Our Future Before Our Past
The Texas Story Project.
It was 1986 when Pastor Jim Rion and his wife Denise started a church, in San Antonio, Texas, with nothing but a small building to meet in, the friends and family who supported them, and a call from God.
The couple had moved from New Mexico to Texas, a state neither of them had been before, in 1978 to attend Bible College; however, the idea to even start a church didn’t come until five years later when Pastor Jim Rion says that, “God started the conversation in his heart.” After a couple of years of prayer, planning, and preparation, Westover Hills Assembly of God held its first church service with some sixty people in attendance. At the time, the church was called Ingram Assembly of God. Starting a church is never easy, so neither was the start of Westover Hills. The church had a financial mountain to climb and extremely limited leaders, resources, and facilities. They couldn’t purchase or do hardly anything they needed. The only way they got through these years is by people Pastor Rion calls “first-fruits people.” These were the people he says God sent to make the church possible. Through the tithes, donations, and help of these “first-fruits people,” Westover Hills would begin the journey to become the church it is today.
When asked if there was ever a time he didn’t agree with what God was doing, Pastor Rion had an insightful answer. He explained that while he didn’t always understand what God was doing because he couldn’t see the end, he knew that sometimes God is guiding by not providing. He stated, “God’s never in a hurry, but He’s always on time.” The beginning of Westover Hills may have been hard and seemingly impossible to get through, but through God’s guidance- a guidance that sometimes included the shutting rather than opening of doors and opportunities- Pastor Jim was always able to push the church into the right direction.
Today, Westover Hills Assembly of God has grown beyond what anybody expected during its start in 1986. The church has built a reputation in the community for showing others the love of God through, but not limited to, creating a sports outreach for the community, giving to missions, and feeding children all over the world through donations. The church has also been able to open three additional campuses- one for people in the Castroville/Hondo area and a Spanish campus at both locations. Westover Hills now has a weekend attendance of approximately six thousand expanding over eight different services and four campuses. When asked what he would want people to know about Westover Hills, Pastor Rion stated, “This church has never shrunk back into a comfort zone and has always been willing to say yes to the next challenge, always putting people before program, our mission before our traditions, and our future before our past.”
Through God’s guidance and provision, Pastor Jim Rion has lead Westover Hills Assembly of God from a dream, to a small church with little to nothing, to an establishment that is not only affecting the community, but the world.
Madison Pridemore is a student at St. Mary’s University and is set to graduate with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Chemistry. Madison was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico into a military family and moved to Texas as a teenager. She has both interned and been employed by Westover Hills Church and has fulfilled many rolls from café worker, to office admin, to worship leader. Madison plans on attending graduate school after graduating from St. Mary’s with the goal of obtaining a Masters degree in Mathematics.
Posted September 17, 2019
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