DOCUMENTING THE CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER IN HOUSTON

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The Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal), in Houston, Texas, dates back to the 1910s.  The church experienced a wave of growth during the 1960s-1970s, which included charismatic worship, communal living, and extensive outreach to the Eastwood community.  By the late 1970s, the revival was dying and the church's attendance was deteriorating steadily.  The church never really recovered, and in early 2011 the historic church building was abandoned.  The congregation, or what remained of it, relocated to share the building of the nearby Redeemer Lutheran.  Some young adults from Redeemer have recently formed a small apartment church called Missio Dei Houston.  The history of the church in the 1960s-1980s is documented elsewhere, in video and in a few books such as Julia Duin's somewhat controversial "Days of Fire and Glory". This website's emphasis is not on revisiting the heyday.  Rather, the focus is on preserving the memory of the church's final days in its old building, and its transition to a new one... and explaining what is happening in the church today, now that it has moved on to a new location. Recent news regarding the Church of the Redeemer includes: -A new church pastor at Redeemer, from Uganda. -The formation of Missio Dei, and former Redeemer youth pastor Mark Ball's effort to crowdsource a church. -Redeemer's current search for a new youth pastor to fill in now that Mark Ball has moved on. -The scouting programs of Redeemer Episcopal and Redeemer Lutheran working together to form a massive group consisting of one boy scout troop (Troop 4), two girl scout groups, and two cub scout packs. -News, that the old Redeemer building may be acquired, renovated, and rented out to various persons; the rectory may be used as a duplex, the classrooms and offices, the Parish Hall, and the (sanctuary) would all be spaces for rent.  This, if it goes through, would mean that the building would not be demolished. It also calls into question the value of creating a digital replica of the space, as much of the point of the 'virtual church' idea had to do with historical preservation.