SHCC began as the dream of 3 families who moved from North Austin to Oak Hill in 1998. With audacious faith, these 3 families went to the highest point in the community – the top floor of the ACC Pinnacle Campus – and prayed for God to use them to plant a new church. It was then that they chose the “Y” as the epicenter of their ministry target area. They had no members and no money – but they did have a vision for a not-so-ordinary church.
It’s the VISION… to see God do a unique and mighty work throughout the greater Austin area; a work in which His grace and power are evidenced by seeing thousands of people come to Him in faith and experience lives of forgiveness, fullness, and fruitfulness.
It’s the DREAM… of a church that values people over programs; that cultivates a come-as-you-are atmosphere of love and acceptance for all people; a church that equips and encourages people to use their natural abilities and spiritual gifts for God’s kingdom; a church where relationships are ruled by honesty, sincerity and integrity and that promotes the qualities of excellence and relevance in everything.
It’s the AIM… to see faith in practice as we trust God to do abundantly above everything we can ask or imagine; a church with functional facilities housing ministries designed to help people of our fellowship as well as other co-laborers be effective in reaching our local community, our nation and our world.
It’s the DESIRE… to see a church that realizes its greatest potential lies in people who are built up, encouraged and equipped to carry out the ministry; people that are sharing Christ locally and globally with those who don’t yet know or fully understand His gift of grace; people who relate to and meet the deepest needs in our community; people who invite others to celebrative worship services and include them in its thriving network of small groups.
It’s the HOPE… that God will grow a church that is not bound by tradition or personal preference; a church reflecting the relaxed, casual, and friendly atmosphere of Austin; a church which displays the true spirit of servanthood, seeking the best for one another and not ourselves.
It’s the PASSION… to see the Lord build a new community of believers committed to creating environments that help people love God, fully follow Christ and serve others.
With that God-inspired vision, the original core/launch team grew to 6 families and held SHCC’s first public worship service in an apartment community clubhouse in the fall of 1998. Over the next few years SHCC moved several times using various locations and facilities for ministry events and Sunday worship services.
Knowing that a permanent location would provide the credibility and accessibility necessary to better reach and minister to the community, the members of SHCC committed to raise the funds necessary to purchase land and buildings when the church was almost 5 years old. The faith-filled people of SHCC gave sacrificially, and with great joy, moved onto the present campus in 2005.
But the REAL story of SHCC…
can be read in the lives of the people who are being changed by God’s amazing grace. Changed lives are – and always will be – the focus of our ministry. As grateful as we are for all that God has already done, we believe we’ve just laid the foundation. Greater things are yet to come as we commit ourselves to creating environments that help people love God, follow Christ and serve others. Come be part of our story. His story.