Many years ago, drivers along Hwy. 90 were greeted by a sign that heralded, “Welcome to Katy the City of Churches.” At that time, 12 churches were in existence and all 12 were listed on the sign.
Boy, the more things change, the more things stay the same. The sign is gone, but more churches have sprung up in our faith-based community—many more than could ever appear on one sign—proving that Katy, indeed, is a city of many, many churches, faiths and denominations.
Katy is a bit of an anomaly, blending old and new. Most readers know that the actual City of Katy is quite small, often referred to as Old Town Katy, Old Katy, the Heart of Katy, or Katy Proper. The surrounding area is just that… the “Katy Area”—a large and sprawling suburb buzzing with commerce and vast amounts of subdivisions. Both areas are filled with churches, complete with any kind of denomination a worshipper seeks: Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Episcopalian, non-denominational and more. Perhaps this is why Katy is also known as “The Town with a Heart.”
Small town values are deeply woven into the fabric of Katy, extending back to the late 1800s when the area was a prairie. But those early settlers brought with them their beliefs. They planted the seeds of community that exist today in our tri-county area, connecting Waller, Harris and Fort Bend Counties. All brim with places of worship, some quite old and some brand new. Some residents gather in established brick and mortar churches, while others meet in commercial buildings or at junior high or high school campuses.
Some churches began in people’s houses. In fact, both the Baptist and Methodist congregations organized in 1898 and met in homes until 1904, the year the Methodist church was built, followed by the First Baptist Church of Katy. Another historic church, Trinity Apostolic Faith, met in homes in 1905, then purchased the old one-room schoolhouse in 1909. They now worship at the corner of Avenue D and Tenth Street in Old Town Katy.
In an increasingly secular nation, it’s nice to be nestled in Katy, a place that values Christian beliefs and makes worship a priority. On any given Sunday, hymns and prayers abound and are surely pleasing to God’s ear. We are blessed, us Katyites, with an economy that has fared better than most… perhaps because Katy truly is a remarkable city of churches.
