A Note from Pastor Roger

June 11th, 2026
by Jason Bergstrom

More Than a Parking Lot

Dear Church Family,

What a joy it has been this week to see our West U Baptist campus filled with children for VBS and our Bellaire campus filled with middle school students for VBX! These are some of the most joyful weeks of the summer at CityRise, with kids and students worshiping, studying God’s Word, building friendships, laughing together, and hearing again and again about the hope we have in Jesus.

I am so thankful for every volunteer, staff member, parent, and leader who has helped make this week possible. Would you join me in praying that the seeds planted this week will continue to grow for years to come? Moments like these remind us why creating welcoming and purposeful ministry environments matters so much.

And speaking of creating space for ministry, I want to remind you that construction on the Milton Street parking lot at our West U Baptist campus begins this Monday, June 15! We know this will require patience and flexibility for the next couple of months, but this is an important—and exciting!—first step in Pathways.

To help everyone prepare, please take a moment to review the West U Baptist parking map, especially before the first Sunday in which parking will be affected, on June 21. (The map is also placed at the end of this email for your convenience.)

You can always find further parking information and Pathways updates at cityrise.org/pathways.

For many years, parking capacity and traffic flow around West U Baptist have created constraints for our church family and our neighbors. As Ben Hays, West U Baptist Campus Pastor, shares, “We are thrilled to be breaking ground on the new parking lot along Milton Street! Limited parking and traffic bottlenecks have presented significant logistical challenges for our campus.” Ben also points out that, as a church located in the heart of West University Place and surrounded by community facilities and neighborhood destinations, “parking is a valuable and limited resource.”

That is why this project matters. In Ben’s words, “This new lot will provide beautiful, accessible, and efficient parking not only for our congregation but also for the broader community we are privileged to serve.” It’s a practical improvement, but it is also a ministry investment, “an important step forward in our ongoing mission to love our neighbors well.”

In practical terms, the renovated lot will provide a net addition of about seven parking spots, an improved layout for the flow of traffic, better lighting throughout the parking area, and an improved landscaping plan. Each of those details helps make the campus more welcoming, accessible, safe, and easy to navigate for our church family, our guests, and our neighbors.

Dr. Paul Magyar, West U Baptist Worship and Senior Adults Pastor, highlights another important benefit of the project: “In particular, our oldest members will benefit from level pavement making the area more secure for walking.”

That is worth celebrating. These improvements may begin with asphalt, lighting, landscaping, and access, but the goal is much bigger: helping remove barriers so more people can enter, worship, connect, serve, and grow in Christ.

So, as we head into this next step, thank you in advance for your patience, flexibility, and hospitality. During construction, parking at West U Baptist will look different, but the mission remains the same. Let’s continue making room for one another, welcoming guests warmly, and remembering that even a temporary inconvenience can become an opportunity to serve with joy.

I am grateful for what God is doing in this summer season and excited for the road ahead!

Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger