Shadycrest Church ‘Bound for the Promised Land’

For long-time members of Shadycrest Baptist Church, the journey to the “Promised Land” also comes with a change of address.

The Church is officially moving into a new Worship and Fellowship building on Sunday, February 26.

Although it is adjacent to their current property on Hamm Road in Pearland, the new “front door” will be on the much more traveled Yost Boulevard.

Shadycrest began as a small congregation about 40 years ago as a mission of First Baptist Church, Pearland.

Then, Gerald Harris, Principal of Shadycrest Elementary School allowed the small congregation to meet at his school.

Come the end of the month, Harris will be among the 600 people who now attend Shadycrest each weekend as he moves into the new building.

The Church had a growth spurt about ten years ago, about the same time as the rest of Pearland.

Although adding a second worship service to allow more to attend each Sunday postponed the need for a new Sanctuary, talk of construction had begun.

“Especially for the people who have been here for a while, this has been on their hearts and minds for a while. You hear some of them talk about ‘We’re entering the Promised Land’ because this is something they have been dreaming about for a decade,” said Senior Pastor Dr. Ryan Jennings.

Jennings arrived in August 2010, well into the planning stages.

The Church broke ground on the new facility last February.

The new sanctuary has room for 600 people.

Next to it is a Fellowship Hall where 350 can have a sit-down meal together.

The $5 million project is about one-third paid for.

“For a lot of the folks who have been faithful and giving, and giving to the Building Fund, this is a real big exciting thing for them,” said Pastor Ryan, as he likes to be called.

The construction team gave also.

Dave Palmer of Palmer Construction Company donated the baptistery.

Jennings said Palmer’s only request was, “All I ask is that you use it a lot.”

On Sunday the 26th, Pastor Ryan will preach from Joshua, chapter 24, verse 15: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Pastor Ryan is looking forward to preaching in a place with a “new church smell,” and delivering God’s message and an invitation.

“It offers us an opportunity to once again lock arms together and say, ‘Alright, now we have a new challenge before us.’ We worked really hard. God through us build a great loving family and filled up this facility. Now we have room again for many more to come.”

Pastor Ryan gets excited when he says, “We serve a God who is building an eternal family. That is what He is doing through his church. We are honored and privileged to be a part of that.”

The excitement at Shadycrest continues the following week as they host Don Piper, author of “90 Minutes in Heaven” on March 2-4.

While the new Worship Center isn’t Heaven, Jennings hopes for people who attend, it will be a glimpse of the “Promised Land.”

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Shadycrest Church ‘Bound for the Promised Land’