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MEMBERS OF TRESPALACIOS BAPTIST
CHURCH, A MATAGORDA COUNTY CONGREGATION ESTABLISHED IN THE
EARLY 1850S, ORGANIZED A BAPTIST CHURCH IN THE NEARBY
COMMUNITY OF RED BLUFF IN 1889. IN 1895 THEY MOVED THE
CHURCH TO THE NEW COUNTY SEAT OF BAY CITY, CHANGED THE NAME
TO FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF BAY CITY, AND JOINED THE COLORADO
BAPTIST ASSOCIATION. IN ITS EARLY YEARS THE CONGREGATION MET
IN A COMMERCIAL BUILDING AND THE METHODIST CHURCH BUILDING
AND PARTICIPATED IN A UNION SCHOOL WITH OTHER LOCAL
DENOMINATIONS.
THE
REV. J. H. THORN BECAME THE FIRST FULL-TIME PASTOR IN 1903,
THE YEAR THE CONGREGATION ERECTED ITS FIRST SANCTUARY. THE
BUILDING, DESTROYED IN A 1909 HURRICANE, WAS REPLACED WITH A
TABERNACLE AND LATER WITH A BRICK STRUCTURE AT THIS SITE IN
1915. THE CONGREGATION COMPLETED AN AUDITORIUM IN 1941 AND
AN EDUCATION ADDITION TO ITS SANCTUARY IN 1947. FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH IN 1947 AND EMMANUEL MEXICAN MISSION
WHICH IT SPONSORED FROM 1930 TO 1989. ACTIVE IN COMMUNITY
OUTREACH PROGRAMS, THE CHURCH OPENED A CHILD DEVELOPMENT
CENTER IN 1979 AND AN EDUCATIONAL CENTER IN 1987. FIRST
BAPTIST CHURCH CONTINUES TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY WITH A
VARIETY OF MINISTRIES. 1994 |
