Here for Good on Austin Parkway
Christ Church Sugar Land sits on Austin Parkway in the heart of First Colony, a residential neighborhood in Sugar Land, Texas, southwest of Houston. Since 1983, this United Methodist congregation has grown up around a simple motto: Here for Good. The phrase appears on signs around the building and recurs in mission language, framing the church as a place that exists for the good of the church, the community, and the world.
That threefold language comes from the church's stated mission: "Christ Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and the world." The congregation numbers roughly five hundred and fifty worshipers on a typical weekend, and Sunday brings three distinct worship services running back to back, a full Sunday School hour, and a roster of midweek programs that touch nearly every age and stage of life.
Three Ways to Worship on Sunday
Christ Church offers three Sunday morning worship services designed for different musical and liturgical tastes.
Mosaic meets at 9:30 AM in the Sanctuary. It is the gathering place for blended worship, pairing traditional and modern music and including Communion every week. The service draws families with school-age children and adults who appreciate a middle path between classic liturgy and contemporary song.
Traditional worship begins at 11:00 AM in the Sanctuary. Chancel Choir, organ, liturgy, and a steady diet of hymns mark this classic Methodist service.
Contemporary worship runs at the same hour, 11:00 AM, but in the Family Life Center Gym (also called Covenant Hall). The worship band leads a high-energy service designed for those who prefer modern praise songs. Childcare and activity tables for young children make the contemporary service especially accessible to parents with little ones.
Sunday School for all ages meets at 9:30 AM alongside Mosaic, so a family can drop children at their classes and parents can join an adult study group before moving to a worship service.
First Sundays at Christ Church
Visitors arriving for the first time will find a Welcome Center in the Gathering Hall, just inside the double doors at the main entrance. Volunteers staff the center every Sunday morning to answer questions and point newcomers in the right direction.
Dress runs the full range, from suits and ties to jeans and t-shirts. Anyone who would rather watch before visiting in person can livestream Sunday morning services on the church's Facebook page and YouTube channel, with replays available through the online video archive.
Nursery care is available for children up to three years old from 9:30 AM until noon. Sunday School classes for children eighteen months and up begin at 9:30 AM. The check-in process uses kiosks outside Christ Kids Corner, where parents print a name tag for each child and receive a security claim check for children in second grade and younger. On the first Sunday of every month, the church celebrates First Family Sunday and encourages families to worship together, with children and youth participating as readers and prayer leaders.
Worship bags and family rooms are available for parents who want to keep young ones close. Childcare for children five and younger is offered during all worship services.
Christ Kids: Children from Nursery through Sixth Grade
Christ Kids is the children's ministry arm of Christ Church, organized around four pillars: Discipleship, Prayer, Mission, and Music. The ministry's stated goal is to help children Know Jesus, Follow Jesus, and Serve Jesus in their daily lives, and the program is intentionally intergenerational and multiethnic to reflect the surrounding community.
Sunday morning offerings include Preschool Sunday School for children ages two through five in Christ Kids Corner (Rooms 111 and 113), Christ Kids Sunday School for first through fourth grade in the Christ Kids Loft, and 56ers for fifth and sixth graders in Rooms 206 and 207. 56ers is specifically designed as a pre-Confirmation experience, walking students through Bible basics, the history of the Church, and the core beliefs of the Christian faith.
Outside the classroom, Christ Kids runs Upward Basketball, a co-ed league for children in kindergarten through sixth grade hosted in the Covenant Hall gym. The league is in its sixth season at Christ Church and emphasizes skill development, character, and a positive first experience with team sports.
Pastor Susie Puac, a graduate of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and a native of Guatemala, serves as Pastor of Family Ministries. Sarah Schwab is the Coordinator of Children and Family Discipleship. Both welcome questions from parents looking to get connected.
Youth Ministry for Middle and High School
Christ Church Youth Ministries serve seventh through twelfth grade students through three weekly touchpoints.
Sunday School gathers in the Youth Lounge from 9:30 to 10:15 AM. Sunday Night Youth Group runs from 5:00 to 7:00 PM in the same space, with a $2 suggested donation for dinner, Bible study, age- and gender-based small groups, and games. Wednesday evenings alternate between two formats: first Wednesdays feature small groups with dinner provided at church, and third Wednesdays are "Where Are We Wednesdays," with gatherings at announced locations communicated by email and on the youth Band app.
Middle schoolers and high schoolers are led by a team that includes Rev. Jordan Czichos, Pastor of Connecting Ministries and Youth & Young Adult Discipleship; Ezri Gomez, Director of High School and Young Adult Discipleship, a 2026 graduate of Perkins School of Theology at SMU; and Rylie Shipp, Director of Middle School and Recreation, who grew up in Christ Church Sugar Land and studied kinesiology and recreation management at LeTourneau University.
Christ Church School: A Preschool and Mother's Day Out Since 1987
Christ Church School opened in 1987 as a Christian preschool and Mother's Day Out program serving ages twelve months through kindergarten. The school welcomes families of all backgrounds and structures its program around five areas of growth: spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual, and social.
Tuition varies by class. Toddler classes for children twelve to twenty-four months meet two or four days a week. Two-year-olds can attend two, three, or five days a week. Three- and four-year-olds choose three-day or five-day schedules. Bridge and Kindergarten classes meet five days a week, Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM. Children two and older attend motor class, music class, and chapel each week. Each classroom has two full-time teachers.
The 2026-2027 school year began on Monday, August 24. The school year follows the Fort Bend ISD calendar with breaks for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break. The office is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM and can be reached at the school number. Michelle Comeaux serves as Director of Christ Church School, with Rodie Aguirre as Assistant Director.
Adult Discipleship and Small Groups
Small groups are the backbone of adult formation at Christ Church. The Adult Discipleship ministry helps newcomers filter by group type, day of the week, and online availability. Small groups meet across every day of the week, with options for men, women, and mixed groups, and many are open to online or hybrid participation.
Small groups are not the only way adults grow here. Bible-based studies, faith-formation studies, and special retreats supplement the small-group rhythm. The church also runs a churchwide Bible in a Year reading plan, with bookmarks and a downloadable PDF that walks the congregation through Genesis to Revelation in weekly segments. The sermon series connects to the readings, and a weekly Sunday Leftovers email delivers a sermon recap, devotional content, and small-group discussion questions.
Women's Ministry, Men's Ministry, and the Helping Hands
Women's Ministry gathers women of every demographic, age, culture, and ethnicity around Bible-based studies, faith-formation events, and missions. A signature offering is the annual Women's Retreat, a weekend of worship, breakout sessions, prayer stations, crafts, and fellowship held at the church.
Men's Ministry centers on Helping Hands, a Tuesday morning work crew that meets from 8:00 AM to noon to handle projects around the church property. Past projects have included the construction of Jacob's Well, the installation of showers in the Family Life Center, electrical and plumbing repairs, and parking lot striping. The crew typically gathers for lunch after a morning of work.
LIFE Ministries: Living in Faith Everyday
LIFE Ministries is the daytime ministry hub of Christ Church, designed for adults who want to participate in church life during business hours. The acronym stands for Living in Faith Everyday.
Threads of LIFE meets Fridays from 9:00 to 10:30 AM in the Conference Room. The group knits and crochets prayer shawls that are later blessed and distributed to people in need of comfort and healing. Beginners are welcome, and members who cannot attend in person can work on prayer shawls at home and donate them for blessing.
Be Fit for LIFE is a gentle exercise class held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 AM in Rooms 210 and 211. Men and women practice movements to improve breathing, flexibility, and balance. The class is also offered by Zoom.
LIFE Lessons Bible Study meets every Friday at 10:00 AM at Pegasus Preserve, 16900 Lexington Blvd in Sugar Land. The weekly community Bible study includes a few hymns, shared joys and concerns, prayer, and a Scripture lesson taught by Jan Randolph, Director of Adult LIFE Ministries.
L.I.F.E. Time Readers Book Club gathers on the third Wednesday of each month at 9:30 AM in the Family Room. Members discuss books across genres and welcome newcomers who want to read and talk about what they have read.
The Gathering is a monthly respite program for loved ones with memory loss, specifically mild to moderate Alzheimer's, other dementias, or cognitive impairment. It meets on the first Thursday of each month from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM. Caregivers receive respite or join a caregivers' support group while their loved ones participate in games, music, arts and crafts, lunch, exercise, and socialization. The Gathering is run in partnership with Care Partners of Texas.
LIFE Lines: Homebound Ministries extends the congregation's reach to members who can no longer attend in person. LIFE Greetings sends regular notes and cards to homebound members, LIFE Lessons delivers the written text of the LIFE Lessons Bible study, and Bread of L.I.F.E. Homebound Communion brings the Communion Table to members who are unable to attend worship.
Music Ministries from Chancel Choir to Accordion Club
Music is a defining mark of Christ Church Sugar Land. Minister of Traditional Music David Lee oversees a layered program of choirs, handbell ensembles, and instrumental groups, alongside Community Arts offerings that include private lessons and ensemble classes.
The adult choral program centers on the Chancel Choir, which leads worship at the 11:00 AM Traditional service. Rehearsals are Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in the Music Hall, and no audition is required. Free childcare is available during rehearsals. Festival Choir is open to the wider community and prepares major choral-orchestral works for the church's Spring, Fall, and Christmas concerts, with past performances including Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, John Rutter's Requiem, Gloria, and Magnificat, and Dan Forrest's Jubilate Deo. Two smaller ensembles round out the adult choral program: Singing Churchmen, the men's chorus, and Bella Voce, the women's chorus, both rehearsing on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:00 PM.
Children's choirs begin with Cherub Choir for children ages three through kindergarten (Sundays, 10:15 to 10:30 AM in Room 110), Melody Makers I for first and second grade (Sundays, 9:30 to 9:45 AM in Room 208), and Melody Makers II for third through fifth grade (Sundays, 9:45 to 10:15 AM in Room 208). The choirs perform on Palm Sunday, Christmas Eve, and throughout the year.
Instrumental ensembles welcome musicians in seventh grade and above. The Christ Church Ringers handbell choir rehearses Mondays from 6:00 to 8:00 PM and welcomes ringers of all experience levels. The Sacred Harp Ensemble, a Celtic lever harp group, rehearses Mondays from 3:00 to 4:30 PM in the Choir Room and provides instruction and harps for beginners. Adult and senior high string players, brass, and woodwind players form ensembles that prepare for worship services and concerts, with schedules typically set three to four weeks before performances. The Fort Bend Accordion Club meets on the fourth Sunday of each month from 2:00 to 4:00 PM in the Music Hall, with a potluck meal.
Community Arts extends the music ministry beyond the church walls. The Dolce Music Academy offers Suzuki-based private instruction in violin, viola, cello, and bass. Koistinen Music and Arts Studio offers private and group piano lessons for beginners of all ages. Christ Church hosts the First Colony Homeschool Ensembles for homeschool students. Private lessons in piano and harp are scheduled directly with instructors.
Prayer and Pastoral Care, Including Stephen Ministry
Prayer is woven into the rhythm of the week. The Care Team gathers Monday mornings at 10:00 AM for devotion and to share prayer updates. Hearts of Grace meets Wednesday mornings to lift up congregational prayer requests and the church's ministries. Wednesdays at noon bring a Prayer Time Livestream from the Chapel, broadcast on Facebook, where prayer partners and staff pray together and accept live prayer requests in the comments.
For those who want prayer during worship, altar prayer partners stand ready at the altar rail during Communion and after the service.
Stephen Ministry has been part of Christ Church since 1997. Stephen Ministers are trained lay people, congregation members over the age of 18, who have completed 50 hours of training in providing confidential, one-to-one Christian care. They meet weekly with a care receiver for as long as the need lasts. The ministry is open to anyone over eighteen, members and non-members alike, who is facing tough times. Stephen Ministry is confidential: the identity of those receiving care and what takes place in each caring relationship remains private.
Beyond Stephen Ministry, the church sends cards through LIFE Greetings, delivers the written text of Bible study lessons to homebound members, and visits members who are hospitalized. The Pastor of Caring Ministries, Rev. Marisela Weaver, oversees pastoral care, and the Lead Associate Pastor, Rev. Michelle Hall, coordinates hospital visits.
Support Groups and Recovery Meetings
Christ Church hosts several ongoing support groups on its campus.
Alcoholics Anonymous meets twice weekly. A closed meeting is held Wednesdays from 12:00 to 1:00 PM in Room 202. An open meeting is held Mondays from 8:00 to 9:00 PM in Rooms 210 and 211.
Overeaters Anonymous meets Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00 PM in Room 203 and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in Room 202. Both are open meetings.
Depression and Bipolar Support, facilitated by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Greater Houston, meets Thursdays at 7:00 PM in Rooms 208 and 209.
DivorceCare is a multi-week series offered Wednesdays at 6:30 PM, beginning with a 6:00 PM light meal. GriefShare is a multi-week series offered Thursdays at 11:30 AM with refreshments. Both are open to members and non-members.
Cancer Support offers Journey Buddies for cancer patients and caregivers, providing a listening ear and steady presence.
Missions: From the Garden to the Dream League
Missions at Christ Church run the gamut from the church's own backyard to international relief.
East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry is the church's primary local food and clothing partner. Christ Church volunteers staff the food pantry on alternating Tuesdays, prepare food orders, sort donations, drive trucks, and tend a pantry garden. Non-perishable donations can be dropped off at bins in the Gathering Hall, the Family Life Center, or the downstairs Food Pantry bin Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, and on Sundays before and after worship. The Tri-City Churches Resale Shop, which sells donated goods to support EFBHNM's programs, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The Garden Ministry grows vegetables in a plot directly behind the Family Life Center. The garden donates its harvest to the EFBHNM food bank, and volunteers meet every Saturday morning at 9:00 AM (8:00 AM in the summer). In 2025, the garden donated 3,404 pounds of food.
Fort Bend Family Promise hosts homeless families at Christ Church four weeks a year, transforming a room in the Family Life Center into a hospitality space with evening meals and wraparound support.
The Dream League is a baseball league for children with intellectual and physical challenges played on the First Colony Little League Fields right next door to the church. The season runs from late February through early May, with games on Saturday mornings. Volunteers fifteen and older (nine to fourteen with a parent) can serve as Angels in the Outfield to assist and encourage individual players.
Habitat for Humanity is a long-running partnership with Fort Bend Habitat for Humanity. Christ Church has dedicated eighteen homes to date, with a nineteenth on the way. Volunteers build alongside the future homeowner, who contributes 300 sweat equity hours as part of Habitat's "a hand up, not a hand out" philosophy.
Disaster Relief supports the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) by assembling health kits, hygiene kits, school kits, and cleaning buckets. Volunteers can train as Early Response Team members, serve at the local Red Cross shelter, or help distribute supplies.
Angel Tree shares the joy of Christmas by providing gifts for local children, families, and older adults in need. GIFT, which stands for giving in faith together, lets members donate to mission work in honor of a friend or family member, with personalized cards sent to the recipient.
International Missions extend the church's reach beyond Sugar Land.
Beliefs and Identity: A United Methodist Congregation
Christ Church Sugar Land identifies as a congregation of The United Methodist Church and stands in the broad Christian tradition. Members affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He lives yet today, calling all to follow Him as the Sovereign of their lives. The church confesses belief in the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in the Bible as the Word of God by which lives are informed and measured.
The church draws explicitly on the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, embracing Wesley's ideal of being "people of the one Book." The commitment the church asks of its members is to take seriously the responsibility to share the good news of God's grace, growing in the knowledge and love of God and supporting the church with their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service, and their witness.
Those interested in becoming members are invited to call the church during business hours to speak with a pastor about the meaning of membership and baptism, or to mark the box on the back of the weekly Connect Card in the Sunday bulletin under "Next Steps" that reads "I would like to become a member." Someone from the church follows up the next week.
Christ Church Sugar Land occupies a distinctive place among United Methodist congregations in the Houston area, a place where a Stephen Ministry tradition dating to 1997, a Festival Choir that has performed Handel's Messiah and John Rutter's Requiem, and a Saturday morning gardening crew that donates thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables to a local food bank all coexist under one roof on Austin Parkway. The motto says it plainly: Here for Good.