Second Baptist Church (Houston, Texas)

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Second Baptist Church is a megachurch in the Greater Houston, Texas, area.

Second Baptist Church is an evangelical, Christian church, and is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention as well as the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The church offers 15 worship services per weekend including traditional and contemporary music styles. The Sunday 9:30 A.M. Woodway Campus service is also broadcast live on the radio and pastor Dr. Ed Young's sermons are broadcast via the television program, "Winning Walk."

The Southern Baptist congregation meets at five locations, called campuses, in the Houston metropolitan area. Campuses include: Woodway Campus (the main campus), West Campus (located on Interstate 10 near Katy, Texas), North Campus (located on US 59 in Kingwood), Pearland (meeting at an AMC Theater), and Cypress Campus (meeting at the Berry Center in Cypress, Texas).

Dr. Ed Young has been senior pastor of the church since 1978. He is the fifth pastor of Second Baptist Church and has led the congregation in growth from 2,000 members in 1978 to about 45,000 members on its five campuses in 2007. Young was born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, and attended the University of Alabama, Mississippi College, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The congregations bills itself as "The Fellowship of Excitement."

[edit] History

Second Baptist Church was organized in 1927. Its first permanent building was at Milam and McGowen streets, south of downtown Houston, and was purchased from St. Paul's United Methodist Church. In 1957, Second Baptist moved west to the current main campus location at 6400 Woodway Drive in Houston.

In 1999, the church opened the West Campus in the fast-growing area of west Houston. In 2004, Forest Cove Baptist Church merged with the Second Baptist family and was renamed Second Baptist's North Campus. In 2006, satellite campuses in Pearland and northwest Houston were established.