With the strengthening economy in the greater Houston area, we began to see the Brightwater subdivision come to life. Now owned by Perry Homes, it was not long until all the property had been platted and several builders were invited to come and complete what Jerry Gamble and David Rolke had envisioned several years before. But the property adjacent to the church and which fronted along Cartwright Rd. was zoned commercial , and the possibility of getting Missouri City to grant a zoning variance for residential development was at best slim. With wisdom and foresight, the session approved contacting Perry Homes and tendering an offer for the 5. 553 acre tract. Through some amicable negotiations, a deal was reached and in December of 1993, Southminster purchased the tract for a below market sum of $250,000, bringing our total land holdings to slightly less than 10 acres.

With the church over the 500 member mark, the session established a Long- Range Planning Committee, chaired by Jody Harrington for the purpose of setting attainable yet challenging goals for the church. It also entered into a contract with the architectural firm of Hall-Merriman and Assoc. to develop a master plan which would best utilize the additional land we had acquired. In that master plan and in the long-range goals, the idea of a church school surfaced, but would lie dormant until such time as the church and the community were ready to make it a primary mission objective.

In April of 1993, a beloved member of Southminster, Jerry Cherubini, died. His widow, Olive, and their family were looking for some unique way to honor his memory, and the result was the erection and dedication in April of 1994 of the Cherubini Cross. This Celtic cross greets everyone who enters either the Christian Education building or the main sanctuary building. The placement of the cross was quite intentional, since Jerry was the consummate “greeter” – welcoming everyone to the worship services at the school, at Kingsbrook, and finally, here at Brightwater. Even the name seems so appropriate for welcoming people into our facilities, since Cherubini means “small angel” in Italian.

The ethnic diversity of the east Fort Bend communities was reflected in the membership of our congregation, and contributed to our developing a global consciousness as regards to mission. A Nigerian physician and his family joined the church in 1991 and his frequent trips back to his village in Ututu, Nigeria to provide a medical clinic for his villagers caught the attention of Dr. Hurst. With support from a church which had helped Dr. Kalu Ogbonnaya when he was a student at Clemson University in South Carolina, Southminster set up a non-profit corporate entity which we called the African American Medical Mission Fund. Monies donated to this fund have helped provide medicine and medical supplies and more recently have helped in the construction of a hospital and drilling a fresh water well to supply clean water to both the village and to the hospital. In 1995, it helped fund a three week visit by Dr. Hurst to several sites in Nigeria to gather information and to videotape Dr. Ogbonnaya carrying out his medical ministry to the people of Ututu. This visit was turned into a professional videotape as a means of promoting and facilitating this mission. Copies of the tape are still available through the Church Office.

Recognizing both the mission opportunity and the connectional nature of our church, the session concurred with the request from Presbytery of New Covenant to provide space and partnership to a Filipino NCD. It was not long before their pastor, the Rev. Sam Fibila, had them up and moving. This fellowship took the name “Biyaya Church” which means grace in the Filipino language. They meet in the Rutledge Room on Sunday afternoon.

Shortly after the move the move to the Brightwater location, God provided the pastor and the congregation with a real blessing – a parish associate! The Rev. James “Rob” Robertson had retired from the active pursuit of ministry within the Presbyterian Church and had moved into Sugar Land to be close to his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, all of whom were members of Southminster. It did not take long for the session to approve and for presbytery to concur with Rev. Robertson’s and Dr. Hurst’s requests that he be called as our first Parish Associate, and on August 19, 1990, such a relationship was established. During his many years of serving in this capacity, Rev. Robertson provided excellent pastoral care and leadership, more than willing to help out wherever and however his health would allow him. One of the lasting contributions which he made to the life of our church is the establishment of the Older Adult Ministry which he christened “The Speedsters” (55+). In June of 1997, Rob and his wife Sue moved into a retirement community outside of Austin, Texas. In December of 1998, Pastor Rob died and a memorial service was held here at Southminster at the request of the family.

 In 1996, in an effort to provide help and oversight for our growing youth program, we advertised a position which we called Minister for Congregational Life through our presbytery channels. That effort resulted in the hiring of Becky Ardell Downs, a soon-to-be mother and wife of the pastor at the Alvin church. Becky was a graduate of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga but was undecided about pursuing ordination as a pastor. In the three years that she served the adults and the youth of Southminster, she was able to apply her considerable gifts in parish ministry. Like “Rob” Robertson, Becky left behind her own legacy in the mid-week educational/fellowship program which she dubbed “HalfTime.” When she and her husband responded to a call from a church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, we sent her on with the hope and prayer that she might find a call to her own church. This prayer and hope were answered in January of 2001 when she was ordained to become the pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga.

In 1997, the session agreed that the time had come to form a search committee for a full-time associate pastor, in line with the recommendations of the previous year’s Long Range Planning report. The intent of this committee was to find someone who had music skills as well as pastoral skills which would allow us to pursue a contemporary worship experience which would be attractive to the young families moving in to our area. The result of that search was the calling of Rev. Steve Thorney, who at the time of his call to Southminster, was serving as the director of the Presbyterian Outreach to Patients in the Texas Medical Center. Steve had an office at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center where he served as a staff chaplain. Through his considerable music and organizational skills, Steve soon pulled together a band which took the name “GraceNotes,” and this band of musically-gifted folks became the centerpiece for a third worship service at 9:30 on Sunday morning, providing an upbeat contemporary approach to the worship and the honoring of the Lord our God.

With Becky’s departure, there was a lingering gap in the educational/youth areas of the church’s life. In May of 2000, Mrs. Jody Harrington, was hired as our part-time Director of Christian Education, and in a short period of time has made a profound impact on the substance and direction of the Christian education program at the church.

Throughout the years, Southminster has been blessed with excellent choral leadership and accompanists. Richard Griffin was our choral director when we moved into our new facilities, with Mrs. Joan Connor providing the accompaniment on our new Yamaha grand piano. With his departure in 1991, Dr. Charles Hausmann, music director for the Houston Symphony Chorus and a Sugar Land resident, became our Director of Music Ministries. Beth McConnell, a resident of Quail Valley, became our accompanist and the chancel choir flourished under their leadership. When Charles Hausmann left to take over the music program at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Mrs. Sharon Fink became our music director, and when Beth moved out of the area, Mr. Donald Doucet took over the accompanist responsibilities. While Sharon was involved with the music program, the church added two octaves, and later a third, of handbells through a gift from Myron and Dorothy Goforth. Thus, a handbell choir was formed to add their unique sound to our worship services. In January of 1996, Mrs. Gabrielle Hodges began working with the children of the church to provide children’s music ministry. This ministry took the form of the Cherub and a Calvin Choirs. More recently, she has also taken on the responsibilities for a youth choir as well.

One of the blessings which came with Sharon was her husband Richard Paul Fink who often added his rich baritone voice to the choir. As a performer with the Metropolitan Opera company, he traveled to perform in operas around the world. But Christmas would find him home in Houston and singing “O Holy Night” with the choir at our Candlelight Communion Christmas Eve service.

After Sharon, Southminster was very fortunate to secure the services of a doctoral student under Charles Hausmann at the University of Houston, Mr. Eduardo Garcia-Novelli. Eduardo had completed his studies at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and he and wife Maria moved to Houston in the summer of 1997. A native of Argentina, Eduardo has raised the bar of excellence for the choir and for the handbells, and has provided some magnificent musical presentations for the church and community. In 1998, a Rogers Organ was purchased through gifts from several families in the church, and Mr. Doucet became both pianist and organist for the church. The chancel area was also widened to accommodate the organ and piano and to provide greater flexibility in our worship services. In 2000-2001, even more flexibility and opportunity were provided as the church invested over $40,000 in improving the sound in the church and providing high tech audio-video capabilities for enhancing the worship services.

In 1998, the Session empowered a School Planning Committee, chaired by Mr. Richard Early, to organize the expansion of the Early Learning Center to include elementary grades; to in effect, establish a private elementary school grounded in the Christian faith. This committee’s work culminated in 1999 with the offering of preschool classes and a Kindergarten class of 14 students. Chartered now as the “Southminster School,” it is currently offering two Kindergarten classes, one First Grade class, and one Second Grade class in the 2001-2002 school year, while the Early Learning Center continues to operate at full capacity and with a waiting list.

In 2001, a Building Development Plan and a Capital Campaign were approved by the Session which has set before the membership of Southminster Presbyterian Church an ambitious three-phase program to meet the needs and responsibilities of a growing church family:

1. Expand the existing Christian Education facilities with a connecting wing which will add 15,000 square feet, and will then provide over 25,000 sq. ft. under roof to accommodate the Youth Ministries, the Educational Ministries and the Southminster School.

2. Construct a new Church Sanctuary and Administrative wing. Although the current sanctuary is adequate for our existing membership through the three worship services we conduct, future growth will necessitate a worship space which will accommodate approximately 700. Most of the staff offices will be included in this addition along with space for the choral programs. A small chapel and bridesroom/parlor is also envisioned for this building.

3. Renovate the existing Worship Center. Although not the major undertaking that the two previous phases entails, this renovation would be tied to existing church needs at the time. Right now the plan is to provide fellowship and dining capabilities in the existing worship space, expand the kitchen and provide office space for the Southminster School.

In the summer of 2001, we were successful in our search for a director of our youth program as we hired Mr. Doug Rogers to fulfill that ministry. Doug, a student at Stephen F. Austin University at the time, began working on a part-time basis until his graduation in December. As we began the new year, so did Doug begin his new responsibilities as our full-time Director of Youth Ministries. He and his wife Lyndsay live in the Sugar Land area.

We have come a long way in the past 19 years, and as you can see we still have a ways to go. What you have read is our history, what we invite you to do is become a part of our future. It is an exciting and glorious time to be a part of God’s plan for ministry here at Southminster Presbyterian Church, and in case you haven’t noticed …the excitement is building!