A new non-denominational Christian church has started gathering in Dripping Springs, and the early turnout already looks more like a full congregation than a soft launch. Stone Oaks Church is holding services at Wildwood Elementary School while it looks for a lasting home.
Brock Stamps is pastor, and Stephanie Stamps will serve as director of Groups and Ministry Teams, Community Impact reported Nov. 12. The couple has lived and raised their family in Dripping Springs for the past 13 years. More than 500 people gathered for the church's first services, and a photo caption put about 700 at the first Sunday service in September.
Sunday at Wildwood
For now, the sanctuary is a public school. Stone Oaks is hosting services at Wildwood Elementary School while the team works to procure a more permanent home for the congregation. No timeline for that move has been set out.
Community Impact also lists the church at 294 Mira Vista Drive in Dripping Springs. The church's own site describes Stone Oaks as a new church for Dripping Springs, Texas, at stoneoakschurch.com.
The two attendance figures sit side by side in the Nov. 12 report: more than 500 at the first services, and about 700 at that first September Sunday. The reporting does not say whether those counts cover the same morning or separate gatherings.
After a Transitional Period
The opening follows a change, not a newcomer's arrival. Community Impact reported that the family entered a transitional period and ultimately decided to keep investing in Dripping Springs by opening the church.
A prior page identified Brock Stamps as campus pastor of Life Dripping Springs Church, part of the family of churches under Life Austin, according to Mallett and Michelle Onds. That identification is from an earlier page, not a current title.
On the Stone Oaks site, Brock and Stephanie say they have raised their three children — Owen, Luke, and Ada — in Dripping Springs. Brock has described the church at its best as a family and said the congregation is passionate about building a family culture throughout the church. Stephanie's role, Groups and Ministry Teams, is the practical side of that pitch: the person organizing how people actually meet.
High School Students on Nov. 15
The next dated gathering is aimed at teenagers. The ministry plans to host its first gathering for high school-aged students at Wildwood Elementary School on Nov. 15.
That date is still ahead of the Nov. 12 report, so the student meeting remains a plan rather than a completed event. Until a permanent building is secured, both Sunday services and that student gathering stay on the elementary school campus.
