Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
Houston TX
77004
Who we are
We believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator-God who fashioned His universe, probably in the image of His own Heavenly realm. We believe He then placed humans, made in His image-He is a spiritual Trinity, was as earthly families- in this very good universe to manage it for Him.
We believe that human pride led them to attempt to usurp God’s authority as Ruler of the universe, and in consequence both humans and the universe have been corrupted and damaged, and that we are condemned to be destroyed.
We believe that God, in His omniscience, anticipated a rebellion, and had already formed a plan that would redeem humankind and the scarred universe. This plan would evolve through a chosen servant (Abraham), a chosen nation (Israel), a body of divine law, a series of divinely-controlled tribulations, a message proclaimed by chosen prophets, a personal visit to the earth by God’s own Son, His death and resurrection.
We believe that God requires a total stewardship of our personal selves, our time, our gifts, and our treasure; our families and any friends we may influence to join us in His holy work; He expects that total stewardship to call us to personal piety and to social action. We believe that He wants to use us in sanctuary and in market-place, to preach conversion and civic justice, as church members and as professionals or students or homemakers, as total servants bringing a total message to the total human condition. We believe that we are privileged to be partners with God in the redeeming of the damaged human race and the bruised universe.
We believe that human pride led them to attempt to usurp God’s authority as Ruler of the universe, and in consequence both humans and the universe have been corrupted and damaged, and that we are condemned to be destroyed.
We believe that God, in His omniscience, anticipated a rebellion, and had already formed a plan that would redeem humankind and the scarred universe. This plan would evolve through a chosen servant (Abraham), a chosen nation (Israel), a body of divine law, a series of divinely-controlled tribulations, a message proclaimed by chosen prophets, a personal visit to the earth by God’s own Son, His death and resurrection.
We believe that God requires a total stewardship of our personal selves, our time, our gifts, and our treasure; our families and any friends we may influence to join us in His holy work; He expects that total stewardship to call us to personal piety and to social action. We believe that He wants to use us in sanctuary and in market-place, to preach conversion and civic justice, as church members and as professionals or students or homemakers, as total servants bringing a total message to the total human condition. We believe that we are privileged to be partners with God in the redeeming of the damaged human race and the bruised universe.
Church Website
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church on Social Media
Bring Him to Me - Dr. Charlie Dates - 30 April 2023
Leadership
Leader Name:
Dr. Marcus D. Cosby
Leader Position:
Senior Pastor
Phone:
Leader Email:
Click here to contact Dr. Marcus D. Cosby
Leader Bio:
The Reverend Dr. Marcus D. Cosby, the third child born to the late Mr. Rogers Cosby and Mrs. Bobbie J. Cosby, serves as the Senior Pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. A proud native of Chicago, Illinois and a product of Emmanuel Baptist Church where Dr. L.K. Curry served as pastor, Cosby received the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and English from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, the Master of Divinity Degree in Homiletics and Christian Education from the Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Georgia and the Doctor of Ministry Degree in Homiletics from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.
Dr. Cosby is married to his high school sweetheart, Mrs. Audrey Marie Cosby, and they have been blessed with three beautiful daughters, Adrienne Marie, Ashley Marie and Aliyah Marie and two sons, Marcus D., II and Matthew D. Cosby.
As the successor to the Founding Pastor of Wheeler Avenue, Dr. William A. Lawson, Pastor Cosby has been blessed to continue the ministry of this intentionally intergenerational congregation in the inner city of Houston, Texas since 2004, having served as Associate Pastor since 1998. With four Sunday worship services and a membership of more than 15,000, he has led the congregation to ensure its impact both on and far beyond the church campus with the inception of the Wheeler Avenue Christian Academy, serving children from 6 weeks old through the second grade; by opening a transitional housing facility for homeless single mothers in the Third Ward community of Houston; through cultivating a missional outreach in multiple villages in South Africa; and maintaining a passion for creatively impacting the lives of the forsaken and forgotten wherever they may be found.
As a consequence of his passion for qualitative preaching, Dr. Cosby has committed himself to equipping preachers for the work of the ministry. In addition to training the more than 100 ministers who comprise the Clergy Team of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, he serves as Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at Houston Graduate School of Theology and has taught the same at the Houston extension program of the ITC. In 2008, he was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. And in 2013 he became the Founder and CEO of Preaching with Power and Authority Ministries, a corporation committed to the pedagogy and promotion of relevant biblical preaching for the 21st Century.
Additionally, Dr. Cosby is a member of the Board of Trustees of his beloved Alma Mater, Fisk University, where he serves as the Chair of the Academic Excellence and Student Engagement Committee; as well as a member of the General Alumni Association of the University. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Home Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA, the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, the African American Pulpit, the Houston Area Urban League, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, the Texas Commission for Community Service and Volunteerism, and as an Advisory Board Member of The Gardner C. Taylor Preaching Archives and Listening Room in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and a Life Member of the NAACP. Among the gifts and talents with which God has blessed Pastor Cosby, none are more meaningful and fulfilling to him than preaching and teaching. He has been blessed to carry his ministry across the country and on the Mother Continent of Africa. He has lectured, preached and taught in numerous and varied settings, including conferences, conventions, retreats, revivals and on university and seminary campuses. Finally, Dr. Cosby seeks to encourage and empower all humanity through the timeless and transformative truths found in the Word of God.
Dr. Cosby is married to his high school sweetheart, Mrs. Audrey Marie Cosby, and they have been blessed with three beautiful daughters, Adrienne Marie, Ashley Marie and Aliyah Marie and two sons, Marcus D., II and Matthew D. Cosby.
As the successor to the Founding Pastor of Wheeler Avenue, Dr. William A. Lawson, Pastor Cosby has been blessed to continue the ministry of this intentionally intergenerational congregation in the inner city of Houston, Texas since 2004, having served as Associate Pastor since 1998. With four Sunday worship services and a membership of more than 15,000, he has led the congregation to ensure its impact both on and far beyond the church campus with the inception of the Wheeler Avenue Christian Academy, serving children from 6 weeks old through the second grade; by opening a transitional housing facility for homeless single mothers in the Third Ward community of Houston; through cultivating a missional outreach in multiple villages in South Africa; and maintaining a passion for creatively impacting the lives of the forsaken and forgotten wherever they may be found.
As a consequence of his passion for qualitative preaching, Dr. Cosby has committed himself to equipping preachers for the work of the ministry. In addition to training the more than 100 ministers who comprise the Clergy Team of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, he serves as Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at Houston Graduate School of Theology and has taught the same at the Houston extension program of the ITC. In 2008, he was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. And in 2013 he became the Founder and CEO of Preaching with Power and Authority Ministries, a corporation committed to the pedagogy and promotion of relevant biblical preaching for the 21st Century.
Additionally, Dr. Cosby is a member of the Board of Trustees of his beloved Alma Mater, Fisk University, where he serves as the Chair of the Academic Excellence and Student Engagement Committee; as well as a member of the General Alumni Association of the University. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Home Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA, the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, the African American Pulpit, the Houston Area Urban League, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, the Texas Commission for Community Service and Volunteerism, and as an Advisory Board Member of The Gardner C. Taylor Preaching Archives and Listening Room in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and a Life Member of the NAACP. Among the gifts and talents with which God has blessed Pastor Cosby, none are more meaningful and fulfilling to him than preaching and teaching. He has been blessed to carry his ministry across the country and on the Mother Continent of Africa. He has lectured, preached and taught in numerous and varied settings, including conferences, conventions, retreats, revivals and on university and seminary campuses. Finally, Dr. Cosby seeks to encourage and empower all humanity through the timeless and transformative truths found in the Word of God.
Dr. Marcus D. Cosby on Social Media:
Administration
Admin Name:
Mrs. Jocelyn Alexander
Admin Position:
Admin
Phone:
Fax:
713-748-2830
Admin Email:
Click here to contact Mrs. Jocelyn Alexander
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Service Times
Join Us for Worship
Sunday: 8:00AM, & 11:30 AM
Sunday School: 10:00 AM
Children's Sunday School: 8:00 AM
Children's Church: 11:30 AM
It's been more than 11 months since the last service times update. Please make sure to contact the church to confirm service times.
Please contact the church to confirm Service Times or SUBSCRIBE to updates below
Sunday: 8:00AM, & 11:30 AM
Sunday School: 10:00 AM
Children's Sunday School: 8:00 AM
Children's Church: 11:30 AM
It's been more than 11 months since the last service times update. Please make sure to contact the church to confirm service times.
Please contact the church to confirm Service Times or SUBSCRIBE to updates below
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Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church History
Pastor Emeritus William A. Lawson
In March of 1962, 13 pioneering worshipers assembled in the lounge of Texas Southern University’s Baptist Student Union for the sole purpose of establishing an ecclesiastical form of expression through which the worship of God and service to mankind could co-exist. The congregation currently known as Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church became the avenue through which those assembled would express their faith and extend hope to others.
In His inimitable Grace, God supplied every need for the developing congregation. From the trustworthy courage of the original 13 to the undaunted hope of over 12,000, God has continued to faithfully increase the number of sheep in the flock.
The Southern Baptists graced the church with her first sanctuary, later known as “The Chapel,” in 1962. The growth of the Wheeler Avenue Complex over the years has, indeed, been a testament to the incomparable deeds of our God. He has favored His flock with a ministry complex consisting of a prayer chapel, a scout house, a sanctuary for worship, a shipping and receiving facility, and the William A. Lawson Christian Life Center and Community Life Center, all of which were consecrated for the work of ministry during the 41st church anniversary.
Representing the Trinitarian reality of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Pastor William A. Lawson led the congregation to conceptualize ministry outreach to the “triangle” that borders the geographical locale of the church in the Third Ward of Houston, Texas. As God’s Grace abounds, the original unrelenting commitment to shine the light of Jesus throughout the Third Ward is continuously evolving in the service of the Wheeler Avenue ministries. This expansive thrust for ministry began early in the history of the church through the initiation of the Mission and Mercy Program in 1963.
After 42 years of spiritual leadership in the congregation of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Founding Pastor, the Reverend William A. Lawson, announced in the anniversary worship on June 6, 2004 that he was prepared to pass the staff to another Shepherd.
After forty-two years of spiritual leadership in the Congregation of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Pastor Lawson announced his retirement in the anniversary worship on June 6, 2004. As God had preordained in His will and through His benevolence, the Congregation elected the pulpit committee’s sole candidate, the Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby, who had served as Associate Pastor for six years. Over the past eleven years, it has become patently clear that God has commissioned Senior Pastor Cosby to develop the ministry and the people of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in this season of her existence. Early in the tenure of Pastor’s Cosby Commission to the spiritual leadership of Wheeler Avenue, he instituted a grace-filled journey with an intimate familial character through establishment of a five-summer Family Plan Bible Study: From the Cradle to the Crown, 2006-2010. This study was preceded by the Pastor’s Bible Study Series entitled, Back to the Basics Family Bible Study. A primary focus of this commissioned servant is the uplifting and strengthening of the home flock for the work of the ministry. With an intentional intergenerational focus, such ministry efforts as Faith –Filled Friday, in celebration of the steadfast trust in God demonstrated by congregants, the Seasoned Saints Salute, a vision of First Lady Audrey Cosby, which honors the faithfulness of a senior servant of the church, and Charter Day, which celebrates charter members and gives God glory for the founding of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
With unrelenting compassion for the least of these, Pastor Cosby is leading the Wheeler Congregation in a Homeless No More initiative, the foundation for which was established through the leadership of Pastor Lawson as he led homeless initiatives during his pastorate. Currently, homeless individuals are served food for the spiritual and natural body each Thanksgiving season; and, as a perpetual aspect of this thrust, the Madge Bush Transitional Living Center serves as a safe haven for homeless mothers and their children.
In the fall of 2008, Pastor Marcus D. Cosby, God’s commissioned servant for this season in the life of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, revealed the five-year vision plan which he received from God. The plan includes four points: 1) Welcoming/Witnessing Church, which aims to inspire the Congregation to fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus to His disciples; 2) Winning Children, which supports the preparation of the future generation of faith; 3)Worldwide Commitment, which seeks to develop within the congregation a more authentic concept of Jesus’ command for His people to be His witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth; and 4) Worship Center, which encourages the congregation to reflect on the meaning of building a place for the Glory of God. God has already blessed the efforts of the worldwide commitment vision point through the erection of a facility that serves youth and the elderly in the Village of Emmaus, South Africa, a place which Pastor Cosby and his team dedicated the Summer of 2011.
Two historic events occurred at Wheeler Avenue during 2006, the first of which was Wheeler Avenue serving as host for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. and the Katrina National Justice Commission. Following this event, the final telecast of ABC’s Nightline Town Hall Meeting with Ted Koppel was held at Wheeler Avenue.
Senior Pastor Cosby has served with a staff of five to seven ministers as the church membership has grown to over 15,000 members. The ministries headed by staff are Counseling, Congregational Care and Development, Children, Christian Education, Christian Marriage and Counseling, Middle School, Youth, Young Adult, Singles and Seniors. Additionally, on our campus we have Chronicles Bookstore; a specialized resource center, for training materials, books, CDs, and DVDs pertaining to healing, prayer and spiritual growth. The ministry profile of the church has also expanded into an enterprise that serves the community.
As the Wheeler Congregation prepares for the years ahead, the plans for building for the future are paramount, with God’s directive to move from consecration to commitment to construction, and, ultimately, to celebration. All the hope of the Congregation is in the faithfulness of the God Who superintended the blessed beginning, Who ordained the Lawson Legacy, Who consecrated the Cosby Commission and Who is preparing a faithful future for His people assembled as the Body of Christ, those who worship, witness and work in behalf of the Kingdom of God through the assembly of believers known as the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
In March of 1962, 13 pioneering worshipers assembled in the lounge of Texas Southern University’s Baptist Student Union for the sole purpose of establishing an ecclesiastical form of expression through which the worship of God and service to mankind could co-exist. The congregation currently known as Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church became the avenue through which those assembled would express their faith and extend hope to others.
In His inimitable Grace, God supplied every need for the developing congregation. From the trustworthy courage of the original 13 to the undaunted hope of over 12,000, God has continued to faithfully increase the number of sheep in the flock.
The Southern Baptists graced the church with her first sanctuary, later known as “The Chapel,” in 1962. The growth of the Wheeler Avenue Complex over the years has, indeed, been a testament to the incomparable deeds of our God. He has favored His flock with a ministry complex consisting of a prayer chapel, a scout house, a sanctuary for worship, a shipping and receiving facility, and the William A. Lawson Christian Life Center and Community Life Center, all of which were consecrated for the work of ministry during the 41st church anniversary.
After 42 years of spiritual leadership in the congregation of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Founding Pastor, the Reverend William A. Lawson, announced in the anniversary worship on June 6, 2004 that he was prepared to pass the staff to another Shepherd.
After forty-two years of spiritual leadership in the Congregation of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Pastor Lawson announced his retirement in the anniversary worship on June 6, 2004. As God had preordained in His will and through His benevolence, the Congregation elected the pulpit committee’s sole candidate, the Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Cosby, who had served as Associate Pastor for six years. Over the past eleven years, it has become patently clear that God has commissioned Senior Pastor Cosby to develop the ministry and the people of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in this season of her existence. Early in the tenure of Pastor’s Cosby Commission to the spiritual leadership of Wheeler Avenue, he instituted a grace-filled journey with an intimate familial character through establishment of a five-summer Family Plan Bible Study: From the Cradle to the Crown, 2006-2010. This study was preceded by the Pastor’s Bible Study Series entitled, Back to the Basics Family Bible Study. A primary focus of this commissioned servant is the uplifting and strengthening of the home flock for the work of the ministry. With an intentional intergenerational focus, such ministry efforts as Faith –Filled Friday, in celebration of the steadfast trust in God demonstrated by congregants, the Seasoned Saints Salute, a vision of First Lady Audrey Cosby, which honors the faithfulness of a senior servant of the church, and Charter Day, which celebrates charter members and gives God glory for the founding of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
In the fall of 2008, Pastor Marcus D. Cosby, God’s commissioned servant for this season in the life of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, revealed the five-year vision plan which he received from God. The plan includes four points: 1) Welcoming/Witnessing Church, which aims to inspire the Congregation to fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus to His disciples; 2) Winning Children, which supports the preparation of the future generation of faith; 3)Worldwide Commitment, which seeks to develop within the congregation a more authentic concept of Jesus’ command for His people to be His witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth; and 4) Worship Center, which encourages the congregation to reflect on the meaning of building a place for the Glory of God. God has already blessed the efforts of the worldwide commitment vision point through the erection of a facility that serves youth and the elderly in the Village of Emmaus, South Africa, a place which Pastor Cosby and his team dedicated the Summer of 2011.
Senior Pastor Cosby has served with a staff of five to seven ministers as the church membership has grown to over 15,000 members. The ministries headed by staff are Counseling, Congregational Care and Development, Children, Christian Education, Christian Marriage and Counseling, Middle School, Youth, Young Adult, Singles and Seniors. Additionally, on our campus we have Chronicles Bookstore; a specialized resource center, for training materials, books, CDs, and DVDs pertaining to healing, prayer and spiritual growth. The ministry profile of the church has also expanded into an enterprise that serves the community.
As the Wheeler Congregation prepares for the years ahead, the plans for building for the future are paramount, with God’s directive to move from consecration to commitment to construction, and, ultimately, to celebration. All the hope of the Congregation is in the faithfulness of the God Who superintended the blessed beginning, Who ordained the Lawson Legacy, Who consecrated the Cosby Commission and Who is preparing a faithful future for His people assembled as the Body of Christ, those who worship, witness and work in behalf of the Kingdom of God through the assembly of believers known as the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.
I am in Thy Presence
Help me, Lord, to remember that Christianity is not to be confined to the church ... nor exercised only in prayer and meditation, but that everywhere I am in Thy Presence.
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church listing was last updated on the 1st of May, 2023
