Monday over Coffee: "Carry Each Other"
Posted June 20, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Director Davis Guggenheim's 2011 documentary film entitled From the Sky Down looks back to 1990 and the making of Achtung Baby, the seventh studio album of the Irish rock band U2. To set the stage a little, after their success in the 1980s, the group was trying to reinvent themselves in the new decade but struggling to find direction. Seeking to capture some new dynamic energy, they traveled…
The 527 Tribe Mission Trip, Day 2
Posted June 13, 2022 by Jack Fowler and Dakota Navarrete in Family Ministry, Missions
Today we painted the home of a family from Grace Church in Edinburg, even though some of us have never done anything like that before. You could tell the mom, Ana, was so grateful by the look on her face. Mr. Jorge and Mr. George from Hearts4Kids taught us about the community and influenced us to keep serving. We learned about the systemic injustice that exists here and how many people live in…
Monday over Coffee: "Failures of Kindness"
Posted June 13, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Joel Lovell of The New York Times Magazine wrote the following words concerning the nearly singular gifts of his friend, George Saunders and Saunders' short story collections, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Tenth of December: "...you read them and you feel known, if that makes any sense. Or, possibly even woollier, you feel as if he understands humanity in a way that no one else quite does,…
The 527 Tribe Mission Trip, Day 1
Posted June 11, 2022 by The 7th grade girls: Finley, Gracie, Linden, and Sidney in Family Ministry, Missions
Our day started bright and early with homemade Texas waffles, then we packed our lunches and loaded up the bus. On the way to our worksite at New Wine Church, we jammed out to some tunes and had a karaoke party. Today we partnered with Mr. Jose and his son, Mr. George, who are with Hearts4Kids. They gave us instructions, and we headed off to build 15 beds for families in the surrounding…
South Main Youth Mission Trip, Day 1
Posted June 11, 2022 by Noah, Saige, and Ben in Family Ministry, Missions
After a long bus ride yesterday, our group arrived at our hotel, appreciative of the fact we could finally sleep in a bed, rather than bumpy bus seats. The next day we woke up, ate breakfast, and had a devotional led by JT Spoede, where we read Matthew 5. We rode into Shaw, where we saw a town way different than Houston.
This Sunday Only - All Summer Long!
Posted June 8, 2022 by SMBC in Worship
Each Sunday this summer promises a remarkable and unrepeatable worship experience at South Main as a series of stellar preachers and teachers lead us from the pulpit.
Monday over Coffee: "The Fire"
Posted June 6, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
These past few weeks have featured a series of devastating events in our country. Somewhat dispirited and disoriented, I sought hope in an effort to bring me back to myself. I found some nestled within a volume of essays by Karen Swallow Prior called On Reading Well. In it, Prior takes her readers on a guided tour through several great works of literature which shine a spotlight on human…
Thank You, Music Minister Search Committee!
Posted June 4, 2022 by Nancy McNiel in Worship, Music
It is with a great debt of gratitude that I want to thank each of the members of the Music Minister Search Committee. Some represented the Personnel Committee, some represented the Music Ministry, but they all represented South Main Baptist Church. Every one of these members put in hours of work—listening, watching, and reviewing candidates' materials and preparing primary reviewer reports for…
The 527 Tribe Summer Mission Trip to the Rio Grande Valley
Posted June 3, 2022 by SMBC in Family Ministry, Missions
This summer The 527 Tribe is traveling to the Rio Grande Valley as part of a three-year cycle of exposure to rural communities unlike our own. These communities are impacted by poverty and systemic injustice. On Sundays we have grown our understanding of community, what gifts God has given us, and in what ways we are called to serve. We have also learned specifically about the culture of the…
South Main Youth Summer Mission Trip to Shaw, Mississippi
Posted June 2, 2022 by SMBC in Family Ministry, Missions
Our Youth group will travel to Shaw, Mississippi, to work alongside Delta Hands for Hope, whose mission is to empower and provide educational resources to school-aged children in the Mississippi Delta. Youth will help with the regular summer programming provided for children in the community and travel to Memphis to visit the Civil Rights Museum and Lorraine Motel. During this trip, members of…
Monday over Coffee: "If other eyes grow dull..."
Posted May 30, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Imagine those to the left and right of you succumbing to the bitter cold of Valley Forge as you reach the inevitable conclusion that this will be your fate as well. Imagine being called forward to advance from cover under heavy fire at Fredericksburg while, as one Union soldier put it, "it seemed as if a million bees were singing in the air." Consider what it must have been like to be a part…
Meditating over Psalm 10
Posted May 26, 2022 by Matt Walton in Discipleship, Family Ministry
With the news of another mass shooting, this time at an elementary school in Uvalde, I awoke today asking, "Where are you God, in the face of such evil?" We are all in grief over this tragedy, shocked again at such evil. As I struggled with this anguish my heart was drawn to the psalms of lament. Today I am praying Psalm 10, which begins with the psalmist asking why God stands far off when…
Minister for Music and Worship Announced: Adam Cogliano
Posted May 23, 2022 by Nancy McNiel and Steve Wells in Worship, Music, Pastor
We are beyond excited to announce Adam Cogliano has accepted the call to serve at South Main Baptist Church. Adam and his wife, Kelsey, will leave First Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia, and move to Houston over the summer. He will begin to minister among us in August. We will share more details about the timeline and about Adam later in the summer. For now, please pray for Adam, Kelsey, the…
Monday over Coffee: "Eleanor Rigby"
Posted May 23, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Robert Putnam is a really smart social scientist. Over two decades ago, in his book, Bowling Alone, Putnam asserted that we, as a society, have been growing ever more disconnected from each other. In his writing, he popularized the term and notion of "social capital." Social capital is our stock, our reserves, our network of connections with colleagues, friends, and even casual acquaintances…
Celebrating Bill Pugh's 20th anniversary
Posted May 17, 2022 by SMBC in All Articles
This week we celebrate Bill Pugh's long service to our church. Bill has gracefully ministered to God's people at South Main as our Director of Facilities for 20 years. Join us as we thank Bill for his dedication to the South Main church family. Learn more about Bill through this Q&A:
Monday over Coffee: "Astonishing"
Posted May 16, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
Every so often, a sequence of events occurs leaving me face to face with a failure of which I'm sadly, serially guilty. I'm not sure what to call it, but it's marked by an inadequate appreciation of the myriad of wonders passing me by each day. It's a mindset—a posture of the spirit perhaps—that tends to miscategorize the miraculous as prosaic, the extraordinary as commonplace. This is to say…
Monday over Coffee: "Don't Look a Gift Universe in the Mouth"
Posted May 9, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
When I took Spanish in high school, our teacher required us to translate a series of short Spanish sayings into English. The one that rolled off my tongue most readily went like this: "Los lunes, ni las gallinas ponen." It means, "Nothing much gets done on Monday" but the literal translation is more colorful—"Not even chickens lay on Mondays." It came in handy later when our Spanish teacher…
Midtown Midweek Summer Break Begins May 11, 2022
Posted May 4, 2022 by SMBC in Music, Bible Study, Family Ministry, Discipleship
Our Midtown Midweek summer break will begin May 11. Wednesday night Family Ministry programming, Fellowship supper, and Bible study will resume in the fall. Music rehearsals will continue into the summer.
Give Now to the South Main Missions Offering
Posted May 4, 2022 by SMBC in Discipleship, Missions
Each year until Pentecost Sunday, South Main collects a missions offering which supplements our budgetary missions giving. The Missions Committee distributes these funds to address emergent needs or simply assist our partners with their ongoing budget needs. Following Pentecost, your Missions Committee will report to the church how these resources have been used for God's Kingdom.
Monday over Coffee: "Botherations"
Posted May 2, 2022 by Greg Funderburk in Monday Over Coffee
"I can't begin to tell you the things I discovered while I was looking for something else," Shelby Foote once told a magazine writer. While researching and writing about one Civil War battle, one general, or one politician, he would vaguely recall some fact, quote, or obscure anecdote he had read in the past. Frustrated that he couldn't remember it or where to find it, he'd further focus his…
