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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPrimera Iglesia Bautista turns 80 1987• Dave Barry /03 • School Menus /03 • Horoscope /03 ■ Weddings /D6 Guillermo Ibarra (above), born in Matamoros, Mexico, was the first pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista (middle). His son, Joshua Ibarra, will preach at Sunday's service at 10:45 a.m. The congregation of Primera Iglesia Bautista in August 1922. The Rev. Guillermo Ibarra is the first person on the Left in the fourth row from the bottom. Mary Letterman, the oldest living member of the church, holds her baby in the fourth row from the bot- tom, fifth from the left. By MEGHAN BLAIR Eagle Staff Writer itting in a small, white church that seems pieced together from years of growth spurts, Mary Letterman listens to her children and friends talk about the mem- ories they have of Primera Iglesia Bautista. "When they were old enough to walk, they came," Lupe Herrera, 82, another church member, said about Letterman and her children. Even though Letterman, just a year shy of 100, can't see the church anymore, she has her own memories, saying she was hap- piest when she could do the work of the church and walk there with others because they had no cars. The church is younger than Letterman, celebrating its 75th anniver- sary this month — which makes it the oldest Mexican church in Bryan and Letterman its oldest surviving member. Another member, Raul "Roy" Bosquez, remembered that his father would drive the family to the church in a horse -drawn wagon. He, like his father before him, is the deacon of the church and four generations of his family still attend services in it. August was declared Primera Iglesia Bautista month by Bryan Mayor Lonnie Stabler in response to the church's history, and from Aug. 2 through Aug. 17 the congregation celebrated its long service to the Spanish - speaking community of Bryan. The Rev. Joshua Ibarra, son of the first church pastor, will speak at an anniversary service Aug. 17, as will the son of the second pastor of the church, the Rev. Ciro Garcia. All of Letterman's 15 children who survived past infancy were brought into the congregation, which has lasted through 18 pastors, dwindling local membership and the lack of a building in its early days. Now, the church sits in a residential area on Sims Street in Bryan, made of wood in some places and steel in others, but held together by a stronger mettle. "The best thing is that we've been working together for so long," Sunday; August 17, 1997 Lifty1e b� Sfron ount_afion Lupe Herrera said. "Anytime there's trouble, we pull together." ■ • • The church was founded Aug. 15, 1922, by the Rev. Guillermo "William" Ibarra, who had immigrated from Matamoros, Mexico, and was ordained by the First Baptist Church of Austin before coming to Bryan to raise a family. His daughter, Berta Ibarra Montero, wrote a history of the founding of the church and the pastor's struggle to provide Spanish services to the Hispanic residents of Bryan. Lupe Herrera said that, in the beginning, Ibarra went out in search of a congregation. He had gathered approximately 35 members at its founding, and 77 a few years later. The report said Ibarra was convert- ing others continually by striking out on foot or by horse - and - buggy, and that he used the river to baptize the new converts. As the number of members increased, the need for a meeting place arose. The congregation had been meeting outside at various places, but a Bryan woman, Mrs. T. R. Batte, donated her house on Parker Street. In exchange, she took the few dollars the congregation could offer, later giving it back to help pay for their expenses after she saw their commitment to the church. The church later used that building as a parsonage and added a sanc- tuary in 1933. Just as the church was nearing completion, it came up short $262 but, during a meeting of the Woman's Missionary Union at the First Baptist Church in Bryan, the women were asked to donate what they could. By the end of the meeting, the church's bill was paid. "Those ladies all worked so hard to help us," Lupe Herrera said. "They all pulled together for us." The church then moved to its current location on 16th and Sims Street in 1954, building a new house and adding a sanctuary with the help of church members. • • • Moses Herrera believes they've had a lot of help along the way, too, and that's why they picked the theme they did for the church's anniversary celebration: "A Gift to Our City and a Gift to Our Eldest members have fond memories of Bryan's oldest Spanish-.speaking church The Rev. Moses Herrera, Lupe Herrera's son, ministry to help his home church in Bryan. Section Lupe Herrera, 82, looks through a church scrapbook from 1958. One of Primera Iglesia Bautista's first members, Herrera remembers how the pastor doubled membership in the first year. Eagle photos /Stew Milne returned from another Community." He believes now that the congregation is able, it's time to start giv- ing back. "We're honoring the past, but our goal is the future," he said. "Out of our 153 members, we only have three who live in the area now," he said. "It's not really a problem, but it's caused a lack of involvement. Please see CHURCH, Page D8 CHURCH TURNS 80 Primera Iglesia Bautista blessed with growth By KELLI LEVEY Eagle Staff Writer P rimera Iglesia Bautista, the First Mexican Baptist Church in Bryan, has come a long way in the 80 years since the church opened. No longer does the pastor travel by foot or horse and buggy to attract new members or baptize new converts in the Brazos River. "We are totally different now," said the current pastor, the Rev. Julian Silva. The services always had been offered solely in Spanish until last November, when Silva moved here from Victoria with his wife, Brenda, and daughter, Juliana. "We had so many of the young families that spoke English and wanted a bilingual service that the church went that way," he said. "Now we've got a variety of people, some of the older ones who were there all along and younger couples and a group coming from the college who help bring in the street kids. It's a diverse church." The congregation that broke new ground as the first Mexican Baptist church in the area grew from its initial 35 members to a high of 170. Now, that number has settled at about 75. "It started as a Sunday school class at First Baptist Church and from there it blos- somed into a mission for the Hispanics who came up from Mexico," Silva said. "They grew up Catholic but became Baptists when they got involved in this church." The original church building was a donated house on Parker Street the previ- ous owner sold for a few dollars. She later gave the money back to help pay for the church's expenses. Now the congregation sits in orderly pews in a sanctuary built in 1954 at 1009 North Sims at West 16th Street. An anniversary celebration will start at 10 a.m. Sunday, when a plaque will be pre- sented that will be placed in the church entrance to commemorate the anniversary. The group will move inside, where repre- sentatives from the city and Bryan school district plan to say words of recognition for the church's longevity. The guest pastor for the occasion will be the Rev. Evodio Rios from Houston, who served as interim pastor of the Bryan church in 2000 and 2001. Music will be provided by guest perform- ers and a meal will be served afterward. "This is a time to celebrate and honor those who started this church," Silva said. "It will be a time for reunions and remem- brances." Church From D1 "They will come in on Sunday and leave, come back on Wednesday and leave again, and start the whole thing over again. This celebration is the biggest touch we've had with the commu- nity in a long time." Moses Herrera, who had been raised in the congregation by Manuel and Lupe Herrera, left for Fort Worth, went to college and became a minister, only to return home because Primera Iglesia Bautista needed him. "We never thought he'd become the minister of our church," Manuel Herrera said. Moses said he wasn't really planning on it either, but God led him back home because the church needed him. "I started thinking about com- ing back, but I was too involved in Ft. Worth," he said. "So I decid- ed that, if the Lord wanted me to go, he would take away what I was doing now." Herrera said that, the following week, his position in helping the Salvation Army at the time was eliminated because of a loss of funds and that the minister he'd been training to replace him showed a readiness to take over his position. He then became his church's minister. "So, the ground was being pre- pared all the time without me even knowing it," Herrera said. Herrera, who became the church's pastor in 1990, said he has seen a new direction for the church after reflecting on the cel- ebration. "We were thinking about what impact this church has had the last 75 years," he said. "Yes, we've put out good men, but when everybody just goes home after Eagle photo /Stew Miine Members of Primero Iglesias Bautista include: (Back row) Manuel Herrera, the father of the Rev. Moses Herrera; Virginia Perry, daughter of Mary Letterman; the Rev. Moses Herrera, Daniel Letterman, the son of Mary Letterman, and Roy Bosquez. (In front) Mary Letterman, 99, is the oldest member of the church, and Lupe Herrera, the mother of the Rev. Moses Herrera. church, it's over. That has been the level of involvement for a while." Herrera said a lot of the church's time had been spent on simple maintenance — a trap he said many churches fall into. "That's not what it's about — it's about saving souls and mov- ing forward," he said. And Herrera believes you can't serve God without serving man. "God put this church here, not us," he said. "We have a responsi- bility to this neighborhood." Herrera said that, last week- end, approximately 250 people came to the church for a barbe- cue. Some were Hispanic, some weren't, he said. "There were no strings attached. We didn't necessarily want them to join, but we wanted their to know that God's presence is in this building," he said. • • • Letterman, who speaks mostly Spanish, said "Oh, yes," when asked if she was proud of what the church had become. She said she hoped the church will contin- ue to grow, and that God gives her the strength to continue forward as well. "Sometimes, she sits on the swing in front of her house and we ask her what song she wants us to sing. She tells us what num- ber, because she knows them all by heart," Lupe Herrera said. "We have to cheat and look it up, but she knows them." The church, like Letterman, has needed strength, but is mov- ing forward despite its age.