About
The Church.
We’re not here to build something impressive. We’re here to build something real — a church that looks like the one Jesus started in Acts 2, right here in Hitchcock. And we got here the long way around, which is the only way any of the good stuff ever happens.
Clint & Emily
Shuttlesworth.
Clint and Emily have been doing ministry together for over 20 years. They lead The Church in Hitchcock with a simple conviction: honesty is more powerful than polish, and the gospel works best when it’s carried by real people living real lives.
Their story isn’t tidy. It’s one of the most broken — and most redeemed — stories you’ll find in any pulpit. They’ll tell you themselves that’s exactly the point.
The story
behind
The Church.
Every church has an origin story. Ours starts with a marriage that almost didn’t survive, a God who refused to let it die, and two people who decided that what He did for them was too good to keep quiet about.
In 2008, Clint had an affair. There’s no softer way to say it, and they’re not interested in finding one. The marriage was broken. The trust was gone. And every reasonable voice in the room said it was over.
Emily had every right to walk away. She’ll tell you that. What she chose instead — to stay, to fight, to not quit on what God had joined together — was one of the hardest and most costly decisions either of them has ever witnessed up close. It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen easily. But it happened.
What God did in that season was not a patch job. He rebuilt their marriage from the ground up — the communication, the trust, the friendship, all of it. That process taught them things about grace that you simply cannot learn any other way. What forgiveness actually costs. What it looks like to choose someone when everything in you says don’t. What it means to be loved when you don’t deserve it.
That’s the gospel, they’d come to understand. Not a theory about it. The actual thing, lived out in a broken house, over years. Out of that brokenness came a clarity about what really matters — people, honesty, and a God who absolutely does not quit on you.
They didn’t plant a church because they had everything figured out. They planted one because they had been through too much to keep it to themselves. In 2012, Valiant Church was born in their living room — a handful of people, open Bibles, the kind of church that works because it doesn’t have anywhere to hide.
From the living room, they moved into La Brisa Mexican Restaurant. Sunday mornings in a taqueria — loud, crowded, and completely wonderful. Then came the Island: they took over an old bar on Galveston and turned it into a sanctuary every single Sunday. Dragged in chairs, set up a stage, called it holy ground. And it was. That chapter taught them something that has never left: the church isn’t a building. It never was. It’s people.
When they felt God pulling them toward the mainland, Hitchcock is where they landed. And somewhere along the way, the name “Valiant” gave way to something simpler: The Church. Because that’s what they’re trying to be — not a brand, not a platform, not an experience. Just the thing Jesus started in Acts 2: people, gathered together, doing what people have always done when they really meet Jesus.
The Church officially launched in Hitchcock in June 2026. Clint and Emily are here. Their kids are here. Their lives are here. They’re not building something to hand off — they’re building something to live in, alongside the people of Galveston County, for as long as God lets them.
They’re not going anywhere.
Our
deacons.
The Church is led by a team of deacons who serve our community with integrity, humility, and a genuine love for the people of Galveston County.
What we
believe.
Our beliefs aren’t a list of rules — they’re a picture of who God is and what He’s done. Everything we do as a church flows from these convictions.
The Bible
The Bible is God’s Word to all people. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. Because it was inspired by God, the Bible is truth without any mixture of error and is completely relevant to our daily lives.
The Trinity
God has existed in relationship with Himself for all eternity. He exists as one substance in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although each member of the Trinity serves different functions, they each possess equal power and authority.
The Father
God is great: He is all powerful, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, completely worthy of our trust, and above all, holy. It is in Him that we live, move, and exist. God is good: He is our Father. He is loving, compassionate, and faithful to His people and His promises.
The Son
Jesus Christ is completely human but, at the same time, completely God. He is the only plan for bringing people who are far from God back into a right relationship with God. He lived a perfect life so that He could be a substitution for us in satisfying God’s demands for perfection. He defeated death in His resurrection so that we could have life.
The Holy Spirit
His presence assures us of our relationship with Christ. He guides believers into all truth and exalts Christ. He convicts people of their sin, God’s righteousness, and the coming judgment. He comforts us, gives us spiritual gifts, and makes us more like Christ.
Man
Man is made in the image of God and is the supreme object of His creation. Man was created to have fellowship with God but became separated in that relationship through sinful disobedience. As a result, man cannot attain a right relationship with God through his own effort. Every human personality is uniquely created, possesses dignity, and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the only way of salvation through the forgiveness of sin. Salvation occurs when people place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin. Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned through our own efforts.
Eternity
Man was created to exist forever. He will exist either eternally separated from God by sin or in union with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is Heaven. Heaven and Hell are places of eternal existence.
The Church
The Church is a local community of baptized believers unified through faith in Christ. It is committed to the teachings of Christ and obeying all of His commands, and it seeks to bring the Gospel to the world. The Church works together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ.