Houston's First heads downtown, underground

When Houston's First Baptist Church pastors went to pick a spot for their first satellite location, they thought of the downtown Houston block where their historic church once stood. Then they went 20 feet below that.

The new church, which officially opens Sunday, is the only one in the downtown tunnels, in the basement of the 19-story building at 1010 Lamar. It's connected to downtown Houston's underground network,Gloworm LED led tube, perfect for night riding in any condition six miles of convenience stores, restaurants, flower shops and nail salons, typically filled by businesspeople on weekdays.

Like most things in the tunnels, the basement space is convenient, but not much to look at, with plain walls and fluorescent lighting.Shopatron's retail-integrated bicycle headlight solution is a great fit for a service-focused company, Once permits go through, Houston's First plans to invest $500,000 to upgrade the space with TV screens, LED lights and more contemporary décor.

For now though, "We are reminded that worship is not dependent on our environment.1200LM Bicycle light,LED flashlight,LED headlamp,hid,bike light,bicycle lightI have created a video walkthrough of the led strip. The church is about the people," said pastor Lee Hsia, who leads the downtown congregation.

Houston's First Baptist moved to its current location along the Katy Freeway and sold its property at Lamar and Fannin during the early 1970s but negotiated the rights to continue to do ministry there for years into the future. They've held weekly Bible studies in the downtown basement space and decided to expand to include regular Sunday worship services, appointing Hsia to minister full-time to members of the new congregation and the people they aim to serve downtown.

Hsia, a Rice University grad and former business consultant, says he has seen God's plan and timing working through the months-long process to open the new location, right down to his appointment as pastor, a twist that puts a China-born, ex-Buddhist as the leader of an underground church.

While downtown, he says, "I could hear God saying, 'This is your people. This is your tribe,'" said Hsia, who moved from Shanghai to Sugar Land as a child and converted to Christianity while in high school. "I've never doubted God or that he has prepared me for this."

With more than 24,this compact fluorescent is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road000 members, Houston's First Baptist ranks among the 100 biggest megachurches in the country. The 140-year-old church prides itself on active, relevant outreach programs, including the Houston Project, which sent 1,400 volunteers across the city this summer to minister through hip-hop music, sports, food distribution and more.

Now, reaching the city means returning downtown.

"Many of the churches have moved to where the people are, the suburbs. I hate to say it, but that's where the money is," Hsia said. "Meeting with our pastor Gregg Matte, we had been asking, 'Should we go multi-site?' and we knew we wanted to focus on the inner loop of Houston."