Welcome New Members 🙌
Dear Zion,
This Sunday, what an incredible joy to welcome to Zion 26 new members from nine new households. Welcome, friends! How deeply glad we are to get to know you and welcome you into this life of faith together. Your presences enriches this community in so many ways.
Welcome to Zion, dear friends!
Peace, Pastor Mindy
Amber and Emilie have lived in the Heights since 2021, after meeting in Austin and building a life together for 15 years (11 married). Amber grew up in Lubbock, TX, as a Baptist, and Emilie grew up in Holland, MI, in the Reformed Church in America. Before moving to Houston, they were members of University Baptist Church in Austin. Amber works with fuel tax technology, and Emilie is completing her counseling master’s at UH while working as a massage therapist. After visiting Zion over the past few years, they are grateful to call this community home. In their downtime, they enjoy cooking together; Emilie loves reading, and Amber enjoys garage projects and native plants.
Hi – we’re – Ryan, Ashley and our sweet little boy, Pierce. We were married in December 2020 and welcomed Pierce in November 2023. He is our biggest joy in life, and we are so proud of him as he recently started class at Zion Lutheran Preschool. During the days, Ryan works in accounting for a dredging company and Ashley works in strategy for a midstream oil and gas company.
I come to Zion from a time and place where everyone knows your family name, party-line phone (Beef River Phone Company), black-and-white television (which signed “off” at 10 pm), K-12 in one building, a community of 1,588 people, a Lutheran Church surrounded by dairy farms. Entered the Lutheran tradition in the same building/congregation as my parents. Extra note: Difference, aka diversity (other’s stories) has and still gets my attention.
As Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) Ambassador to the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, I have worshiped at various congregations throughout the synod over the past few years.
Why Zion? Hmm, proximity to Houston home and the openness and welcoming energy reflects that Zion practices. Surely, the Spirit is active here.
We met in 2018 and married on October 12, 2024. We both grew up in Houston and value family and community. We are both lawyers, but neither one of us like to admit that. Miranda even told herself that she would never date a lawyer, so God decided that she would marry one. Miranda comes from a law enforcement family. Her parents still live in Pearland, where she grew up. Ron comes from a close Baptist family. His mother and brother still in live Houston, where he was raised. His dad lives in Colorado and his sister lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
Greetings! Our names are Ali, Jody, and Tobias (Toby), and we are 3/4 of the DeLuca family. We are excited to officially rejoin Zion and have long standing ties to Zion.Starting with our marriage here in 1999 followed by the birth of our daughter (Arabella) in 2002 and then Tobias in 2004. Both kids were baptized at Zion, and Ali grew up going to church here.
A little about our family: Ali is one of the Directors at the preschool. She started as a classroom teacher in 2005 and became one of the Directors of ZLP in 2015. She likes to play tennis, pickleball, and can be found reading to relax. Jody works as a Director of Business Development in Oil and Gas Downstream. He likes to try new restaurants and watch sports– specifically tennis, baseball and football. Tobias is a part time student working towards his Associates Degree in Communications while working at ZLP as an office helper/ in-house substitute. He played competitive baseball for most of his life, and he now is golf obsessed. He is always on the lookout for the opportunity to play! Joining Zion feels like coming home and we are happy to be here.
My name is Gary, and I came to Zion through my dear friend, Alice Bongers. I am caring, giving, and funny, and I love to play the organ. Lighthearted, love to laugh, very helpful, and live to hug. Service oriented. Finding a church that is Bible-based in an answer to prayer. I feel at home at Zion.
Roxy and Christy met in 2009 while attending the University of Louisiana Monroe. They continued to date long distance while obtaining their graduate degrees before settling in Texas to be closer to Roxy’s family and begin careers. Christy’s family in south Louisiana is close to heart, calling them home whenever they need family time- or good cajun food! Christy is an athletic trainer while Roxy is a psychotherapist, both feeling the call to help others with gifts bestowed on them. Roxy and Christy were married in 2016, less than a year after the Supreme Court ruling. Finn is 5 and is often referred to as our “little engineer”. He has a curious mind for tinkering and is also a precocious “reader”. Ryker is 3 and our rough and tumble boy. He is often the one to try new things, but is generally not far from “mama”. The Waguespack’s are joining Zion from Lord of Life Lutheran Church in The Woodlands after relocating to Pasadena.
Hello, Zion! Here is a little bit about us, the Wakefields. Dave has lived in Houston since 2004 after growing up in North Dakota and attending college in Minnesota. Anne Marie moved to Houston in 2011 after living in San Antonio (born), New Orleans (college), and DC (early teaching career). We met while teaching, and got married in 2014. Josiah was born in 2019 and Isa in 2022. We currently live in Garden Oaks, and enjoy doing all kinds of kid sports and activities, as well as traveling and being outside as much as possible. We are so excited to join Zion and meet all of you!
I attended Texas A&M shortly after the creation of the ELCA. Being a part of the brand new Aggie Lutherans shaped the person I am today, and I am a strong supporter of campus ministry. I then moved to Houston to take a job as a high school Latin teacher, which I do today, along with teaching World History. I like to explore new foods, both by cooking them myself and eating them in the many diverse restaurants we have here in Houston. I also like to grow some of those foods in my garden, along with the other flowers I care for in my yard. I also enjoy absorbing nature by walking along the trails and paths nearby.
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