Sunday Mornings at 10 on Belfast Road
Fairmont Park Church meets every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Belfast Road in La Porte, Texas, between the neighborhoods that feed into La Porte ISD. Visitors pull into the parking lot, are welcomed at the door, and find a worship gathering built around the Bible, contemporary music led by a worship and tech team, and a sermon that aims to make Scripture understandable for everyone in the room. The service is held in the chapel, where four offering boxes are mounted for in-person giving. Around the same hour, age-specific ministry runs for every stage from a newborn through high school seniors, so a family can arrive together and head to their own rooms.
A Church Built on Simple Obedience, Remarkable Grace, and Unexpected Fun
The congregation has named its three core values and wears them out front. Simple Obedience rests on the conviction that God is God and His Word is worth following. Remarkable Grace grows out of the belief that every person is valuable to God and to the church. Unexpected Fun is the promise that faith and laughter belong together. Those three values shape the tone on Sundays, in the kids wing, in small groups, and out in the community.
What the Church Believes
Fairmont Park Church is openly committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and provides a clear doctrinal summary of its beliefs. The church teaches that there is one God eternally existing as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully God. God has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, and creation, and He governs all things at all times in all places through His providence. Every human being is created in God's image with intrinsic dignity and worth, but sin has fractured the world and left it in desperate need of salvation. The church holds that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The church is the body of Christ sent into the world to shine forth the glory of God, and the church looks forward to the future return of Jesus to judge the living and the dead.
FP Kids and FP Students: The Next Generation
Fairmont Park Church treats the next generation as a primary calling, not a side ministry. The kids wing is staffed by certified volunteers who are thoroughly reviewed and background-checked, and children are loved and cared for as if they were the staff's own.
- FP Jr (birth through age 5). An age-appropriate room with interactive worship, a Bible story time, puppet shows, and crafts. Meets at 10 a.m. on Sundays.
- FP Kids (kindergarten through 5th grade). Sundays include a play room, a large group gathering for worship and teaching, and a smaller group time with adult leaders. Meets at 10 a.m. on Sundays.
- FP Student Ministry (middle and high school). Meets Sundays at 11:15 a.m. in the Students Room. The format is intentionally different from the adult service, with more discussion, more activity, and teaching aimed at teenagers.
First-time families can pre-register their children online before they arrive, which lets them skip the front-of-house line on their first Sunday. The pre-visit form even lets a family request handicap-accessible transportation to the campus.
DiG Groups: Sunday Morning Community
The church's small-group ministry is called DiG, a name that comes from the idea of digging into the Bible together. DiG groups meet on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., bracketing the main 10 a.m. worship service, so that someone can join a group before or after worship without rearranging the rest of the day. Groups are organized by life stage and interest, and the church helps newcomers find a fit. Community is essential to the Christian life: the conviction that faith is both deeply personal and deeply social, and that the journey goes further when shared with people who really know you.
Worship Centered on the Word
Sermons at Fairmont Park are expository in tone. Preaching treats the Bible as the greatest source of truth and centers the gathering on the Word incarnate, Jesus Christ. Each week the pastor walks through a passage and explains it in language that people who did not grow up in church can follow. Recent Sunday sermons, including messages preached by Senior Pastor Dee Spears, are posted to the sermons archive and on YouTube, and the church streams its services live online for those who cannot attend in person. The music is led by Kelly Davis, the Pastor of Worship and Administration, who oversees the worship and tech teams. A regularly updated Spotify playlist of the songs the church is currently singing is linked from the music page, and musicians interested in joining the team can apply through an audition form on the same page.
CRASH: Loving La Porte from the Parking Lot to the Schools
The community outreach arm of Fairmont Park Church is called CRASH, named after the collective noun for rhinos. The image is intentional. Rhinos are powerful but can only see thirty feet ahead, so their impact is easy to read after the fact. The church wants La Porte to look different and better because the church is in it. CRASH takes a holistic approach and currently invests in several ongoing partnerships:
- LPISD school partnerships. At Rizzuto Elementary, the church feeds teachers and staff on the last day of school, volunteers in the library, helps with the Thanksgiving meal, gives each teacher funds for classroom supplies, and donates $15,000 per year to fund an extra reading tutor. At La Porte Elementary, the church funds classroom setup at the start of the year, provides lunch during Teacher Appreciation week, and sends volunteers to read to kindergarten and first-grade classes, assist with Literacy Night, Math and Science Night, Fun Runs, Water Day, and the Scholastic Book Fair. At La Porte High School, the church gives $500 each year to the theater program's musical and helps sew costumes, build sets, provide a cast and crew lunch, and host the cast party.
- Bookmobile. During the summer, the church loads a Bookmobile with books and drives into neighborhoods where access to reading material is limited, setting up a mobile library and inviting anyone in the community to take home free books.
- Christmas Store. Members provide toys and meals for 200 to 300 people each Christmas season.
- Facility partnerships. The church opens its facilities for community groups including LP Boys Baseball Association, TIFI Football, local homeowners associations, dance recitals, baby and wedding showers, AAU Basketball, and more.
Plan a Visit, Pre-Register the Kids
The church takes the awkwardness of a first visit seriously and has built a clear path for newcomers. The Plan a Visit form lets a guest pick the Sunday they are coming, share contact information, and choose whether to bring kids. Kids can be pre-registered ahead of time so the family can skip the front-of-house line on their first Sunday. Guests can also request a host team member to greet them, show them around, and answer questions on arrival, and can request a ride from the church in cases where transportation is a barrier, including handicap-accessible vehicles. The dress code is explicitly come-as-you-are: shorts, t-shirts, and business casual all show up on Sundays, and no one is judged for what they wear. The Guest Services team also mans a Welcome Desk in the Commons, where a first-time guest can grab a hot cup of coffee, get directions, and ask anything they need to ask. There is no obligation to give on a first visit, and generosity is important but is never a precondition for belonging.
Taking the Next Step: Meet Jesus, Be Baptized, Join the Mission
For people who want to go deeper, the church has laid out a simple three-step path after a first visit. The first step is Meet Jesus: the church's deepest desire is that visitors come to know Jesus personally, and the church links to an online resource called The Story to help with that conversation. The second step is Water Baptism, the outward expression of an inward change. The pastors walk candidates through the decision and pray with them, and baptisms are scheduled regularly in community. The third step is Join the Mission, getting on mission with the church through service, whether inside the building or out in the community through CRASH, the kids ministry, or the worship and tech teams. A Connect and Serve form gathers names of people who are ready to plug in.
Meet the Staff
Fairmont Park is led by a small, clearly defined staff team.
- Dee Spears, Senior Pastor. Dee served four years at Fairmont Park as executive pastor before becoming senior pastor in June 2012. Before coming to La Porte he served ten years as pastor of FBC Iowa, Louisiana. He and his wife Julie have four children: Trace, Trent, Tristan, and Bella.
- Kelly Davis, Pastor of Worship and Administration. Kelly has served churches in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Texas. He is passionate about leading the worship and tech teams. He and his wife Tonja have seven adult children between them, and he is a fan of golf, guitars, and Chicago pizza.
- Jonathon McCleskey, Student Pastor. Jonathon has been in student ministry since 2018, including eight years serving in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he was born and raised. He believes student ministry is essential to the long-term health of the church.
Giving and Staying Connected
The church offers three ways to give. In person, cash or a check can be dropped in one of four offering boxes in the chapel during worship, with tithe envelopes available in the Commons for those who want a year-end giving statement. Online, gifts can be made by credit card, debit card, or PayPal through the giving page. Gifts can also be mailed to the church office. Beyond giving, the church keeps people connected through its weekly sermons archive, an active YouTube channel, a Spotify playlist of current worship songs, a Facebook page, and an Instagram account. Prayer requests can be submitted online and routed to the pastoral staff, the prayer team, or shared with the wider congregation, depending on what the requester prefers.