Missions. Many people support them and some people go on mission trips, sometimes to a distant land. Here’s a real twist to what you might think of when you think of missions. If you’ve ever sat in the Sagemont Baptist Chapel, the Gymnatorium, the old worship center (now HRA) or the new worship center then you’ve experienced the fruits of a mission project. Yes, the Sagemont Church of today started as a mission project almost 50 years ago.
Let me start at the beginning – well actually I have to go back further than that. You see, our own senior pastor’s father was the pastor of First Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas. During his tenure at First Baptist Church, Dr. L.D. Morgan answered the call to start a mission project in every part of Pasadena that needed to hear the word of God. As a result of his vision and faithfulness to what God had laid on his heart, seven Baptist missions were spread throughout the Pasadena area. One of those mission sites was in a big new housing development called Sagemont south of Houston on Interstate 45. The initial footprint for this mission project was a small parcel of land - a little over five acres.
With the site selected and the mission vision in place, the next step was to select the right pastor to bring the vision to life to reach people in the area looking for a church home and those who had never heard the word of God.
Vicki Richards (current Sagemont member) provided some unique insight on this very important key piece of the project. Vicki’s mother, Juanita Helmle, was on the Missions committee at First Baptist Church and was in charge of reviewing all of the resumes for the opening. This required much prayer as there were several young men from the home church coming out of seminary that were qualified for the job. Vicki remembers her mom saying that the Lord had put it on her heart that it should be John Morgan. This could have been an issue because he was the pastor’s son, but the whole missionary board voted and John Morgan was selected.
Upon receiving a late night phone call with the offer to lead the mission project, John flew to Houston. He viewed the empty lot, saw no parsonage, was handed a postcard with the names of 14 members of First Baptist of Pasadena who would come over and made his decision. John Morgan accepted the call to pastor the Sagemont Baptist Chapel mission project effective June 1, 1966. John had preached at other small churches both while at Baylor and Southwest Theological Seminary on weekends, but this would be his first full time assignment. Actually, until he graduated from Southwest Theological Seminary he still commuted between there and Houston on weekends for a couple of months.
John went right to work and started walking through the Sagemont subdivision with a hand full of index cards knocking on doors and meeting people. Even though there were seven other couples who came from First Baptist in Pasadena to help with the mission planting, he quickly found other Baptists already in the new neighborhood. One of those couples was Bob and Barbara Breeden. Barbara said she clicked with Brother John immediately when he came up the driveway to introduce himself. When he came back that evening to meet her husband, Bob was taken with him as well. Not only did they want to be part of this new and exciting project, they also opened up their home for Wednesday night services and any emergency church meetings and held the very first choir practices there.
Pat Medlin (one of the original 14) had very fond memories of choir practice at night at the Breedens’ house – the sopranos in the living room, the basses were on the front porch and others in other rooms. Pat said she couldn’t sing and she knew she couldn’t sing but there was just so much fun during this time. Everybody knew everybody. They’d have potluck suppers on Sunday nights. They were a family.
When asked how she and her first husband felt about leaving First Baptist of Pasadena and coming to this project, she said with a wide grin, “We were excited. Fun. We were a part of something.” Pat also confirmed that they never wanted to leave and go back to a church where everything was already in place. “Words cannot explain the pride you have when you look at where we came from to where we are now. I’m so glad to have been a part of that,” she said with a wide grin.
When the building on Hughes Road was completed, that first Sunday on October 1, 1966 in Sagemont Baptist Chapel was something to behold. A young 25-year-old preacher was about to give his first sermon at his new church. Who could imagine at that time that he’d be the leader of this fledgling church for many decades? Yes, that first sermon, the opening of the Chapel and a gathering of 150 souls to hear God’s Word was truly a wonderful culmination of vision, a heart for missions and hard work.
Here are some accounts from couples who attended that very first church service in the Sagemont Baptist Chapel.
Bob and Barbara Breeden – They already had a head start on knowing who people were from the choir practices and church meetings. Bob taught the first Sunday School lesson on that first Sunday for couples.
Jimmie Sue and Dick Orth were in the first Sunday group. When the Chapel was under construction, Dick would stop by almost every day to see what was going on. He came home one day and told his wife that that church was going to be their church. Sure enough, they joined Sagemont that very first Sunday.
The church was short of people to help with the congregation, and the minute Dick walked in the doors he was grabbed and pressed into service as an usher and had to sit on the front row. Being seven months pregnant, Jimmie Sue had to sit close to the restroom near the rear of the building. Although they don’t remember too much about the first service, they remembered feeling at home and very welcome.
Laniel and Jesse Vawter had just moved into Sagemont in September of 1966 and they classified themselves as wounded Christians. They had just left a church that was full of in-fighting and denigrating people from the pulpit – it was just unbelievable. They’d already vowed that they would NEVER, EVER, EVER go back to a Baptist church or any organized church again. They could worship better among themselves, their little girl and the Bible.
One day as they were planting grass, a young man approached them and introduced himself. He lived just down the street and would be the pastor of the new church that was opening up in two weeks. He asked them to try it out – they were receptive to him but between themselves they decided that there was little chance that they would go.
Yet that first Sunday morning, the Lord woke Jesse up (no alarm had been set) and told him it was time for him to go to church. He told his wife that they were going to church. The family got up and went and as Laniel will boldly tell you, “Nothing’s been the same since.” She said, “ The Spirit of the Lord was so powerful that service I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a service like that since.” As a matter of fact, she still gets goose bumps talking about it today. At the end of the service they were both convicted to join the church that very day and have been members ever since.
Tommy and Dot Biggs have relocated to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area but were there the first Sunday. They too were one of the couples that Brother John contacted about coming to the new church. They’d been going to Woodridge Baptist Church in Houston and were looking for a church closer to their new home. From the very beginning, Tommy took on the responsibility for the Intermediate Sunday School Department.
Dot remembers that there were many people at the church on Saturday to prepare for the first Sunday service of Sagemont Baptist Chapel. Another thing that really stuck with her was how this church had opened its doors with everything a church needed to hold services. Because First Baptist was behind this effort, they had a pastor, a choir, choir robes, hymnals, church literature - everything you could possibly want.
The ‘pioneering’ Sagemont members I interviewed for this story gave strikingly similar answers to the same questions I asked each of them about the Sagemont Church then and now.
“What do you miss most from the early days?”
Everyone was willing to take a place of service and work.
The special intimacy – everyone had to do something. When you joined, you were assigned and went to a training union to learn to teach Sunday School or perform some other key function.
The families being together and the training unions on Sunday nights. We learned so much about the Baptist Church history, denominational offices, universities and more.
Really miss the closeness. Many times people would move away and then move back because they missed the church so much.
“Name something you’re glad that the church has now.”
The many different ways for people to serve, not just in Sunday School (iCONNECT) or childcare. People have so many talents and gifts to use.
Now church teams are in place instead of committees. That process works so much better. The teams help people find a place to serve.
There are more activities for young people and a tremendous staff and associate pastors to support Brother John.
“What are your thoughts on the changes in technology in the church?”
Love getting the Pastoral Care report in email. And I can sing with my head up now and see the words on the big screen [instead of looking down at a hymnal].
The great improvement in the acoustics and audio/visual equipment. In the old days we used a cheap microphone set up that cost about $100.00. It was hard to hear and not very good quality. That is so important to get your message across - what you see and what you hear.
“What changes in people have you observed?”
In the beginning, it was pretty much only young couples. It was quite a while before we ever had a funeral. It was so exciting. Many of the men worked at NASA and lots of things/activities in the church were planned around mission launches. As the church grew, we had a wider range of age groups and as the neighborhood grew, so did the ethnic makeup. Sagemont has embraced and adapted to both age and ethnicity changes, due in large part to Brother John Morgan as a visionary and his ability to motivate us as a church.
One thing that hasn’t changed is that Brother John really does practice what he preaches and it shows. A quick example is: Brother John would tell everyone to pack a lunch and take it to work (part of his how-to-save-money strategy) and he’d bring his lunch to the church, too.
Back in high school John Morgan was very popular and well-liked and got along with everyone. He really hasn’t changed. He has that same sweet gentle spirit about him that he had all those years ago.
In the beginning, our church was small and everybody knew everybody. Now because of the sheer size and multiple church services and Sunday School (iCONNECT) offerings, someone can tell you that they go to Sagemont but you’ve never seen them. I really miss the closeness to people that we had in the old days.
“What are some of the things that Sagemont members need to do to keep the church going and growing?”
Just as Brother John has been doing – keep preaching the Bible.
Keep in contact with new visitors who come to visit us.
Members need to be involved in the church and volunteer. You need to be a part of the church in order to feel connected. You really don’t get that when you just come and go home.
Tithing is important. In the early years almost everyone tithed. No one thought or expected that someone else would do the tithing to keep the doors open and bills paid.
Sometimes when history repeats itself, it can be a good thing. Although some of the mission fields may have changed and yes, the buildings and membership of Sagemont have grown, it seems very clear to me that our church, under the leadership of Dr. John Morgan is still on that very focused and dedicated path that he envisioned many years ago. I’ll let history provide the summary for this story.
I took this excerpt from the Historical Summary of Sagemont Baptist Church, 20th Anniversary June 1, 1986 edition, author unknown:
The Lord has given us a vision of the world. We see a field that is white unto harvest. We look beyond the boundaries of our own country to needs to start churches in areas like Mexico, South Africa, Korea, Nigeria, Brazil, and wherever else God might lead. We know that God has let us receive many blessings but we still believe that this is just the beginning. As we come to celebrate our twentieth anniversary, having seen thousands of people come to know the Lord and unite with our church, having seen offerings of millions of dollars, we will believe God has something better if we will just be obedient to His leadership. The figures are important only because they represent people; people for whom Jesus died. If the Church is faithful to exalt the Savior and equip the saints and evangelize the sinners, we will continue to grow. Our greatest need is to be more like Jesus and to be more sensitive to His direction. God will provide the monies and the space and buildings that we need for He is the sole owner of all that is. As we read in the Holy Word, “ the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of people whose heart is perfect toward Him.” Let us all pray that God will not look elsewhere because He finds us not willing to be faithful. Only God knows what is before us and as we celebrate our anniversary, we take our hats off to the past and our coats off to the future. May we all be committed to that which God called us to do. We are not our own, we are bought with a price and it is required of us that we be found faithful.