Monterey Church of Christ has stood in Lubbock, Texas, since April 7, 1963, when 177 people gathered in a portable building on five acres at 58th Street and Memphis Avenue for the very first worship service. Today, more than six decades later, the congregation continues to follow the simple motto printed at the top of its main page, "Love God, Love Others," from a 24 acre campus at 6111 82nd Street. The church is known in southwest Lubbock for offering both a cappella and instrumental worship on Sunday mornings, a generationally rich slate of Bible classes, an unusually deep network of care ministries, and a steady investment in local partnerships and global mission work.
A 1963 Beginning on 58th Street
The church's story starts with Pioneer Park Church of Christ, which in 1962 purchased five acres at 58th and Memphis as the site for a new congregation. On April 7, 1963, 177 people met for worship and Bible study, and at that first Wednesday evening service the new body chose the name "Monterey." Through the late 1960s, 70s, and 80s, a permanent auditorium, additional classrooms, fellowship space, and more worship space were added as the congregation grew.
Looking toward the future took a major step in 2001, when Monterey purchased twenty-four acres at 82nd and Iola and began preparing for a new chapter. In 2004, during an event members call "Reinforcing the Building with Scripture," the unfinished floors and walls of the new facility became a kind of prayer book as members wrote verses and personal messages across the surfaces. On June 26, 2005, the church worshipped in the new building for the first time, with 1,377 people in attendance. The address has not changed since, and the building that opened that day still hosts Sunday services, Wednesday gatherings, the preschool, and most small groups.
Sunday Mornings at Monterey
Each Sunday offers two distinct worship gatherings with Bible classes for every age in between. Visitors can arrive at any of the three morning slots and find a place to learn, sing, pray, and connect.
At 8:30 a.m. the morning opens with an a cappella worship service. The 9:45 a.m. hour is set aside for Bible classes, with offerings for kids, teens, college students, young adults, and seasoned adults meeting at the same time so families arrive and depart together. At 10:45 a.m. the second worship service begins, this one with an instrumental band and a more contemporary sound. During the school year, children from age three through fifth grade are invited to a parallel Kids' Worship during the 10:45 service.
The two Sunday services share the same sermon and the same basic order, but the musical texture differs. The early a cappella gathering mixes contemporary songs with traditional hymns in a voices only format, while the 10:45 instrumental service leans contemporary with band led music. Both services are livestreamed on YouTube and at montereychurchofchrist.online.church, and recordings remain available in an archive that stretches back several years. Recent sermon series have walked through the Sermon on the Mount, the book of Ephesians, the Gospels, the kingdom parables of Matthew, the prayers of Paul, and the early chapters of Acts. A weekly sermon podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and a downloadable Sunday bulletin goes out each week for anyone who wants to follow along at home or join a connection card online.
Five Values That Shape the Family
Monterey describes itself as a Christ centered, grace oriented, and Spirit led body of believers, with a faith rooted in God the Father, Jesus Christ the Living Word, and the Holy Spirit, the guide and comforter, as revealed in Scripture (2 Corinthians 13:14). The mission is the simple call of Matthew 22:34-40 to love God and love others. The vision is to join God in the renewal of all things, to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, and to see others transformed into his image (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).
Five values shape how that mission and vision are lived out each week:
- Worship. The response to grace is to offer work, play, and rest back to God as living sacrifices.
- Belonging. In a lonely world, the church is meant to be a place of unconditional welcome and love, joining God in reconciling the world to himself.
- Presence. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, members are sent as ambassadors and as God's presence wherever they go.
- Sacrifice. Following the way of the cross means living with open hands and open hearts, giving of possessions, talents, and self.
- Discipleship. Each member seeks to be more like Jesus, modeling the life of a disciple in order to make disciples of all.
Wednesday Nights: Healing, Recovery, and Discipleship
The Sunday rhythm is matched by a robust Wednesday night program. Midweek Connect gathers at 6:45 p.m. with classes and small groups for kids, teens, college students, and adults, and the content changes with the season. Past emphases have included a fall series called "The Slow Road: 40 Days with Jesus," short term small discipleship groups focused on the practices of generosity and Scripture, and a free community meal on certain weeks.
Three care oriented ministries anchor the evening for adults walking through hard seasons:
- GriefShare meets at 6:30 p.m. and uses a video and discussion curriculum for those who have lost a loved one.
- DivorceCare also meets at 6:30 p.m., running a thirteen week video based series that has welcomed more than a million participants nationally.
- Recovery In Christ meets at 6:45 p.m. and serves people seeking recovery from hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
Children, Preschool, and the Sugar N Spice
Children's ministry at Monterey (often called His Kids) reaches children from birth through fifth grade. Sunday mornings provide nursery care for the littlest, Bible classes at 9:45 a.m. for all elementary ages, and Kids' Worship during the 10:45 a.m. service for children age three through fifth grade during the school year. Wednesday evenings include Kids Connect small groups as part of Midweek Connect, with a separate track for children with special needs meeting at 6:45 p.m.
For preschoolers, the church runs Sugar N Spice Preschool, a Tuesday and Thursday program that accepts children from six weeks to five years old. Classes run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with extended care from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. and from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuition is $195 a month; the four year old class adds a one time $50 kindergarten readiness fee, and a non refundable $100 registration fee holds a spot. Sugar N Spice is run as a co directorship by Kayla Cole and Hannah Lynch.
Teens, College, and Young Adults
Middle and high school students meet for Bible class on Sundays at 9:45 a.m., connect for Sunday night activities, and gather for high school Bible studies on Monday evenings at 7 p.m. Wednesday nights bring Midweek Connect, where middle and high schoolers have their own track. The student ministry uses the Instagram handle @mtmlive for weekly updates and reminders.
The college ministry, branded through @monterey_college_ministry on Instagram, gathers at 9:45 a.m. on Sundays in Room 225 for Bible class and on Wednesday evenings at 6:45 p.m. for The Table, a shared meal and conversation around a discipleship topic.
Young adults in their twenties and thirties find adult Bible classes called For All 20s (Room 227) and Rooted Together (Room 254), along with three separate small groups organized around different life stages, including a singles track, a married track, and a married with children track. The young adults ministry also runs occasional retreats and events for participants at every stage, and Active Retirees offers a gathering every second and fourth Sunday afternoon for adults in their sixties and up.
Women's Ministry
Women's ministry at Monterey takes two main shapes. Open Table takes 1 Thessalonians 2:8 as its model and gathers small groups of women in one another's homes once a month to break bread, share burdens, and celebrate joys. A Ladies Bible Class, meeting on Wednesday mornings during the fall, walks through books of the Bible together; recent offerings have included Kelly Minter's What Love Is through 1, 2, and 3 John and other studies scheduled by the women's ministry leadership.
Walking With People Through Hard Seasons
Four standing care ministries at Monterey are built to accompany people through grief, divorce, illness, and recovery.
Stephen Ministry pairs trained lay caregivers with individuals for weekly, confidential, one to one conversations. Stephen Ministers are matched by gender with the people they serve and typically meet for about an hour each week. New Stephen Ministers are trained and commissioned in groups each year. The program offers care receivers a steady, listening presence through grief, divorce, illness, job loss, and other major life changes, and care is offered to both members and people in the wider Lubbock community.
GriefShare uses a video based curriculum with discussion to walk participants through the losses of the people they love. DivorceCare follows a similar thirteen week arc for those processing separation or divorce. Recovery In Christ is the local expression of a Christ centered recovery ministry for those wrestling with hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Together, the four programs mean that a person who walks through grief, divorce, or addiction can usually find a long term, named community waiting at Monterey rather than a single drop in visit.
Loving Lubbock
More than a dozen partnerships have Monterey members serving alongside neighbors in Lubbock. Several are deep, ongoing commitments.
Children's Home of Lubbock receives Monterey's financial support as well as volunteer meals, birthday party boxes for children, and tutoring throughout the year. Family Promise of Lubbock receives weekly meals and childcare support during community nights for temporarily homeless families with children. One Heart Foster Alliance brings together local churches to address the foster care need, and a Foster Parent Night Out on first Fridays hosts about fifty foster children for an evening of play and pizza while caregivers get a night off.
Open Door is a Christian community development organization serving the homeless and young women with children who are fleeing sex trafficking, with survivor housing, permanent supportive housing, and a community center at its core. St. Benedict's Chapel provides free meals seven days a week for the working poor and homeless in Lubbock, and Monterey teams serve every Wednesday of the year.
Hope Lodge hosts cancer patients traveling to Lubbock for treatment, and Monterey volunteers deliver a weekly meal. Lubbock Meals on Wheels partners with Monterey volunteers to deliver roughly 700 weekday meals a day. Habitat for Humanity receives an annual Blitz Build each September, year round financial coaching support, and other construction help. Threads of Love is a sewing ministry that blesses families of premature infants and parents who have lost a baby. Kairos Prison Ministry enters prisons in May and November weekends for ministry to incarcerated men and women. Love Boxes partners with Amarillo Angels to provide monthly care packages to local foster families for a year.
A Special Needs Ministry hosts a Sunday morning class for all ages. Fiesta Friday, on the last Friday of each month, offers an evening of games, movies, and snacks for teens and adults with special needs while their caregivers enjoy a night out. For women walking through unexpected pregnancy or post abortion recovery, Monterey partners with Parkridge for confidential counseling and connection to care.
From Lubbock to the World
Monterey's global mission work spans four regions and several long term partnerships.
In Hungary, Monterey is the primary sponsoring church of John and Susan Cooper, who work with Team Expansion to build disciple-making movements across Europe from a base in Budapest through a platform called Media to Movement. In Portugal, Landon and Courtney Shuman and their four children relocated in December 2025 after more than a decade in Tanzania, with Monterey as their primary supporting church. Courtney provides counseling to missionaries and ministry families in under-resourced contexts, while Landon pursues doctoral studies at the University of Lisbon alongside ongoing ministry relationships.
In Kenya, a network of ministries that began with Jim and Phyllis Beck in 1985 now serves the Giriama people through a Bible college, primary and secondary schools, healthcare, clean water work, sustainable farming, and support for HIV+ mothers, anchored by two hubs called Uzima in Malindi and Mahenzo in rural Kenya. Monterey also partners with long term workers in North Africa through relationship centered ministry among communities with limited access to the gospel, sharing only limited public details to protect those involved.
Olive Branch International is a longtime partner organization that hosts short term medical and service trips each year and works primarily in Peru and Nicaragua.
The Worship Ministry, Small Groups, and Ways to Serve
The Worship Ministry describes itself as a community of worshipers fostering worshipers. Vocalists serve in both the a cappella and instrumental gatherings. Instrumentalists, audio and video engineers, lighting designers, presentation operators, and livestream volunteers work behind the scenes. A separate Worship Ministry Handbook explains the rhythms, expectations, and culture of serving on the platform, and the church offers to train newcomers rather than expect them to arrive as experts.
Beyond Sunday worship, a network of small groups meets in homes across Lubbock. Specialty groups include a multigenerational Sunday evening group, the college group that meets Wednesdays at The Table, three young adult groups organized by life stage, and Active Retirees, which gathers every second and fourth Sunday afternoon for participants in their sixties and up. A half dozen open groups meet in homes throughout the week under leaders with names like Jones, Joiner, Davis, Fuller, Underwood, Roberts, and Stephens/Lindsey. The church also partners with RightNow Media to give members access to a large streaming library of Christian video content.
Other ways to serve include Children's Ministry, Teen Ministry, College Ministry, Congregational Life, Community Ministries, Senior Adult Ministry, Global Missions, the Worship Ministry itself, and Prayer Warriors, a dedicated team that takes prayer requests from members and friends. Giving is available online through PushPay.
Becoming Part of the Monterey Family
Visitors are welcomed by greeters on Sundays and can expect a comfortable, come as you are atmosphere; the church explicitly says visitors will see everything from suits and dresses to shorts and t-shirts. Children are welcome in services, with nurseries for the youngest, Bible classes at 9:45, and Kids' Worship during the 10:45 service. Parking surrounds the building on the 82nd Street campus.
For those wanting a next step, Monterey 101 is a two part class offered quarterly during the 9:45 Bible class hour in Room 230. Part 1 covers the identity of the church, and Part 2 covers how to connect to its life. A first visit can be scheduled ahead of time by emailing the office, and the same campus hosts Sunday services, Wednesday programs, the preschool, and most small groups.
Leadership is shared between a ministry staff and a large eldership. Doug Page serves as Lead Minister. The ministry staff also includes Aaron Dawson (Missional Life), Joey Drumright (Congregational Life), Hudson Hutchinson (Connection), Sam Souder (Worship), Sean Collins (Operations), Shelbi Hannsz and Cameran Simmons (Children), Eric Opton (Youth), Jim Fuller (Senior Adults), and Kayla Cole and Hannah Lynch (Sugar N Spice). Twelve shepherds serve as elders: Corey Branch, Butch Davis, Randal Dement, Scotty Elston, Jeff Fairchild, David Jones, Mike Martin, Warren McNeill, Gene Sheets, Rob Stewart, Wes Wells, and Doug Young.