Our team was first organized as part of the Building Committee, with the idea that we would concentrate on the long-term building needs of our Church. We did, at least at first, talk about this. We formalized our Church's need for a parsonage within the next 2-5 years, and talked about a new gymnasium and Youth Building, a Community Center, and later on, possibly needing a 1,200 seat Sanctuary.
We determined very quickly, however, that this was going to be just a pipe-dream if we didn't plan the Church's building needs towards fulfilling the Church's mission, and towards meeting the outreach, educational, and spiritual needs of both our Church and community. We easily figured out that we must also have the financial ability to pay for whatever we planned.

In early November, 1997, we held our first reorganizational meeting, and recognized that long range planning must be a blend of the past, the present, and the future of our Church and community: We must know where we've been and where we are now, to plan for where we're going and what we'll need in the future.

We also figured out that our committee could never do this job alone and be successful. We could only be the drivers of the Cypress Trails bus. Like every bus and driver, the only reason we exist is for our passengers, our route, and our destination. If the passengers don't want to go where the bus is headed, don't know why we're going this way, or can't pay for gas and repairs, we might just as well never leave the station.

Our committee must work with and through the members and committees of this church and the leaders of our community to identify and agree on a direction and destination for Cypress Trails. We must choose our goals, map our route, and plan for stops along the way -- to rest, rejoice, and fill our souls with spiritual food.

We also have to review our goals regularly, to make sure that things haven't changed and our passengers need to go somewhere else. Our role in this will be to remind our passengers about where we're heading, why we decided to go this way, and to talk about our needs, our mission, and the goals we set -- for our Church, for ourselves, and for our community.

Our immediate goal as a Committee is to work with and through the Administrative Council and other groups within the Church -- to review, redefine, and reach consensus on the Mission Statement of Cypress Trails. For those of you who are new to Cypress Trails, our Church first developed its mission statement in 1991, and amended it in January of 1994 to read:

"God's primary purpose for our Church is to spread the Holy Spirit and God's Work in our community through unconditional outreach and Christian love by nurturing, uplifting, and supporting personal spiritual growth, through Christian programs and education, and by following the teachings of Jesus."

By developing and nurturing a strong recognition of the mission of our Church, we hope to build focus on the present and the future of Cypress Trails. Our committee will then begin its work among committees and groups within the Church to define how these groups support the overall mission of the Church. Our hopes are that each of these groups -- particularly the newer Program Groups like Welcome, Fellowship, Congregational Care, Spiritual Life, Worship, and Outreach -- will work with us to solidify its goals and objectives for today and its dreams for the future. We will then document and blend these purposes and goals, to form the first long-range plan for Cypress Trails.

Together We Can

In the summer of 1980 we formed a new church. Constitution Sunday was on September 28th of that year. We asked ourselves, why build a new church here in Spring, Texas? The answer, we knew, was that the community had needs that the Methodist Church could fill. We started out with a brand new pastor, Craig Russell, and had an awesome task before us: To establish a new church, and gather a new congregation.
Over the life of the church many people have come and moved on. They have all left footprints in our history. As Cypress Trails has evolved since 1980, the pastoral leadership has changed, the Congregation has changed and the community has changed, but our Purpose for existing here has remained constant. We developed our mission statement to describe why we are here. That statement remains timeless in the life of Cypress Trails.

Through the many hardships, disappointments and the tragedy of arson, God has never left us to make this walk alone. We as stewards act in partnership with God, to carry out his plan here in Spring.

On January 27, 1996 as we stood together in the cold parking lot and watched as the Children’s building burned, many memories flowed through our minds. On reflection, the people and events connected with the history of that building come to the front of our minds.

Fire can destroy things, but it cannot consume the memories that were created over the years. The result of the tragedy was not to force us to give up and throw in the towel, but with God’s help and determination, it gave us the courage to move forward and right the wrong. Working together, with God's help, we mounted the offensive and moved forward.

What happens now? Naturally as Methodists we formed a committee. There were key people that devoted countless hours to resolving the insurance claim. The building committee, the Trustees, the pastor, and the congregation corporately worked together to develop a vision for the future of Cypress Trails.

Together We Can, Together We Will, and Together We Did. Our congregation and the Methodist and Christian community responded to the need, and met the challenge.

Many people were included to develop the plan for the new building. After plans were finalized, Mark Rihn and Jim Ward, with many years in the construction business, volunteered to project manage, supervise, and generally ramrod the entire construction of our new building. This was a huge commitment for a $383 thousand project.

As with any construction project, a great deal of patience is required. Financing, people, materials, and of course weather are factors contributing to a successful project.

As spring and summer of 1997 progressed, a new flower unfolded at Cypress Trails United Methodist Church. With many last minute details being completed, we moved into the building on August 10, 1997.

Then, we celebrated a monumental historic event on November 16, 1997 -- the dedication of a new building. No note! No obligation, we are free to concentrate on interpreting God’s plan for Cypress Trails.

The Future

We'd like to share with you something we did several months ago, taking a look at one of the many possible futures for Cypress Trails. In a newspaper article yet to be written for the Houston Chronicle, dateline "the future". (Special Note for Visitors -- the names listed, except for Pastor Smith, are those of our congregation's Children).

Local Church Opens Missionary Center Dr. Sarah Snead, Senior Pastor at Cypress Trails United Methodist Church in Spring, Texas, announced the Grand Opening of the Church’s fourth Missionary Center and Outreach Church in downtown Houston. The Center, patterned after the Church’s other three centers, will provide halfway housing for the homeless, a fully accredited school for Pre-K through fifth grade, a daycare center, and a Youth and Adult Christian Education Center. The center will be supervised by Fadi Francis, business manager at the Church. Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Kevin Rilling, and Chip Collins, the church’s Minister of Missions, said that the cornerstone of the mission center success has been the commitment to helping the whole family, including the adult training and jobs qualification program. Grand Opening festivities held Sunday were opened by Dr. Will Tatum, Minister of Music, who led the choir and attendees in singing "How Firm a Foundation." The ceremony included special performances by Sarah Ince, who flew in during a break from her latest Broadway production, and by retro-punk rocker Jared Nuss and his Road Kill band. The dedication ceremony was led by retired Bishop Sandra Smith, a former pastor at Cypress Trails. The keynote address was delivered via satellite by the Reverends Shawn Carstens and Ashley Watts, church-sponsored missionaries to Zaire, Africa. Other dignitaries participating in the ceremony included District Superintendent Dr. Shelby Fritsche, Federal Judge Daniel Trottier, State Senator Andrew Rihn, talk-show host Aaron Eaves, Spring ISD Superintendent Kelly Johnson, and renowned heart surgeon Dr. Cory Chauvin. Cypress Trails United Methodist Church is located at 22801 Aldine-Westfield, Spring. Regular worship services are held:Saturday, in the Family Life Center -- led by evangelist Mary Margaret Filer -- at 5, 7, and 9pm, with music by Brandon Buell and the Gospel Life quartet. Sunday, in the church’s new multi-media sanctuary, with services led by senior pastor Dr. Snead at 9 and 11am; and at 8am and 10am in the Auditorium, led by assistant pastor McKenna Benson.

 

What is Our Mission and Our Dream?

This is only one article which might be written about our Church. We'd like to remind you that our building fund goes beyond our celebration that the new Faith and Family Center is paid for. It continues to go toward building the future of Cypress Trails Church. 75% of the ongoing offerings we make on our commitments will bring our Sanctuary debt down by over $100 thousand. 25% will go into a fund to be used later as a down payment on a new parsonage. This new building is not the end of a dream, it is the first step in fulfilling the mission of our Church.
In closing, we'd like to repeat the mission statement of Cypress Trails United Methodist Church:

God's primary purpose for our Church is to spread the Holy Spirit and God's Work in our community through unconditional outreach and Christian love by nurturing, uplifting, and supporting personal spiritual growth, through Christian programs and education, and by following the teachings of Jesus.