In 2016, as the new founding director tasked with creating a connected community in Gulfton/Sharpstown with four non-profits – St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, KIPP Public Schools, YMCA and Legacy Community Health – I spent the first several months meeting everyone I could. But what I heard over and over was, “You need to meet Cece and Sara.” Who were they? How could they help me in my quest to understand what makes the neighborhood tick? Well, I got my first taste when I co-led a parent session at KIPP:CONNECT with the City of Houston Planning department to [...]

Tina Melo left Houston in late August to watch the solar eclipse in Tennessee. That’s also where she watched Hurricane Harvey tear through Houston. Filled with survivor’s guilt, she returned to a damage-free home. She and her daughter signed up for a shift volunteering at St. Luke’s to support the Red Cross. Days later, the Red Cross moved on to the next location, and Tina went back to work, but there was so much more to be done. What else could she do? Her childhood friend, Debra, called from Seattle where she sits on the board for the [...]

My wife always calls me “Bob the bridge builder” and I have never really thought much about it. Pursuing a profession or perhaps obsession for city building all my life (including building cities in my back yard as a kid—pity my poor parents) has been one of the most rewarding and enriching gifts one can experience.  The opportunity to work with so many people from so many walks of life - people with means or without, the powerful and the unempowered, those of all races, gender and age, those of many faiths or no faith, of widely differing [...]

Excellence. A word we hear often and maybe at times even become too casual with our use of it. Merriam Webster defines excellence as, “eminently good.” In every aspect of our lives there is the opportunity to focus on excellence. I think of my Mom who makes every person who walks into her home feel loved and welcomed. Of course, that happens with a warm hug and a listening ear. It also comes from the thoughtfulness in which she hosts a guest. Whether they pop in unexpectedly or she has been planning for their arrival for weeks, every [...]

What determines beauty? Is it intrinsic, as in the beauty of a rose in full bloom, or the giggle of a delighted baby at the silly antics of a parent? Or is it “in the eye of the beholder” - totally subjective, determined by the individual - the reason some prefer Mozart to Stravinsky, symmetry to asymmetry? On Sundays we are surrounded by beauty: majestic organ music filling our Sanctuary, a family’s joy during an infant baptism, 100 voices blended in choral song, friendly faces wreathed in smiles, the corporate affirmation of our beliefs. And it is easy [...]

How delightful that I was asked to share this week, as I am celebrating twenty entirely amazing years as Director of St. Luke’s Day School! My days are filled with loveable, inspiring young children and the adults who adore them. On any given day I am able to witness purely authentic moments of children’s wonder, imagination, and creative thinking as we play and learn together! Over the years, my favorite title has become Chapel Helper. Every week during the school year, I have a role in leading energetic worship services for two to five year old children! We [...]

When I met Sid Davis, I had that sense that happens occasionally that you are re-meeting a long-lost family member. We resonated immediately and deeply. We started a collaboration that is now almost 30 years old. Together we have written, produced and performed almost 60 shows with about 30 of them original works. We have done this in an effort to give gifted individuals a stage upon which to apply their gifts… but more importantly… to build and forward – community. Jesus was a very social guy. Water-into-wine is a great opener for starting to engage with the [...]

This summer, I had the chance to attend the camp Youth Becoming Leaders in Kentucky for two weeks to leap further into my faith. YBL has been a time for me to grow in my leadership abilities and in my knowledge of Wesleyan Theology. I would say that one thing God has done for me in those two weeks was making me more ambitious to serve further in his ministry by getting me to start my own ministry project with the resources, connections, and skills I was given at the camp. Thanks to the guidance of God, camp [...]

The goal to raise $5,000 for this year’s Vacation Bible School service project seemed lofty, especially with the impact Hurricane Harvey had on the city. But small things make a big difference in the kingdom of God. In total, the campers raised $8,093.11, which bought 404 special beds with netting for children in Africa that will help ward off mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Raising this money was not all about children emptying out the excess change they have in their piggy banks at home, though. Through supporting a meaningful cause at the largest children’s event of [...]