|
 In
the year of our Lord 1935, the month of June, the seventh day in the
city of San Antonio and state of Texas on the corners of Hays and
Gevers Streets, a church was planted to be known as Antioch
Missionary Baptist Church.
There were
fifty-three persons present in the organization. Fifty-three people,
hardly a high school diploma among them, but whose experience with
Christ had set them apart as a peculiar people, a Holy nation, who
would in a fervent way show forth the praise of Him who had brought
them out of the darkness into life's marvelous light, in the calling
of all men to repentance and faith in a virgin born, dead, buried,
and resurrected Savior.
The late Dr. C.F.C.
Curry, former pastor of Mt. Zion First Baptist Church and Friendship
Baptist Church, presided over the meeting and the church called as
its first pastor the Rev. Rufus Wilson, a strong man in faith, who
dared the impossible, and endured as seeing Him Who is invisible.
His motto was "God is able" and what appeared to be a step backward
moved the little group to a tent on Center Street in the backyard of
one of its members, James Parker.
 From the tent they
moved to a laundry building on Walters and Crockett and worshipped
there, until Fredia Keith discovered the present site, an abandoned
dairy, with an old house facing Nolan at Walters Street and was
renovated for worship.
Then Antioch took
on the character of its historical counterpart, and the Word of God
grew and multiplied and many people were added unto the Lord. Their
unusual fervor drew people from every segment of the community,
young and old, learned and unlearned and October 1947, Pastor Wilson
led the Church into the building remodeling program at a cost of
$65,000.00. The Lord continued to do great things. Lives were
transformed, bodies healed, and a large number accepted the call to
preach and now pastor major congregations across this great nation.
On August 17, 1952,
God in His providential goodness, put a group of people from the
Antioch Church in the path of a young man who had only surrendered
to preach in January 1950. He was to be called to the Antioch
Baptist Church at the age of 20 years, the youngest of his time to
be called to a major Church, John Joseph Rector, Sr. In less than 1
½ years a mortgage of $16,000.00 was liquidated and the Church took
on immense growth.
In May 1968, the
church sponsored a housing development at a cost of a million and a
quarter dollars, named Antioch Village, and is rated by HUD as one
of the most outstanding operations in the city. Some $100,000.00 in
properties was added to the church's estate. In September 1971, the
church negotiated the largest loan for a black congregation in the
state for over a half million dollars for the construction of a new
sanctuary and completed the project in September 1974....somewhat
akin to Corinth in the scriptures, Rufus Wilson "planted", J. J.
Rector, "watered", but "God gave the increase". So today we rejoice even
more "in the hope of the glory of God," for "He hath done great
things."
Upon the demise of
Rev. J. J. Rector, Sr., on March 25, 1993, co-pastor
E. Thurman
Walker became the Pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. Due
to Rev. Rector's having been spiritually guided and spiritually
endowed with foresight, Antioch was not leaderless, and Rev.
Walker's first official Sunday as Pastor was March 27, 1993.
In the months which
passed, Antioch continued to progress and be blessed under the
leadership of a God-sent Shepherd. These blessings included a record
year in 1993 of a one-half million dollar budget and 204 members
added to the church. We continued to accomplish great things; in
1995 the vision of the Antioch Christian Academy became a reality,
where we could educate the total child, mind, body, and spirit.. God
continues to bless as He allows us the privilege of "Living
Today...To Leave...A Legacy Tomorrow."
We took on a
Capital Campaign Project of constructing a 7.5 million dollar Family
Life Education & Community Complex Center under the watchful eye of
Antioch Community Transformation Network (ACTN), our community
development corporation with non-profit 501©(3) status, established
by the church in April 2000. Phase I, the Sports Complex (21,212 Sq.
Ft.), opened May 2005. Preliminary plans have already begun on Phase
II of this project, ground breaking scheduled for June 2010, the
Family Life Educational Center (25,907 Sq. Ft.).
Grace and Mercy is
the only way to describe what has happened and is happening at the
Antioch Church..... We continue to thank and praise God not only for
what He has done, is doing, and will do, but most importantly for
WHO HE IS!
THIS IS WHO WE ARE..
THIS IS WHAT WE DO..
THIS
IS HOW WE ROLL!
We're Taking Our
Ministry To The Next Level... |
