Sharing Our Stories…Claire Frazier

By Claire Frazier, South Main Member

Claire Frazier is married to Joe Frazier.  She is active in our Music Ministry, starring in several productions of Bach to Broadway, South Main’s Summer Musical.

A few years ago our family was homeless. Not in the way you might think. We had a lovely house that was home to our family of 5. What we did not have was a church home. And although we had no lack of shelter, food or clothing, being “church homeless” was very distressing to us.

We spent a long time visiting churches in Houston, carrying our mental checklist for comparison – beautiful worship space, inspired preaching, strong music and youth programs and on and on. We stayed in some places longer than others, but still yearned for something more – a place to belong, a community, and the assurance of God’s will for our decision. I became so unsettled about the matter that I commented to Joe, “What if something happens to one of us? Without a church family, who would we call for help?”

South Main was home to many of our friends, and we had visited from time to time over the years. But at the time of our search, South Main was without a pastor. And fearful of getting involved during that period of uncertainty, we crossed it off of our “short list”. God, however, continued to nudge us in the direction of the church at 4100 Main Street. Our son Stephen had become active in the youth program after accepting an invitation from his friends. He soon made the decision to join and was baptized. Our friends began inviting us to worship every Sunday and our daughter Annie’s friends began inviting her to Sunday School and Youth Camp.

One particular Sunday, Thomas Coker invited me to sing for worship. And the next day something did happen to one of us. I received a phone call from M. D. Anderson with the news that I had cancer. The whirlwind that followed is a blur except for a few important details – Steve Wells was immediately by our side to support us and pray with us. The people of South Main surrounded us with love and prayers. And God’s voice was unmistakable on the morning you promised to be His family for us in this place, our new home.

We are never more like Jesus than when we SHARE…. As we learn to share our stories, we learn to share our faith…

Share Campaign 2010

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The Most Important Hour of Your Child’s Week?

By Dolores Rader, Minister to Children

Studies show that adults who regularly attended church as children are much more likely to be churchgoers than their counterparts who weren’t regular attendees as children.

That seems like a “duh”, but upon a minute of reflection it caused me to pause and think. It is SO easy to get caught up in the here and now urgency of raising children that sometimes as parents we lose sight of the big picture – what kind of adults are we raising our children to be? I am not sure why, but it really struck me when I realized that my children will receive over 2000 hours of math instruction by the time they are eighteen years old, and if I am not really serious about it, they will receive only 300 hours of Sunday School learning in the same timeframe. Wow.

Now, no one loves good math instruction more than I do, but when the girls are grown and on their own, will I be convicted in knowing I was as intentional in cultivating in my children a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a solid understanding of the bible, and a deep and unwavering knowledge that church is family and loves them like family, as I was in making sure they went to great schools, weren’t tardy, and did their homework on time?

Happy New Year, South Main

By Amy Grizzle, Minister to Adults

School Supplies!  Yes, I was the child, and am still the adult, that gets excited about school supplies.  Each summer I eagerly awaited the Sunday paper at the end of July with the Sunday ads for School Supplies!  Clean, new Trapper Keepers (do they still make those?), unsharpened #2 pencils, lots of bright, sparkling, blank notebook paper, new markers that hadn’t dried up, and of course, a brand new box of Crayola crayons (complete with the sharpener) that enticingly begged you to be creative.

As a child who could care less about midnight parties and weight loss resolutions, School Supplies were the celebratory elements of my very own New Year.  Every year, a clean, fresh start, with new tools to help me navigate and create and it made me wonder what I would do differently, what I would learn.  Each new school year was an exciting and a scary new adventure filled both with unknowns and hopes that rattled my nerves, stirred my imagination, and inspired my heart.  College and even graduate school were nearly the same experience, minus, unfortunately, the box of Crayolas.

As summer moves closer to being a memory, we all have a chance to begin again.  Some of us begin again with children away at college for the first time or with the long dreaded empty nest, some of us begin new grades or new schools, some of us begin new jobs as Sunday School teachers or missions leaders.  We’ll soon have a new youth building and soon after that, we’ll have new construction on other parts of our building to help make it fresh and bright.  We have new ideas and new opportunities to re-engage and contribute to our shared life as a family of faith.

Will you consider joining a South Main at Home group in your new year?  Will you commit to engaging in and adding your gifts to our Sunday School Communities? We all have a chance to be reminded that each day can be that fresh, bright, energizing experience that begs you to be creative, inspires you to hope for what might happen, and a chance to walk with each other through all the phases and stages of life.  We all begin again as summer moves on and “fall” moves in. For those of us who move forward with excited hearts, may we share our joy.  For those of us who especially feel the trepidation and heaviness of transition, may we hold each others’ hands.

Happy New Year, South Main.