{"id":1023,"date":"2009-09-21T20:45:44","date_gmt":"2009-09-21T20:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:49:19","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:49:19","slug":"7309","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/09\/21\/7309\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversity Celebrated at Grand Opening of Mosaic Church"},"content":{"rendered":"
SUGAR LAND, TX (September 21, 2009) \u2013 Mosaic Community Covenant Church<\/a> looked just like their name when they celebrated the grand opening<\/a> of their building on Sunday.<\/p>\n The church has committed itself to being intentionally multicultural, and the diversity of people at the opening showed that they are succeeding. The 70-member church is made up of families from various ethnic and racial backgrounds.<\/p>\n Dr. Michael Emerson, a sociology professor at Rice University and author several books, including Divided by Faith<\/em> and United by Faith,<\/em> was the guest of honor at the grand opening. His work has had a strong influence on Mosaic\u2019s American-born Chinese pastor, Ed Lee, as well as others in the congregation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe church in America is segregated,\u201d says Lee. \u201cI was convicted by that and I felt I wasn’t doing enough to curb the problems of prejudice and racism….I love this country and I want to make a difference. That’s why I left a very comfortable position at another church to start this new church.\u201d<\/p>\n The church began meeting in a local elementary school in 2007 and now has 70 members. The new 4,000 square foot building will seat 200 people.<\/p>\n The church plans to launch Mosaic Learning Center, a nonprofit organization that will support families in the community through mentoring, tutoring, and parenting workshops.<\/p>\n The church also intends to launch a nonprofit called the Mosaic Association, a collaboration among believers seeking to promote healthy race relations in the community.<\/p>\n The church already offers a \u201cMovie Night\u201d every other month and shows films such as Crash<\/em> and Mississippi Burning.<\/em> Attendees discuss the movie afterward.<\/p>\n National Covenant Properties<\/a> provided a loan to help with construction of the new building.<\/p>\n For more information on the church, visit its website or its Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n