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Hays Hills
Baptist Church
was organized in the fall of 1986 under the leadership of Vic Harris
who was serving as Minister of Education at Congress Avenue Baptist
Church. Vic lived in the community and perceived the need for a
church here. After some initial organizing meetings, the "mission
church" began meeting at Dahlstrom Middle School.
There were soon difficult days for the young body.
Vic had the task of trying to pull together a very diverse group
of people who had different visions of what the church should be.
Some members left in 1988 and established a church (which is no
longer in existence).
Congress Avenue Baptist Church, and later, Crestview
Church, served as sponsoring churches of the new church. They gave
financial assistance and direction during the early years.
God used Vic to reach many people despite the early
struggles. There are several families that joined when Vic was the
Pastor who are still in the church today: Richard and Kathy Clay,
John and Belinda Ellis, Terry and Debbie Arenz, Terry Green, and
Bob and Beverly Shelton.
In a miraculous way God used Vic to establish the
future site of the new church. Vic believed that the land, which
the church currently owns, should be the site for the new church.
He prayed that the owner would either sell or donate it. In 1987,
Bill Dye donated nearly 19 acres of land to the church.
Vic and Linda Harris followed a call to pastor a
church in Alabama in 1988. For several months, Rev. Tommy Burress
served as the interim Pastor. The church made progress in raising
funds for a building on the property.
During the summer of 1989, the church was without
pastoral leadership. The seven remaining families were meeting in
homes. In the fall of 1989, upon the recommendation of Crestview
Baptist Church, the new church called David Sweet as Pastor. David
was 28 years old, single, and had recently graduated from Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary.
The small group of just seven families found a house
in Manchaca in which to meet, and the new Pastor lived in one room
of the house. The rest of the house was used for Sunday school space,
including a garage room, which was converted into a Youth room.
The living room served as the worship center, with the den as overflow
area. The group began to grow slowly as it reached out to the community.
The church met in the house for about one year while making plans
to build on the donated property.
In September of 1990, the Retired Baptist Men of
Texas began construction on the newly poured foundation. These elderly
volunteers completed most of the building in two weeks. In November
of 1990, the church began to meet in the mostly completed building.
The building was formally dedicated in January of 1991.
The new building and parking lot caused excitement
in the community. Many people have visited Hays Hills since the
construction of the new building. The Lord gradually grew our numbers
with other Christians. In three years, between 1991 and 1993, Hays
Hills baptized nearly 100 people. The church officially incorporated
into an independent church on December 4, 1991.
Kevin Covington was called to be the Youth Minister
in the fall of 1991. The Lord used Kevin to bring many of our young
people to Himself. Kevin faithfully served the Lord here at Hays
Hills until the spring of 1996. Sean Sivils accepted the call to
serve as Youth Minister in the early summer of 1996. After years
of using volunteer song leaders, Joe Taylor was called as Minister
of Music in June of 1992. Bill Kramer was called as Associate Pastor
in February of 1993.
Due to our growth, in 1994 we were forced to add
a trailer for Sunday school classes. In March 1995 the Texas Baptist
men began construction on our Children's Center. In 1996 we added
our second and third trailer for Sunday school classes.
In 1997 growth was strong. The Sunday school had
reached over 300 and averaged around 278 for both Sunday schools.
Sixty-three people joined Hays Hills in 1997. God had blessed us
with many capable families. Discipleship became more of our emphasis
with evangelism as our focus. In September 1997 a third worship
service and a second Sunday school hour was added to our Sunday
schedule. A fourth trailer was brought in to accommodate additional
Sunday school classes.
There was a growing conviction that before we could
do any more building we needed to eliminate our debt. On May 15,
1997 the congregation accepted the challenge to destroy our indebtedness
of $230, 579.51. By September 5, 1999, twenty-eight months later,
with the help of our God and the enthusiasm of our people, our total
debt was eliminated. The challenge was not over, as we continued
to grow we sensed the need to expand. In November 1999, we accepted
a greater challenge. We began to pray and plan toward what we would
need in our Family Life Center. Three million dollars was committed
and/or given during the new building campaign. In January 2002 the
church moved into the new building with great excitement and much
more elbow room! Unfortunately the economy became weak and the stock
market decline changed our plans from paying off the new building
within three years, to a longer-term effort.
After six years faithfully serving as Minister
of Music, Joe and Mary Taylor resigned June 1998 and moved to Sherman
Texas. Mary had been our accompanist.
In August 1999, Dusty Radabaugh was called as our
Minister of Music and Education. In 2001, Dusty's title changed
to Minister of Worship and Singles. He resigned in April 2002 to
accept a position in New Mexico. D'Lane Moore was called as our
Associate Minister of Youth/Young Singles in 2000, and later changed
to Minister of Young Singles.
In March 2001, the church called Greg Morris to
serve as our Minister of Education/Administrator. Royce Burrows
served as our Interim Minister of Music from 2002-2004. Chris Thomasson
served as Interim Minister of Music in 2004. Greg Morris was called
away to serve in a church in Odessa, Texas in June of 2004. In September
2004 the church called Tim Snowden as our new Minister of Worship
and New Member Care. Also in 2004 we began a Long Range Vision effort,
led by a team which committed to much prayer and study of God's
will for Hays Hills.
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