Killeen pastor honored for church’s heart for community

Neighbors in North Killeen recognize Pastor Les Williams of New Sunset Community Church not so much for the sermons he preaches as for the sermons he lives out in humble service to their community.

Williams recently received the Killeen Star Award for community service—particularly the block parties, special events and other charitable work his church provides.

The city awards the Killeen Star Award to citizens who go “above and beyond in their volunteering and caring for the community,” he explained.

“Now, the award has my name on it, because I guess they give it to individuals. But ultimately, it’s an award for the church,” Williams said. “I was given the award because of all the things the church is doing. I couldn’t possibly do it all by myself.”

Killeen Councilwoman Jessica Gonzalez, who presented the award to Williams, said she believes his service has impacted the community significantly.

“Consistency is key,” Gonzalez said, praising Williams and his church members for their willingness to “to show up and be present no matter what is going on.”

“He isn’t just a pastor that is up there preaching on Sunday. He is actually doing the good work for his community,” she said.

Williams became pastor of New Sunset Community Church—a Texas Baptist congregation in North Killeen—in August 2021.

Since then, Williams has led the church to host 17 block parties for their neighbors. Staffed by the church’s members and volunteers from surrounding churches, the block parties offer food, giveaways, face-painting and a variety of fun activities for children and youth. Attendance at these events ranges from 100 to 500 people.

Williams and his wife Melissa have been married eight-and-a-half years, and they have twin 5-year-old boys. He is the parent co-chair of the School Health Advisory Council for the Killeen Independent School District and serves on the board of Bell Baptist Association.

 “Where the church sits in Killeen, there is high crime, high poverty, low education and broken homes,” Williams said, describing the predominantly Hispanic and Black neighborhood in north Killeen.

 “We use the land that our church sits on to throw these block parties, to meet the neighborhood.”

The church also hosts other events throughout the year to help the community.

“Every July, we do a back-to-school shoe giveaway,” Williams said. “There’s an organization in the area called First Blessing. We utilize them to help us give away shoes. We gave away 115 pairs of shoes last July.

“At our August block party, we give away backpacks with school supplies inside. This year, we gave away around 60 backpacks.”

The 4-1-1 on ‘The Four-One’

At the community outreach events, the church invites guests to Sunday and Wednesday worship services and to programs for children and youth. The church offers breakfast on Sundays and dinner on Wednesday nights.

New Sunset also provides transportation to help people get to doctors’ appointment and run errands.

The church’s stated mission is to “make disciples that make disciples so that the Four-One is noticeably better.”

“Killeen has five ZIP codes,” Williams explained. “The Four-One—the 76541 ZIP code—is the roughest part of Killeen. Over the last 13 to 14 years, there has been a mass exodus of businesses, churches and organizations that were in downtown Killeen move out of downtown Killeen.”

“We are for the Four-One. We do all these events to make disciples of Jesus. Because we believe when that happens, we will see people’s lives and communities become noticeably better, because they are following Jesus.”

New life for New Sunset

Williams noted it hasn’t always been easy for the church to thrive.

“The church has been around since 1956, but it’s always kind of been a struggling church and small,” Williams said. “When I became pastor in 2021, the church had officially voted to go through revitalization. The church didn’t have enough money in the bank to pay the bills every month, and somehow the bills got paid.”

At the end of 2021, the average church attendance of New Sunset Community Church was 42 people. In 2022, the average grew to 68. Currently, the average is 72. On Sundays and Wednesdays, the average of students in kindergarten through high school who attend is 35.

“We no longer use the word revitalization, because people are giving,” Williams said. “We have five other churches or organizations that give. So, we have more than enough money in the bank now to pay all our monthly bills and be able to actually do ministry.

He pointed to noticeable behavioral changes in the students. “You guys are so welcoming” is the No. 1 thing his congregation hears, he said.

“We’re seeing people actually return to church and read their Bibles,” Williams said. “They want to know Jesus. They’re asking questions and joining discipleship groups. That has been a spiritual growth.”

 “The church went from being an almost-dead church, to a very-much-alive church in the last 28 months.”

Emily Hughitt, a student at Howard Payne University, is serving as an intern with the Baptist Standard this semester.