relevant biblical community,” says Marshall.
Both the Cypress and Sienna Campuses commemorated their anniversaries on Sun, Apr 23! They had food, decor, and recognized God’s faithfulness as they looked forward to the future.
Cypress had an interactive exhibit called “The Journey” that told the story of where the campus has been, what God has done, where they plan to go in the future, and how each person fits into the journey ahead. They also enjoyed lunch under a tent in the back lawn.
Even in the midst of construction, Sienna was still able to celebrate all that God has done the past ten years! They wore Houston’s First shirts, had a photo booth, handed out keepsakes, and enjoyed other fun surprises throughout the day!
Our Cypress and Sienna Campuses both used this shovel at their groundbreakings - the same shovel used at the groundbreaking of The Loop Campus in 1974.
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