Second Baptist Church, North Campus — Local services in Houston

I'm sure the church is fine, but this review is about the Upward youth basketball league, specifically the 3rd/4th grade age group.

The league generally doesn't follow it's own published culture and rules. Instead of allowing the players at this age to learn the game and develop skills, they allow double-teaming, half-court trapping, and don't enforce fouling, so hyper-aggressive play is rewarded over skill development and learning the rules.

Many of the coaches are also hyper-competitive and only interested in winning over teaching their team the fundamentals and sportsmanship. Some coaches take the right approach and those games are fun, so that's why 2 stars instead of 1.

The rules and culture issues are exacerbated by the teams not being made fairly from the start. For example, our son's team has 6 players while other teams have 8 or 9, and our best player would probably be the 4th or 5th best player on the other teams. This shouldn't be the case if teams are really organized through impartial skills analysis.

Our son's team's players are trying their best, but it's demoralizing to them to have the cards stacked against them so unevenly. They aren't having a positive experience at all. If you're looking for a competition league and have the inside connections to stack your team, then this league is for you. We, on the other hand, will find somewhere less convenient but hopefully better next year.

Of note, there are also other issues -- including discrimination against girls (3/4 boys play full-court; 3/4 girls play the short cross court, which is discouraging for the girls to see they're not valued equally...

Fantastic! I’m a volunteer in both children’s Bible study and Awana. Volunteers are thanked for their service and time. We are even given thank you gifts to further show us that we are important. When the Elevate band plays, you can feel the Holy Spirit moving through the congregation! Our senior pastor, Craig Reynolds, talks to us, never at us like happens in many churches. There are pastors aplenty to help and aid in all groups from children’s to our very active seniors groups. They are there to serve through things like teaching Bible Study (thank you Barry Wilson) to leading prayer groups and in so many other things that I just can’t list them all. Now for the church body, so many churches have cliques, so far in the seven years I have been attending, I have not found any. I attend on Saturday nights yes, Saturday! You don’t have to get up early, get sleepy kids ready. Instead, you come up to the church at 5 PM to 6PM for Bible study, then on the church service from 6 To 7PM! Plus, you are accepted as you are, no dressing up, unless you want to. I guess I could have just said, I Love Second, but I thought some details would be appreciated. Oh, the church even has a gym! Truly a body, mind and...

Second Baptist Church in Kingwood Texas was quite impressive, .. the Worship Team was very good, both singers and musicians performed with emotion. The sound was clear and you could understand everything the singers and pastors were saying. The staff at the church were friendly and involved. The only thing lacking in my humble opinion, is there was no one to help in the parking lot to great new guests, as other churches. Also no one at the door to great anyone, .. I had to find my way through the church to the sanctuary which was quite far undirected. .. I only mean that assistance in these places lead to a much more welcoming experience and new potential church members might have a stronger feeling to come back again. Overall the pastor's message was very good .. and I was pleasantly surprised that a Baptist Church in Texas the message wasn't delivered with yelling like many churches do. Personally, .. I tend to listen when someone is talking kindly to me, .. and feel uneasy when the are yelling ... Even in passion for God. So nice experience at Second Baptist Church in...