Houston Chronicle Story About First Baptist Katy and Crossroads Church Of Long Island

Katy News

First Baptist Church of Katy at 600 Pin Oak Road held a special service at 10:30 a.m. September 10 commemorating 9/11 and kicking off its partnership with Crossroads Church of Long Island, New York. The event included special music by soloist Jenna Edwards of Crossroads Church. Edwards, wife of Reverend Sterling Edwards, sings "Everything to Me."
Suzanne Rehak: For the Chronicle

Signing the covenant is Sterling Edwards, pastor of Crossroads, seated. Standing from left, Brad Veitch, director of church planting, Baptist Convention of Syracuse, New York, Richard Harris, vice president of church planting, North America Mission Board in Atlantic City, Georgia and Dr. Randy White, senior pastor, First Baptist Church.
Suzanne Rehak: For the Chronicle

9/11 service ushers in new agreementKaty officials sign covenant with New York church
By KIMBERLY PIÑAChronicle Correspondent

Hamburgers, hot dogs and a group of strangers sitting around a picnic table on Labor Day is how Sterling Edwards and his family will remember the beginning of Crossroads Church of Long Island.
"Labor Day was a really big deal," said Edwards, 33, pastor of the new church in New York. "It was really encouraging to us."

With the help of First Baptist Church of Katy, Edwards, his wife, Jenna, and their two daughters, Madison and Emma, moved to Levittown, N.Y., in July to start the church.
About 20 First Baptist members traveled with Edwards as part of a weeklong mission trip.
Members went door-to-door, to a local beach and to a train station, passing out Frisbees, water bottles and information about Crossroads. They also invited residents to attend home Bible studies.
Before returning to Katy, church members gave Edwards and his family a picnic table for their backyard.
It turned out to be a gift with a greater purpose for the nine people at the Edwardses' Labor Day cookout, the new church's largest gathering so far.
"We didn't know any of these people two months ago, and none of the people who came knew each other," Edwards said. "We knew that picnic table would come in handy."
The new church is a partnership between First Baptist-Katy and the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
To coincide with the five-year anniversary of 9/11, First Baptist held a special service Sunday to mark the church's partnership with Crossroads. Church and mission board leaders signed a formal covenant acknowledging First Baptist's support of the new church.
"What's exciting about this is that we sent out a calling for churches to partner with us, and Katy stepped up," said Richard Harris, vice president of church planting for the North American Mission Board.
The summer mission trip was the first phase of First Baptist's three-year project to build and support the church in New York, said Randy White, First Baptist's senior pastor. The trip exceeded First Baptist's expectations, White said.
"They have worked very diligently to get a core group of people together," said White, who has led First Baptist's 2,500 members for more than three years. "We're slightly ahead of schedule."
Steve Pierson, a church member who went on the mission trip, said it was difficult work but productive. Pierson and other members passed out more than 300 free bottles of water, which New Yorkers especially enjoyed receiving during a summer heat wave.
"We made a lot of contacts with a lot of folks, and it was an interesting trip," Pierson said. "I loved it. I want to go back right now."
First Baptist partnered with the North American Mission board about 18 months ago to set up the new church. The Katy church is investing about $250,000, which the mission board will match. Funding comes from the church's missions budget.
Crossroads is one of more than 40 churches starting in the New York area as part of New Hope New York, an initiative created three years ago by the mission board. Churches are being formed in other metropolitan cities like Chicago, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
First Baptist will serve as the sponsor and mentor to Crossroads, with hopes that the New York church will be self-sufficient in the next three years and eventually start other churches in the area.
Since the First Baptist members left New York, Edwards and his family have continued meeting people in their community and telling them about Crossroads. They have met people at area stores, the post office and even online.
"We're just really looking to build some relationships," said Edwards, adding that he looks forward to the new people he's going to meet each day. "It's just been really pretty amazing for us to see how this unfolds and how much we're not in control."