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The concentric reach of one South Texas church making disciples who make disciples.
The Neighborhood, the State, the Nation, the World
Southwestern News
BY ALEX SIBLEY
CONROE, TEXAS — “We’re from West Conroe Baptist Church. We’d like to pay for your groceries today.” Stop at any grocery store in Conroe, Texas, and you may hear this refrain from members of West Conroe Baptist Church. People from the congregation are known throughout the community for such “random acts of kindness,” and a number of citizens have had their groceries paid for by such generous, servant-minded individuals. Other members of the Greater Houston community have done their laundry for free because a kind-hearted congregant from West Conroe handed out quarters at the laundromat. People in foster care as well as the homeless have received socks, water, and snacks via “blessing bags” from the church’s sewing team. People are being clothed, stomachs are being filled, needs are being met, and prayers are being uplifted for the people of Conroe by West Conroe Baptist Church. All this is done for the purpose of starting spiritual conversations that lead to Gospel presentations, that the lost members of the community might become disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus.
“People not just in Conroe but also in Idaho, Montana, Utah, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and East Asia have benefitted from the church’s mission focus.”
The mission-minded congregation’s efforts extend not just to their neighbors, however, but to their state, their country, and beyond. “If you came to West Conroe and were in very many conversations, you would hear our people say something about taking the church outside of the walls,” says Senior Pastor Jay Gross (’80). “That was a vision I shared with them about 15 years ago, and that’s their vision now.” People not just in Conroe but also in Idaho, Montana, Utah, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and East Asia have benefitted from the church’s mission focus through financial support, mission trips, church planting, and prayer, not to mention “random acts of kindness.” The church has embraced the vision first handed down by Jesus in the Great Commission, and, as Gross says, “they not only are excited about ways of taking our church outside of the walls, but they find ways. They discover ways. They start ministries.”
MISSION DNA As multiple members of West Conroe’s pastoral staff testify, the church’s passion for missions begins with Senior Pastor Jay Gross (‘80, ‘86). “Church planting is part of our DNA, and that comes from the pastor’s heart,” says Kay Robinson (’94), minister of missions. “A church takes on the personality of the pastor, and so it starts with him, and the church has graciously accepted that, and they’re excited about it.”
SPRING 2020