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| Wheeler Avenue
Baptist Church Celebrates 40 years |
When Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church turns 40 years old in a few weeks, over 3,000 members and friends are expected to be on hand to help celebrate at the George Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. "Forty Years to the Promised Land" is the theme of this year's celebration which culminates on Sunday, June 2, 2002 with 11:00a.m. Worship Services (9:00a.m. Sunday School). Founding Pastor William A. "Bill" Lawson and the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church family will welcome keynote speaker Reverend Doctor Renita J. Weems, Professor of Biblical Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. A graduate of Wellesley College and Princeton Theological Seminary, Dr. Weems is also an author, scholar, lecturer and former contributing writer for Essence Magazine. Fortieth anniversary activities kicked off earlier this month with a 24-hour prayer vigil. On May 18 the church sponsored a concert featuring jazz/gospel saxophonist Kirk Whalum, along with gospel recording artist Kim Burrel. Whalum was an active member of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church while a student at Texas Southern University. On Saturday, May 25, 2002 from 12 Noon - 5:00 p.m., church families will gather for a Picnic and Talent show at the High School for Health Professions, 3100 Shenadoah. On the following Friday night, May 31 at 7:00 p.m., the Music Ministry will host an All Choirs Concert in the main sanctuary, located at 3826 Wheeler at Scott. It was 40 years ago in the Spring of l962 that 13 people gathered in the home of Bill and Audrey Lawson to pray about establishing a church to minister to the needs of the Riverside-Timbercrest community. Rev. Lawson, who recently celebrated 55 years in ministry, moved his family to Houston in the fall of 1955 to become Director of the Baptist Student Union at Texas Southern University. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, he is a graduate of Tennessee A&I State University in Nashville and has a Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology from Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. Today, the church provides programs and services through 55 plus ministries to children and youth, teens, single parents, the elderly, sick and shut-in, homeless, men and women in recovery, inmates and their families, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and thousands of other individuals and families in need, both locally and globally. The church is nationally recognized for its extraordinary number of Eagle Scouts ( 100+) and for its Boys' and Girls' Rites of Passage programs, both of which have become models for inner-city churches nationwide. Located in the historic Third Ward, just minutes from downtown Houston, the church broke ground on two multi-story, multi-million dollar Community and Christian Life Centers earlier this year. For more information, call 713/748-5240. |
| May Archives |