Officials from Houston's First Baptist Church gathered April 10 to concurrently celebrate the Cypress campus ground breaking and the church's 175th anniversary.[/caption] Exactly 175 years to the day Houston’s First Baptist Church was founded in downtown Houston, a ground breaking was held for the institution’s new Cypress campus in the Bridgeland area April 10. Located on 32.4 acres off the new segment F-1 of the Grand Parkway, construction officially began on the 100,000-square-foot facility late March. Completion is slated for the end of April 2017, officials said. “Houston’s First Baptist Church is excited to be part of this vibrant community,” Senior Pastor Gregg Matte said. “It is our privilege and pleasure to offer hope, light and wisdom to the residents of Cypress and beyond.” The initial phase will include a 1,300-seat worship center, an education center for Life Bible study and classroom space for infants through adults, HFBC director of communications Steven Murray said. Design and architecture of the building will be complementary to the aesthetics of the Katy prairie. Later phases have not been laid out yet, but the worship center will be expandable, allowing officials to add more seats in the future, Murray said. Houston’s First was founded on April 10, 1841—five years after the Battle of The Alamo—when missionaries from the United States came to the sovereign Republic of Texas to spread the gospel. The church expanded to the Cypress area in 2013 in response to growth in the region. The Cypress ministry has been holding services at a temporary campus at Smith Middle School on Warner Smith Boulevard. “[We’re] excited to build a new building in Cypress, but we are even more enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue serving the people in the community for many years to come,” Cypress Campus Pastor Jason Swiggart said. The church will be located just north of the educational village where Cy-Fair ISD is building its 12th high school. Residents interested in learning more about Houston’s First can attend weekly worship services or Life Bible studies at Smith Middle School, 10300 Warner Smith Blvd., on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Additional Life Bible studies meet on Sunday mornings at the Bridgeland Lakeland Activity Center, 16902 Bridgeland Landing, Cypress.