South Main Baptist Church

This is my church. I moved to Houston after college because of a job opportunity. As an early-​20s male at the time, I looked for a church that had plenty of younger people but was also conveniently located.
South Main was this and more. I found not just young people, but a multi-​generational church; many of the congregants have been coming here their whole lives, and yet there is a decent blend of transplants from elsewhere looking for a place to call home.
SMBC is the perfect blend of cool, beautiful, deep, thoughtful, and brave. I look forward to staying with this church for a long time.

This church is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Does not believe homosexuality is a sin. Has women in ministerial positions. Be! ieves that non Christians can still go to heaven. Believe that when you die and are raised up on Judgement Day you can still accept Christ and be saved prior to Judgement. I wrote a letter to the ministerial staff asking clarification or justification on these beliefs and no one ever got back to me. Made me sad– more for them then myself. If these beliefs are in line with your own then you should like the church. The congregation is well educated, mostly affluent, older and majority white. Don’t take my word for it, verify for yourself, my perspective may be mistaken. The buildings and grounds are lovely, though the main building is definitely showing its age. The main church chapel is currently undergoing a major renovation. The renovation include the church organ. This church goes with traditional organ music for worship services instead of the more contemporary style of music. This church has a strong family vibe and its members are outgoing and friendly, liberalistic in their views but not politically activist.

I was visiting relatives in Houston and looked for a place of worship for Sunday morning. The building is over 100 years old. The stained glass windows are beautiful. The sermon was excellent barsed on the lenten season.
I had my 4 year old grand daughter with me and headed for the Welcome center. It was 1 minute before 11. No one was there. We walked toward the sound of children and found a man looking into the window of a marvelous indoor play ground. I asked where the 4 year olds go. He didn’t know, but asked a lady coming down the hall. She pointed us to the correct room. I went to the church foyer. But the service had started and i was not allowed to go in to the sanctuary until the prayer and then baptism were over. I could, however, go up to the balcony, which I did.
If you are looking for music from the Hymnal and with a beautiful organ, this is a beautiful place to worship. Facilities for the children are excellent.

What a fabulous place to worship God! It is located in Midtown Houston at Main Street and Richmond. The buildings are historical and gorgeous… especially the stained glass in the Sanctuary. WOW!
It is a phenomenal place to grow families. The Main Kids children’s ministry is second to none under the amazing leadership of Dolores Rader, a former NASA engineer (seriously!).
What I like most about South Main is that there is such a diverse group of people, ages, ethnicities, education, political opinions. I am always learning from different people. I feel challenged and supported in this church family.

I have been looking around Houston for Churches, not necessarily for religion, but for Architecture, and I must say this church is beautiful!

A friend sings in their choir and always invites me and my boyfriend when they have performances. They must be the closest thing to what praising God in Heaven will be like. They all have amazing voices and are blessed with a great director. Thomas Coker will be retiring soon, so I’m glad we got a chance to see his work firsthand.
The first time we went it was for the Mass of the Children and it was absolutely adorable to see the little ones share their God-​given talent with others. Their discipline is amazing!
The second time we went it was for their Christmas program and it was equally fantastic. It included Rutter Gloria, Jazz Gloria of Rob Landes (with maracas, which I loved!), Vaughan Williams The Blessed Son of God a little jazz Coker arrangement of Alfred Burt’s «We’ll Dress the House», incredible festival brass and great congregational singing.
People are also very welcoming and friendly. We had a chance to speak with Coker and he was extremely nice. The church is gorgeous too.

I love this church because of it’s thought provoking worship and bible study, the best friends, the fun things we do together, and the incredible campus. But what means the most to me is how the people of South Main Baptist Church continually seek to find ways to live the way Jesus taught us, loving our neighbor as ourselves (feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the unclothed, visiting the prisoners, etc.). I encourage you to try it — you will find comfort and peace.

Traveling along US 59, you take the spur for the exits to Travis, Richmond, Louisiana, or Brazos streets. On your right — just after the old hotel, powerstation, and Shipley’s doughnuts — is a large church with a red roof — a «catholicly”-looking thing. Is it a Catholic church? People have visited there thinking it was. What a surprise for them when they find out the place is South Main *Baptist* Church!
Yeah. I’m biased. I’m Christian, and I grew up at South Main where to this day I’m still a member. And like the associate pastor at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, I give my own church but four stars for the simple reason that it is not a perfect place because the folks running things there are human beings. But it is a good, good place to be.
Worship at South Main (two morning services) is traditional Baptist with bits of the Episcopal liturgy thrown in. The current pastor, Steve Wells, is the son of an Episcopal priest and during Steve’s confession prayers at church, you will sometimes find he quotes the Book of Common Prayer almost word-​for-​word.
Worship at South Main is more low-​key than one might think of a Baptist congregation. It boasts a large and active adult choir, organ, traditional hymn-​singing, as well as the sermon (about twenty minutes to a half-​hour in duration). Watch out: Steve is a wonderful guy, but the sermon is followed by an offertory and other things, which give him opportunity to be a wee bit talkative at the end of the service when Cleburne Cafeteria awaits.
Having been a recipient of great blessing through these particular ministries, I have to say the crown jewels in South Main’s crown are the music and youth ministries, both of which have never waned or grown stagnant when some might say other parts of the church’s life have from time to time. The youth department boasts an uninterrupted social continuity (both kids and parents) going back at least six decades. The music ministry has been a great community and leader in worship through music since the church’s inception in 1903. Like everywhere else at South Main, the youth and music ministries are, before all else, communities.
Additionally, South Main has mastered the secret of strong youth ministry: parents who care and get and stay involved even after their own kids graduate and move on.
And don’t forget the ornate church building with the beautiful rose window and other stained-​glass windows. When the place was built in the 1930s, the architect was Roman Catholic and materials were much-​less expensive in those days.
South Main is also a time capsule. If you want to see what Baptists in the American South were like before the ruckus in the Southern Baptist Convention nigh on thirty years ago, South Main (a church which took up the progressive/​moderate stance in that little scuffle) is your place of choice.
Going there, you will find a lot of the congregation is politically moderate-​to-​conservative, but you will find all parts of the political and theological spectrum at South Main save stereotypical environmentalist-​whacko and abortion-​clinic-​bomber. All people are welcome, but be prepared to have your fundamentalist biblical-​inerrancy ideas challenged. South Main is orthodox (with a small ‘o’) in its belief in Christ as Lord and Saviour, but there are no literal seven days of creation to be found there.
Instead, what you will find at South Main Baptist Church is love. And if you know where to look, a lot of Shipley’s doughnuts.
Jeff