Church History

The Church was incorporated, under the laws of the State of Texas, as a non-profit corporation in 1985.  In April 1985, the seven members of the Ark of Restitution Missionary Baptist Church (the Church) called Vern Cooper to the pastoral leadership role after the illness and death of the Church’s founding pastor, Leon Blunt.  At that time, the church was worshipping at 4013 Shelby Circle.

In May 1988, the church purchased four lots at the corner of Brandon and Holmes Road in the Sunnyside edition of the city, with the intent of building a new sanctuary.  However, the Church management located a larger and more suitable place of worship on Selinsky.

From April 1985 through May 1989, the church membership grew from seven to seventy (70) members.  In May 1989, the Church relocated to 6013 Selinsky where it leased the facilities for two years.  In August 1991, the Church entered into a 10-year mortgage which was paid in full within eight years.

From May 1989 through July 2000, the growth of the church was relatively stagnate, with the incremental increases in membership which were negatively offset by members of the congregation becoming inactive or changing church membership.

In July 2000, Pastor Vern Cooper imparted his vision of spiritual, financial and economic growth of the church combined with the call to build the Lord a new sanctuary.  Pastor Cooper called for a building fund drive which would require the Church to net income of $50,000 over the next eight months.  Starting in January 2001, the Church increased its cash balance from $33,000 to $83,000 in September 2001.  This represented a growth of $50,000, or 152% in a little over eight months.

The Church continues to grow its membership base while increasing its spiritual growth and financial position.  The new vision of the pastor requires the Church to sacrifice time, talent, resources and finances for the cause and to continue to serve God and expand its current ministry.  The Church has a desire to build a new sanctuary and establish not-for-profit organizations which empower the minority community which surrounds the Church.

The purpose of the Church is to promote a spirit of brotherhood and a closer association between the members of the organization; to assist in the charitable work of any nature deemed beneficial and in the best interest of the Church and society as a whole; and to promote and facilitate positive community development through Christian service, Godly love and leadership.  The Pastor is the president of the corporation and the overall manager of the Church.  The leaders of the Church auxiliaries formulate and implement policies and procedures which guide and direct the purpose and mission of the Church.

The Church has a youthful membership which is filled with individuals capable of tremendous career development and financial growth.

In the year 2010, the church moved forward with a new motto … “It’s our time”, and a new determination that this would be our year for a much needed facility to worship and to serve our community.  This new determination was coupled with the hard work of the church leadership, the grace of God that cause our path to cross with some other individuals equally determined to see the vision come to pass, and the vision began to become a reality.  Several setbacks in getting the plans approved and the finances secured all seemed now like a dream as the church broke ground on our new building in April 2011.  The building was completed December of 2011 and a triumphant entry service is planned for January 1, 2012.

God continues to grow this ministry and these people so that we can be a light in the community.  We are determined to make the nearby schools better educational institutions, South Park a better place to live, and Houston a better place to call home.  We are now … “A church on the move”, and we expect God to continue to lead us to higher heights in.

Our future looks better than our past …