Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
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57TH ANNIVERSARY WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH ANNIVERSARY SUNDAy - June 2, 2019 REV. DR. MARCUS D. COSBY, Senior Pastor REV. ALEXANDER E.M. JOHNSON, Associate Pastor REV. WILLIAM A. LAWSON, Founding Pastor Emeritus VISION 2020 CONTENTS Greetings from Our Senior Pastor,4 Greetings from Our Founding Pastor Emeritus,6 Introducing Our Anniversary Preacher, 8 Presenting the Pastoral Commission for the Congregation, 9 Remembering and Honoring Our Charter Members, 11 Celebrating Our Cancer Survivors, 12 Remembering Our Deceased Members in Faith, 13 Christian Life Advancement, 15 Celebrating Our Graduates, 16 Honoring Wheeler Avenue Weddings, 19 Recognizing Wheeler Avenue Baby Dedications, 19 Introducing Our Interns, 21 Praising God for Wheeler Avenue Baptisms, 24 The Anniversary Hymn, 25 The Reading of Holy Scriptures, 26 The Order of Worship, 27 Welcoming Wheeler Avenue New Members, 28 Celebrating Wheeler Avenue June Birthdays, 32 The Wheeler Avenue Announcements, 36 The First Family, 38 Honoring Pastor Emeritus William A. Lawson’s 91st Birthday, 40 Presenting Scenes from the Avenue: A Pictoral Recap from June 2018 - May 2019, 41 WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH 57TH ANNIVERSARY 3 GREETINGS FROM THE SENIOR PASTOR Greetings, Beloved Church Family! Happy Anniversary, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church!!! For the past month each of our Wednesday worship services has prepared us for the first Sunday of June! It was on June 3, 1962 that our church was birthed into existence with its first worship service at 10:00am! Pastor Lawson and that faithful few who joined with him began a story of faith that gives us reason on this day to give thanks to God and to them for all they have done to ensure that the Houston community, the state of Texas, other states in this nation, as well as multiple international locations we have been able to touch in these nearly six decades, have been able to know of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ! We have so many reasons to rejoice! Today we gratefully remember Mrs. Audrey Ann Hoffman Lawson, who joined forces with our Founding Pastor to provide needed assistance to both Pastor Lawson and the bourgeoning and ever-growing congregation throughout his 42-year pastorate. As Pastor Lawson is swift to report, were it not for Mrs. Lawson our church would not have many of its ministries that have blessed countless lives throughout these years. To God be the glory! On this first Sunday of June we joyously treasure the long life of love and leadership given through our Founding Pastor Emeritus, the Right Reverend William Alexander Lawson! We cannot be more blessed to have had a founder who continues to show such compassion and courage through his preaching, teaching and serving. Those who joined our church from 1962-2004 can attest to the reality that Pastor Lawson’s quintessential pastoral leadership drew people from all walks of life to have a greater appreciation for God’s goodness and grace. We are such a blessed church to have such a gentle giant who remains among us, ready to celebrate his 91st birthday on the 28th day of this month! What an awesome God we serve! For every charter member, church leader, staff person, prayer warrior, ministry member and “pew member” who has shown any level of support for our church throughout these fifty-seven years, this pastor remains grateful. For every worship service, Bible Study, Sunday School class, family group meeting, prayer service and ministry meeting, we give glory to God! For every church picnic, church outing in the Houston area and every church trip—both national and international—that has enhanced our fellowship and broadened our appreciation for one another, we celebrate the blessings of fun and frivolity. For every challenge we’ve had to face, be it hurricane or havoc, flood or funeral, we thank God for His grace to endure it all. Our church has been so blessed! So today we celebrate! It’s the practical thing to do! It’s the logical thing to do! It’s the biblical thing to do! The psalmist emphatically exhorts God’s people thusly, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever (Psalm 107:1)! May our celebration bespeak our level of gratitude for a God Who has been so very good to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church from June 3, 1962 to June 2, 2019. And we expectantly await all the great things that God has in store for us in the days to come—on June 3, 2019, we begin construction on the expansion of the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church campus! Our church has been so blessed! What an awesome God we serve! To God be the glory! We have so many reasons to rejoice!!! Happy Anniversary, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church!!! Celebrating and anticipating, M.D. Cosby WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH 57TH ANNIVERSARY 5 GREETINGS FROM THE FOUNDING PASTOR EMERITUS Every once in a while, we need to tell those around us we appreciate them. Today we praise our risen Saviour. He redeemed us despite our sins. And then He sent among us a messenger to keep us reminded of His broken flesh and His spilled blood. Today we take the bread and wine that reminds us of that sacrificial death. We must never forget that immeasurable sacrifice, for us! Today we celebrate 57 years as a church. We were born as 21 people, frightened and totally inexperienced at building churches. Today we are nearly 19,000 people with a global congregation, a staff of 82, and land and property worth $21 million plus. Add all of that to such solid credit that we closed on another $25 million towards our new buildings just nine days ago; and you appreciate not the acumen of those original 21 or the current 19,000, or even the charisma of our nationally acclaimed Senior Pastor, but the God Who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. This is a good time to tell Marcus Cosby we love and appreciate him. (You might not be here to read this next month!) Before we brag about his unmatched ability as a preacher; or his uncanny expertise in the orchestration of a worship service with seamless harmony of music and sermon subject matter; or his inexplicable capacity to beautifully funeralize a loved one he did not even know; or his peerless skills as a CEO of a large and growing company (yes, Wheeler is a corporation); before we talk about his building of a megachurch in the inner city of Houston, I want you to appreciate the kind of pastor we have in Marcus Cosby, the man who replaced me. His focus is never on the Reverend Doctor Marcus D. Cosby; it is always on Jesus Christ. He sees himself not as star performer, although with his gifts, he surely could. He takes seriously the role of pastor (an undershepherd who leads the flock to pasture). So he leads us to worship, to Bible study, to prayer, to compassion for the vulnerable, because that’s what Jesus does. There are at least thousands of us in the Wheeler family—but whoever you are, wherever he is, if tragedy strikes your home, and if he learns about it, he will make personal contact with you. He does not even manage the counting of the offering. That entire function is handled by a count team of the Board of Trustees. This is not a typical megachurch pastor. I asked for this space on our Anniversary newsletter, because we praise God for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and we praise Him for sending to Houston and to Wheeler Pastor Marcus D. Cosby. Your ex-pastor WHEELER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH 57TH ANNIVERSARY 7 OUR ANNIVersarY PREACHER DR. W. FRANKLYN RICHARDSON Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson is, and legacy of Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson. He currently serves first and foremost, a pastor, in as the Chairman of the National Action Network, one of the the broadest sense of the term. leading civil rights organizations in the country. Working along His life’s work stems from his side Reverend Al Sharpton, Dr. Richardson fights for causes of commitment to the biblical justice, equality and opportunity for all people regardless of race, mandate of what it means to be a religion, ethnicity, citizenship, criminal record, economic status, pastor. Dr. Richardson believes gender, gender expression, or sexuality. Under Dr. Richardson’s in being a voice for the voiceless, leadership, the National Action Network serves as the vehicle for feeding those who are hungry, the collective voice of the Black church to fight social injustice. providing shelter for those Whether it is criminal justice issues, police brutality or voting who are homeless, challenging rights, Dr. Richardson stands on the vanguard of social justice systems that are unjust and in America to be a champion for those who otherwise would have unfair, and seeking justice for no voice. the marginalized and victimized. In his current posts – Senior As passionate as he is about social justice, Dr. Richardson Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Chairman of the Conference is equally as fervent about education. For nearly ten (10) of National Black Churches, Chairman of the National Action years, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Network, Chairman of Virginia Union University, and Board his alma mater, Virginia Union University, in Richmond, Member of Comcast and Pepsico – Dr. Richardson purposefully Virginia. Under Dr. Richardson’s leadership, Virginia Union is lives within his life’s mission and constantly works to be a positive positioned to be one of the highest regarded Historically Black force for change for all those he serves.