An Inclusive Church Family on Panther Creek Drive
The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church sits on a tree-shaded property along the 4800 block of West Panther Creek Drive in The Woodlands, Texas. From its sanctuary, classrooms, and on-site preschool, a congregation that calls itself "An Inclusive Church Family: Loving, Sharing, and Serving Christ" has been gathering since 1981. The church belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is part of the Presbytery of the New Covenant, within the Synod of the Sun. Its campus includes a sanctuary, a Children's Education Building, the Charles Hendricks Education Building, a Library, a Memorial Garden, and the Early Learning Program.
First-time visitors are welcomed at a Guest Table in the sanctuary narthex, where they can sign the guest register and find help locating the nursery. The main parking lot is entered from Panther Creek Drive, with a second entrance off Oak Crest Court; designated visitor parking sits next to the tree line and close to the Sanctuary. Worshippers arrive in everything from suits and dresses to jeans and T-shirts, and the congregation invites newcomers to "wear whatever makes you comfortable." Many simply describe the dress as "business casual." The church's weekly email, the Joyful News, is sent on Fridays and gives a complete picture of everything taking place across the campus.
Two Sunday Mornings of Worship
Worship is offered on Sunday mornings at 8:30 and 11:00 am in the WCPC Sanctuary. Both services follow the same basic arc of Christian worship. Communion is served at both services on the first Sunday of each month, and worship leaders welcome all who profess faith in Christ to the Lord's Table.
The 11:00 am service is livestreamed on YouTube, allowing members who are traveling, homebound, or otherwise unable to attend in person to participate in real time. Between the two services, Sunday School meets from 9:45 to 10:45 am with classes for everyone from preschoolers through adults, with occasional adjustments during the summer and around special events. A youth group for grades 7 through 12 gathers most Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 pm for dinner, fellowship, and activities.
Children are welcomed in worship rather than separated from it, in keeping with the church's conviction that being present in the sanctuary is part of spiritual formation. Childcare is provided during both worship services for children under age 6. Nursery care for infants through age 3 is available throughout both services, and children 4 through 6 may be chaperoned to a nursery room in the Children's Education Building after the children's message. Older children participate in the service, and a once-a-month worship class teaches them about the parts of worship and how they can take part.
Children from Birth Through Sixth Grade
The Children's Ministry serves families with children from birth through sixth grade, and the church's Children's Education Building hums with activity on Sunday mornings. Susan Duncan, the Director of Children's Ministries, leads a team of volunteers who teach, lead music, and shepherd the children of the church. All volunteers who work with children are required to complete a background check and the church's Child Protection training.
Sunday School classes meet from 9:45 to 10:50 am in the Children's Education Building. The Pre-K through 1st Grade class uses the Walk with Me curriculum, hearing age-appropriate stories from both Testaments through Godly Play storytelling twice a month and learning simple prayers and songs. The 2nd through 4th Grade class works through the Sparkhouse Classroom curriculum, which covers the entire Bible over two years, with Godly Play stories and music instruction with the Director of Music alternating weeks. Each spring, the church presents a Bible to every third grader.
The 5th and 6th Grade class, known as the Tweens, uses Spark Connect and follows a similar rhythm of storytelling, Bible study, and music. A parent-led Tween Fellowship plans monthly social events, seasonal parties, hikes, and mission projects throughout the year. Special seasonal events include Love Your Neighbor Day in January, the Children's Sabbath in March, an Easter Butterfly Release, a Tweens Week of Mission, Vacation Bible School, the Blessing of the Backpacks in August, Trunk or Treat in October, and the Children's Christmas Eve Pageant in December.
Confirmation, Mission, and the Youth Room
The youth ministry serves students in grades 7 through 12 with a non-judgmental, Christ-centered approach. Sunday School meets from 9:45 to 10:50 am in the Youth Room (#200) in the Children's Education Building, where students discuss the Bible and how it informs their faith.
Confirmation is offered for 7th and 8th graders every other year, running through the Sunday school hour. The pastors lead students through what Presbyterians believe, exploring their own faith journey and how to become members of the church. Each confirmand is paired with a congregational mentor.
Youth Group meets most Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 pm for dinner, fellowship, and activities. Communication runs through the Remind app, where updated paperwork and announcements live. Annual youth mission projects have included Sleep in Heavenly Peace (building beds for kids who don't have one), assembling Seafarers Kits, serving Breakfast in the Park, and the Angel Tree gift ministry. Some youth serve on the New Covenant PYCC, the Presbyterian Youth Council Committee at the presbytery level, where young people plan events alongside mentoring adults and form friendships with youth from other congregations. WCPC youth have also taken part in the Presbyterian Youth Triennium, held every three years.
Adults in the Word and in Circles
Adult education at WCPC is structured around Sunday morning classes from 9:45 to 10:45 am and a midweek study, with a wide range of other groups layered on top.
On Sunday mornings, classes meet across the Hendricks Education Building. Connecting Through the Bible (Room 301B) is geared to those new to Bible study as well as the well-read, offering an interactive discussion of ways to connect with God. Women Living in Faith Together, or L.I.F.T., meets in the Parlor for deep dives into Bible study and Christian living. The Wired Word is offered in a hybrid format both on Sunday mornings in Room 302 and on the second and fourth Mondays at 6:30 pm in the Parlor. Christianity and History (Room 306) uses video courses to explore faith-related topics. Texts in Context (Room 303 and Zoom) examines the Revised Common Lectionary readings that will appear in Sunday worship. Faithful Families (CE Room 204) reads and discusses books on growing in faith as individuals and as families.
On Wednesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 am, the Wednesday Study Group meets in Room 301B and on Zoom to explore Great Courses video studies, with rich discussion afterward.
Women's ministry at WCPC is anchored in Presbyterian Women, which links the local women to more than 200,000 women across the denomination. Regular women's groups include the Monday Morning Women's Bible Study (Parlor, weekly), the Tuesday Morning Circle (Parlor, first Tuesdays, September through May), and the Circle of Blessings (Hendricks Education Building Room 303, third Thursdays, September through May). Moms in the Middle meets every Monday for fellowship, mission, and Bible study. Prayers and Squares gathers on the first and third Thursdays from 2:00 to 5:00 pm in Room 303 to create prayer quilts, prayer shawls, and other handiwork; completed quilts and shawls are available to anyone who would like to receive one.
Men's ministry is built around two groups. The Wednesday Morning Men's Bible Study meets from 7:30 to 8:30 am in Room 301B, led by Rev. Dr. David Jones, with the focus on the text for the upcoming Sunday sermon. A Zoom option makes the group accessible to those who can't attend in person. On the first and third Wednesdays at 6:30 pm, men meet on the patio at Crust Pizza in Panther Creek Village Shopping Center, adjacent to the church, for an evening Bible study and pizza.
The Mission Outreach Team and Forty-Plus Partners
Mission outreach is one of the defining ministries of the congregation, and the Mission Outreach Team, or MOT, is the engine that keeps it running. The team meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm in Room 301 of the Hendricks Education Building and on Zoom, and anyone from the congregation is welcome to attend. The MOT also sponsors public Social Justice Forums throughout the year, with monthly guest speakers presenting via Zoom and recorded for the YouTube channel.
WCPC has built relationships with more than forty mission partners over its forty-plus years as a congregation. Local partners include All Ears!, Compassion United, Care Partners, The Gathering Place (a memory-loss ministry that meets on the WCPC campus), Casa Juan Diego, the Community Assistance Center, DeGeorge at Union Station, Faiths Together, Montgomery County Family Promise, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, the Interfaith Community Clinic, Interfaith of The Woodlands, Love Fosters Hope, Kids' Meals, M-COPE, MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Montgomery County Food Bank, Montgomery County Meals on Wheels, the Montgomery County Women's Center, the Peanut Butter Factory, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace. International partners include Bread for the World, Café Justo, Frontera de Cristo, Heifer International, Hope for the Middle East, the Medical Benevolence Foundation, the Outreach Foundation, Project C.U.R.E., and projects for evangelism in Africa and South America (Peru).
Congregational mission trips have carried WCPC members to Guatemala, Peru, Zambia, and the U.S.-Mexico border. Annual special events include Love Your Neighbor Day on the last Saturday in January, when all ages fan out across the community to serve local partners; Mission Sunday each fall, when the congregation celebrates its mission partners over a church-wide meal; the Christmas Market in early December, where gifts "give more than once" by benefiting the partners they represent; and the Thankful Giving Alternative Market each November, an online marketplace where donors can direct contributions to specific needs.
The congregation supports denominational mission and mission partners through its benevolence giving to Ghost Ranch Community Camp, the International Seafarer Ministry, Mo Ranch, Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Music: Sanctuary Choir, Jubilate Bells, and Children's Voices
The Music Ministry under Director of Music Jonathan Aigner is built around three ensembles that span the congregation's age range.
The Sanctuary Choir is open to anyone in high school or beyond and sings a wide range of anthems throughout the year, from new settings of old hymns to classical and gospel music. The choir presents major works in concert twice a year and rehearses in the Choir Room on Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:00 pm, September through May. For those whose schedules don't allow a weekly commitment, the Summer Choir sings at both services about once a month from June through August, with a rehearsal the same morning.
Jubilate Bells is an advanced, thirteen-member handbell ensemble that rehearses on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the church narthex, late August through May. The ensemble rings five octaves of Schulmerich handbells and five octaves of Malmark chimes, performing music at Handbell Musicians of America Level 3 and higher across a variety of traditional and contemporary sacred repertoire. The full ensemble rings at both services on the third Sunday of the month, with small ensembles playing for special services as needed.
Children's music is part of the rhythm of Sunday School, with the Director of Music leading instruction every other week during the Sunday school hour.
Caring for Creation
The Creation Care Team is one of the Session's ministry teams and one of the marks of identity for the congregation. WCPC is recognized as a Presbyterian Earth Care Congregation, and the team encourages members and friends to defend and heal creation through environmentally responsible action in four areas: worship, education, facilities, and outreach.
Practical projects keep the team visible across the campus. The Pollinator Gardens Workdays, typically held on Saturday mornings, gather volunteers with gardening tools, gloves, hats, mosquito repellent, and water to tend the Prayer Garden, the courtyard gardens, and the pollinator gardens. A monthly campus-wide recycling program collects recyclables and deposits them in home recycling bins. The team has adopted the pathway along West Panther Creek Drive from Woodlands Parkway to Lake Woodlands Drive, picking up litter quarterly on Saturdays. The Wonders of Creation Art Show, held every even year in April, displays the creative talents of the congregation in a month-long exhibit. The Creation Care Team itself meets on the first Monday of each month from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm in Room 302 of the Children's Education Building.
The Early Learning Program
The Early Learning Program, or ELP, is the on-site preschool of The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church, in continuous operation since 1991. Directed by Corky Janisch, the program is committed to inspiring the wonder of God, His world, and self in every child through playful discovery. The school shares the church's belief that these early years have the power to spark faith, ignite understanding, and embolden leaders to shine bright in the world.
The ELP is housed on the WCPC campus and serves as a cornerstone of the congregation's ministry to young families in the community. Information about enrollment, programming, and the school year is available through the program's own pages.
Pastoral Care, Stephen Ministry, and the Diaconate
Pastoral care is led by the pastors and an extensive lay network. Rev. Dr. David Jones, Senior Pastor, and Rev. Laura Grice, Associate Pastor, are available following any worship service and during the week. Laura Grice's primary portfolio at WCPC includes pastoral care, adult spiritual enrichment, and the mission and outreach ministries; she also serves as a pastoral resource for the Board of Deacons and Stephen Ministers.
Stephen Ministry is a lay caring ministry in which members of the congregation are carefully selected and complete fifty hours of training to become Stephen Ministers. They then meet regularly with care receivers to accompany them through challenging experiences such as grief, divorce, job loss, or illness.
The Diaconate, the congregation's elected body of deacons, organizes the practical care of the church family through teams for Baby acknowledgments, Cookies for church functions, Meals for members in need, Bereavement receptions after memorial services, Home Outreach to members with limited mobility, New Members Ministry, Card Ministry, Hospital visits, and Prayer Ministry. Every member of the congregation is assigned to a currently serving deacon, who reaches out periodically to check on the member and family.
The Sanctuary Guild prepares Communion elements, changes the banners and paraments, orders flowers, decorates for the holidays, and cares lovingly for the worship space. Ushers hand out bulletins, help seat worshippers, collect the offering, and prepare the sanctuary between services. Sound and Media volunteers run the technology at services and other events. The Columbarium on the campus is available for inurnment, and the pastors officiate weddings and memorial services for members and their families.
Joining the Congregation
Membership at WCPC is open to anyone who wishes to join this congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). There are three paths to membership, each rooted in a personal confession of faith.
Profession of Faith is for those making an active profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord for the first time. Reaffirmation of Faith is for those returning to a renewed confession of Christ as Lord and Savior. Transfer of Membership welcomes those coming from another Christian church who wish to be identified as members of WCPC. The pastors are available to talk with anyone exploring membership and walk candidates through the next steps.
Supporting the Mission
Stewardship underwrites everything the congregation does. Members can set up recurring or one-time gifts to the General Fund, Designated Mission, or the Memorial Fund through the church's secure online giving platform. Text-to-Give is available by sending a message to 73256 with the keyword WCPC and a dollar amount. Gifts of stock, employer-matching gifts, and memorial gifts are coordinated through the Financial Administrator.
The church participates in the PC(USA)'s four annual Special Offerings. The Christmas Offering combines Christmas Joy and Christmas Eve gifts, with 75% directed to a recipient chosen by the Mission Outreach Team and 25% to the PC(USA) Assistance Program and scholarships. One Great Hour of Sharing supports disaster relief, food for the hungry, and self-empowerment for the poor and oppressed. The Pentecost Offering supports young people in the church and at-risk children, with forty percent retained locally and the remainder going to Presbyterian Mission Agency ministries. The Peace and Global Witness Offering supports the church's peacemaking work around the world.
The church's online presence includes a Facebook page, an Instagram account, and a YouTube channel where the 11:00 am service is livestreamed. Joyful News, the weekly digital publication of the congregation, is emailed each Friday and gives a complete picture of the week ahead, with calendar links, sign-ups, and stories from across the campus.