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Story | Family of Faith Lutheran Church

Church Leads School-Wide Revitalization

Members of Family of Faith helped to beautify the school's campus and show the congregation's concern for the community...

On a sunny September Sunday, members of Family of Faith Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas, put their “Faith In Action” through a community service project at Langham Creek High School, just down the road from the church’s campus. Working with students of the public high school and their parents, members of Family of Faith helped to beautify the school’s campus and show the congregation’s concern for the community.

Langham Creek is a campus of 3,600 students packed into facilities designed for a much smaller student body. Overcrowding has contributed to a number of high-profile incidents of violence earning the campus its nickname of “Gang’em Creek.”

“The community’s demographics are changing quickly,” states Family of Faith’s pastor, Rev. Dr. Mike Ramey. “In the years we have been privileged to serve in this area, there has been an increase in area population and a shifting of the culture from a primarily white-suburban area to an increasing number of minorities and a more urban society.”

Family of Faith has sought to be a place where the public schools and their students are lifted up in prayer and supported by the church. “Our church buildings host everything from parents’ groups to some of the school’s activities and organizations that are unable to use the school’s facilities, due to too many groups and too little space,” Rev. Ramey says.

“’Don’t GO to church…BE the church!’ was our motto for a month,” said the pastor. “We’ve been focusing on service and compassion in a way that encourages members of the Body of Christ to be Christ’s hands, feet, and proclamation before the world. If we take our God-given faith and let it be ‘ablaze’ not just in our words, but especially in our deeds…well, that’s the kind of proclamation the world will sit up and take notice of.”

The students that participated were given certificates for their community service. Students who are members of extra-curricular activities are required to put in a prescribed number of such service hours. Principal Tom Strother acknowledged the hard work of the major groups that participated, including the Junior ROTC command, the Bailadoras’ dance troupe, and Drama Club members. Their efforts are being touted by the school’s leadership as examples of the pride school officials hope to instill under the theme of “Lobo Pride” (Lobos are the team mascot).

“People are used to churches doing fundraisers for their youth, mission trips, etc.,” Ramey continued, “but not hosting events at no cost or distributing anything for free. It makes people stop and think differently about what churches are all about.”