As Dr. Ed Robb accepted the 2011 Distinguished Evangelist of The United Methodist Church award the evening of October 28, he told those gathered that, “I’m just a regular guy who happened to be appointed to a new church and that was 34 years ago…I’m still at it at the same church, still trying to grow it and still learning.”
Robb, senior pastor at The Woodlands United Methodist Church located in The Woodlands, Texas, has pastored the church since its beginning in 1979 and has seen the congregation grow from 30 to, on average, 4,200 in worship each week. The congregation funds over $1.5 million in missions annually with 94 mission projects and 62 deployed missionaries.
Robb recalled that his father, Dr. Edmund Robb, Jr., was honored with the original class of distinguished evangelists on the Foundation’s 40th anniversary, nearly 22 years ago. “I could tell you what I know about growing a church in 5 or 10 minutes…I decided to share with you about what I DON’T know about growing a church.” He went on to say that it’s impossible to grow a church without God’s help, without passion, without casting a vision, without building a team, and that it’s more than numbers – it’s about growing spiritually.
