St. Philip the Evangelist, Houston

St. Philip the Evangelist, Houston, aims to strengthen its congregation through fostered leadership development in 2023. The church located in southwest Houston recruited four congregants in 2022 who will train for three years in a role to be disciples to communicate God’s word.

After being slowed by the coronavirus, pews are beginning to fill in this Sudanese community church. St. Phillip’s believes it is important to respect and recognize celebrations like the Fourth of July in America and the South Sudan Independence Day so that parishioners feel a sense of belonging in the church.

Conflict resolution training in 2022 taught by Rev. Rev. Agook K. Kuol helped parishioners learn approaches and strategies to ease problems and develop better relationships. Kuol took the courses in a refugee camp years ago and shares the knowledge within the St. Philip community.

“We discover that the Bible teaches us more about conflict and how to deal with it,” Kuol said. In his proverbs, Solomon stresses that ‘Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs’ (Proverbs 10:12).

Along with worship, training and celebrations, the church also focused on growing its children’s ministries in 2022.