On an icy Sunday in January, 1985, ninety-five men, women, and children met for Eucharist with our first Vicar in a living room in Northwest Houston. That day some 60 adults signed the Charter and Articles of Association. The congregation subsequently met in a private school. By February, a Bishop’s Committee, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Worship Leaders, and Altar Guild were in place, as were a choir and a Christian Education program. That same month the publication of the St Mary’s Messenger began. By March, the private school facilities had been outgrown, and St Mary’s moved to a nearby public elementary school. In April the first Easter services were held outside on the property that currently contains St Mary’s. 1985 also saw the first baptism, the first marriage, and the first Gift Market, as well as the building of a structure on the property to serve as offices and program center.
Ground was broken for the church building in March 1987, and on Palm Sunday 1988 the congregation processed two miles from its temporary home to its permanent one. An important event was the restoration and installation of our large tracker organ in the new Nave.
With continued growth, St. Mary’s became a parish at Diocesan Council 1993. Ten years later, in 2003, ground was broken for the Holy Family Center (HFC), comprising Christian Education facilities, meeting spaces, and the Parish Hall. Before construction began, a parish-wide effort paid off the loan remaining on the church building and raised $750,000 up front for the HFC. The structure was completed and occupied in July of 2004, at a total cost of $1,100,000 (the debt incurred for this effort was also subsequently retired by a parish-wide effort). At this time the original Office and Program Center (OPC) building was rededicated to the Music Program. In 2004 and 2005 an Outdoor Worship Center and a children’s playground were constructed, both of which are still in use. That August St Mary’s celebrated its twentieth anniversary.
The last fifteen years have been a period of innovation and outreach. We initiated online worship and devotions as a response to the disruptions caused by Hurricane Harvey, during and after which St Mary’s served as a refuge and resource for the flood’s victims, just as eight years before we had provided assistance and shelter to refugees from Louisiana’s Hurricane Katrina. We look forward to continued spiritual and physical growth in the decades to come.