A New Home for Image Church

Located just 27.5 miles northwest of Houston is the thriving city of Cypress, TX. A city where God called a community of believers to establish a church plant called Image Church.

Taking the great commission seriously, Image Church exists to grow the family of God by making disciples and building families. Since forming the church, this body of believers has grown tremendously, with entire families coming to the Lord. In fact, at the time of this writing, they will soon celebrate 21 baptisms at one time, the most in their church history! So the need to find a facility that would allow them to continue to grow both physically and spiritually was imperative.

“We were at a point financially where we knew the Lord had a place for us, but we thought it would be a rental property. It turned out our real estate agent had another listing he shared with us that was an opportunity to purchase property,” states Joe Ogletree, pastor of Image Church.

At this point in Image Church’s journey, they contacted the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation. While the church didn’t qualify for the loan initially, Foundation leadership partnered with them through its Jubilee Property Program because of the Image Church’s exemplary leadership, strong baptisms, and growth in income and attendance.

The Jubilee Property Program was initially designed as a defensive mechanism to save church properties for future congregations. By the Foundation partnering with Image Church to purchase the property, Image Church was able to lease the property from the Foundation and move into an already established church building. The new space allowed Image Church to continue to reach its community. The growth of their congregation positioned Image Church to own the property within two years.

With Image Church’s move into its newly purchased facility came great support from the community, where there was a minimal amount of African-American churches. This move has also been transformative for the people of Image Church.

God surely does work in amazing ways! Lending projects like Image Church’s would not be possible if individuals and churches didn’t invest in church expansion certificates, which fund the Foundation’s loan pool. In a heartfelt statement to Foundation certificate clients, Pastor Ogletree states, “What you’re doing is bigger than you. One could invest in bigger companies or themselves, but if they could step in and see what God is doing in Cypress, they would get a taste of what is possible for churches and the mission of God in Texas. Your money is an investment in the Kingdom. In this season and this climate, there is never a greater time we need kingdom investment.”