The Awakenings Movement (AM) is a 501 (c) (3) non-denominational Christian movement and church that seeks to serve Houston’s historical Third Ward neighborhood and the Greater Houston area.

The mission of AM is to challenge and equip ordinary people to live extra-ordinary lives through the love and power of Christ. Established September 11, 2005, AM is a community of artists, entrepreneurs, young professionals, and students who seek out those who are deemed “less than” or “outsiders” in the city of Houston with the goal of training and developing them to realize and live out their God-given dreams. As culture shapers, we recognize the greatest challenge of human development in our city is not irresponsible sex, crime, or social apathy. Our greatest challenge is displaced passion. We are passionate about the wrong things. Deflated and displaced passion can leave our city lifeless and angry. We long for something different and more meaningful but most of us are afraid to reach beyond our places of comfort to explore a new passion that refuels itself. Pure Passion is the only thing that can revive our city because when our passion is in the right place; responsibility, creative expression, and healthy lifestyle choices will follow. We challenge and equip our community members to discover and live true passion, and they are then sent out into the community to spark change and make a positive impact on society.

For the past 3 years, AM has seen success in its endeavors to accomplish its mission. It has grown from a seventy-five member base to a movement that is now connected to over 1,000 young people in the Greater Houston area. Each Sunday, AM meets in Houston’s historic Eldorado Ballroom, a culturally significant structure which has been the performance home to legends like Tina Turner, Ray Charles, James Brown, and more. AM musicians write and arrange original music, and visual, performance, literary and media arts are interwoven throughout each AM experience. Since its inception, AM has successfully hosted an ongoing, quarterly concert series called The Live Music Xperience, which features AM vocalists and instrumentalists who showcase their originally arranged and written music in Downtown Houston venues in order to influence the culture of clubs and live music in the city.

A non-traditional spiritual movement, we use art and the power that lies within creativity to engage and inspire people to live the extra-ordinary lives they were destined to live. Utilizing the literary, visual, performing, and multi-media arts, AM seeks to equip the residents of Third Ward with the knowledge and tools necessary to not just make a living but to hone their talents--whether traditionally artistic or not--for life. AM programming seeks not to simply duplicate other churches by teaching a biblical message and being a place of Christian refuge from the world, but to train and equip its members to become missionaries and go out into the world to apply the message of Christ’s love to their everyday lives, further igniting a movement of social, political, cultural and societal change.