Our Story
Cecil and Leah Whitton pioneered LifePointe Fellowship in the Fall of 2005. Today, LifePointe is a growing community of believers with unlimited potential. Although LifePointe is an Assemblies of God Church, we attract people from all different backgrounds, denominations and faiths.
The Dream is Planted
It all started around December of 2001. My wife, Leah, and I were on staff at a church in the Dallas area. We would come down to the Lake Jackson/Freeport area a few times a year to visit family. As we were driving through the edge of Pearland, (Hwy 288) the Lord placed it upon Leah's heart that "one day we would start a church in Pearland". She did not say anything to me about that revelation at that time. About a year later we were going down Hwy 288 again to visit family when I said to Leah, "I feel like God has been speaking to me that one day we will start a church in Pearland". That is when she told me about how God had already confirmed the same thing to her a year earlier. (She often likes to remind me that she heard from God first.) Neither one of us had ever been to Pearland and knew very little about the city. Starting a church in Pearland began to be a dream in our hearts, but it was not yet God’s timing. It was not until the beginning of 2005 that we began to pursue God's plan for us coming to Pearland.
Steps of Faith
In March, we resigned our position near Dallas and put our home up for sale. It was after those two huge steps of faith that we really began to experience God's favor. We began to ask the Presbyter of this section, with the Assemblies of God if we could start a church. We assumed we would be renting a school or theater of some sort. In God's providence there was a congregation with a great facility right in the heart of Pearland. The congregation had experienced a sharp decline and was in a restart situation.
They asked my wife and I to consider "restarting" this church. A good deal of prayer went into this decision. Also, many questions were asked in regards to the church. Like Gideon, we placed "fleeces" before God. The answers we received quickly allowed us to know that this was God's will. We were going to be able to start a church and have a property that was valued at around $1.5 million to start it in. And to top it all off, there was new road construction going on in front of the church, which will host one of the busiest roads in Pearland when it is completed (4 lanes connecting 518 and I45 at Scarsdale). It was so easy to see God's hand in everything.
Humble Beginnings
There were only seven people in attendance the night that we received the call to pastor LifePointe Fellowship (formerly Bethany). We were excited about this fact! Only a couple of months earlier when we resigned our position in Dallas we did not know anyone in Pearland - now we knew seven! We began to make the commute from Dallas to Pearland in May. We sold our home and moved in June. We spent the first 4-5 months laying groundwork and not going public. God sent us a worship team, nursery director, children's pastor, Christian Ed director and others during that time. We had our "Grand Opening/going public" campaign on October 23, 2005. We are truly excited about what God has done and what He will do in the future. I can assure you that it is not because of my wife and I, but we feel that this is a church with destiny... We are humbled to be a part of a God sized vision. We are excited about the people God is sending our way to join us on the journey...
Cecil Whitton Lead Pastor