St. Cyril Orthodox Church Relocates in The Woodlands

In a matter of 48 hours, St. Cyril Orthodox Christian Church moved from their strip center location into a normal church environment in The Woodlands. Father Clark Lowenfield of HopePointe church and his congregation offered St. Cyril Orthodox Christian Church a place to worship in the old sanctuary of HopePointe Anglican Church, located at Woodlands Parkway and South Panther Creek Drive.

“HopePointe has graciously offered to share with us their facilities for our worship in their former sanctuary,” said Father Samuel Gantt, the Priest and Pastor of St. Cyril Orthodox Christian Church. It’s a better opportunity for us to be of service to The Woodlands population and to be a major part of the spiritual growth of The Woodlands community. Being an active member of Interfaith, we get to work with the other churches and the Synagogue here.”

The new chapel has plenty of parking, large windows with wonderful views of the landscape and has much more room than the previous location. Church member Mark Hunter enjoys the view of the windows and thinks the new location feels more intimate.

“We can see God’s creation through windows while we worship in church,” Hunter said. “It focuses our attention on Christ through Icons and gives us a better opportunity to reach out to our community to introduce them to the original church of apostles.”

When they switched locations, one of the toughest challenges was moving and rebuilding the Iconostasis. Iconostasis is the Greek word for a stand or wall on which the icons are placed between the altar area and the rest of the church. Orthodox churches are filled with images called Icons. An “Icon” is a theological image of the reality that lies behind it.

“When you’re looking at an icon of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or one of the Apostles, you’re not worshiping the icon itself—it is not a graven image. You’re worshiping the reality that lies behind the image,” Fr. Sam said. “The Iconostasis helps us visually to enter into the reality of heavenly worship.”

To help transform the chapel into an Orthodox Christian Church, adults, youth and even young children of the parish helped pack, move boxes and rebuild the Iconostasis.

“I think we experienced an extraordinary move in a 48-hour period of time where the rain let up at just the right times,” Fr. Sam said. “I see the hand of God in our move, especially in moving and setting up our huge Iconostasis and altar. The participation of those who helped in the move will give them ownership in our new church location. This is an exciting time for us at St. Cyril.”

Hunter said he thinks the outcome of the number of people who helped was rewarding.

“The job of moving the church was very challenging,” Hunter said. “It rained, it was hot and humid; but it was miraculous how everyone came and worked together. The result exceeded what anyone expected.”

Another advantage in the use of this sanctuary at HopePointe is the acoustics.

“The sanctuary has an arched wooden ceiling which acts as a good sounding board for the vocal music which is used in the Orthodox Church,” Hunter said.

Fr. Sam hopes to help people understand more about the Orthodox Christian Faith.

“Our focus at St. Cyril Orthodox Church is The Woodlands and Montgomery County. We’re the only Orthodox Christian Church in the county,” Fr. Sam said. “We are here to bring the culture back to its roots and to help people to understand the historic Christian Faith. The Church is just as accessible as it was the day it was born in the first century.”

He said that for many years, the Orthodox Christian Church used to consist of strong ethnic groups from Russia, Europe and the Middle East.

“Today, however, it’s becoming fully mainstream American,” Fr. Sam said. “In fact, St. Cyril Orthodox Christian Church is under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) and the leadership of Metropolitan [Archbishop] Jonah of all America and Canada.”

Fr. Sam said he is happy to be able to provide Orthodox Christians and anyone who wants to worship God in a very reverent, peaceful, beautiful space.

“It is a blessing to present the ancient Christian faith as being totally alive and relevant to all of our current social issues,” Fr. Sam said.