Our History
From the beginning I believed that God was going to do something special in this community and one incredible special thing that He has done is the birth of Redeeming Grace Baptist Church. God wanted a family in this area who would be open to His plan, purpose, and eager to do His will. We are that family.
In October 1988, God gave me the vision for Redeeming Grace Baptist Church. We had 33 members, who came together and cleaned out a dusty, dirty Gas Company building.
The first worship service was held in what was formerly the truck repair garage of the building. As a matter of fact, that is exactly where we are worshipping today.
Upon realizing that the old Gas Company building was occupied, the Mayor of Kirby, Texas, Warren Larck, stopped by. He was also a retired Pastor and a member of Kirby Baptist Church. He told me many things about the San Antonio Baptist Association.
Mayor Warren Larck along with the assistance of the Pastor of Kirby Baptist Church introduced us to the San Antonio Baptist Association and became our sponsor Church. We remained a mission church of Kirby until February 24, 1997.
What a mighty God we Serve! After worshipping in a garage for a few years, we hired a contractor and renovated the building into our present sanctuary. During that same period, we added the fellowship hall and the foyer. We had the future in mind so we purchased 10 acres of land less than 3 miles from our main building.
In 2001, we found it necessary to have two Sunday morning services (8 A.M. and 11 A.M.) because our membership had significantly increased. In March of 2005 a gymnasium was added to the rear of the main building which offered a place for basketball teams of our city to practice, and also for general community to use.
In addition, 1,200 children were added to the Boys & Girls Club which has operated in our facilities from 2004 to 2007. The gymnasium provides additional space for Sunday school classes and Children’s Church as well.
Since the addition of the gym our congregation has greatly increased. To date the membership has grown from 33 to 1,667.
On October 15, 2006 Redeeming Grace Baptist Church was incorporated as a non-profit organization under the laws of the State of Texas, and received our 501C3 from the IRS.
We are preparing for a new facility in the near future that will seat 1,000 in the congregation, 102 in the choir, with additional Sunday school rooms and office space.
The next few years offer us the opportunity to plan for some exciting and innovative work in this area of our city. Our vision is indeed a cutting edge place of worship and brotherhood; a warm welcome to all who come, nurturing to those who need it, as well as spiritual support and a place where gifted and talented people will serve together for the building of the Kingdom of God. We further envision a church where the Word of God is preached and taught with clarity, boldness and power.
Redeeming Grace Baptist Church, now named Redeeming Grace Christian Church, is affiliated with the San Antonio Baptist Association, Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Fathers House International Fellowship, Houston, Texas where Bishop H. L. Galloway is the Presiding Bishop and Bishop Brent Bryant is 2nd Presiding Bishop.
I believe that people can be at the right place at the right time. As a matter of fact, Ecclesiastes 9:11 (b) says, “…but time and chance happen to them all.” After 23 years, we are still launching and we won’t land until Jesus comes. We have a great number of pastors who are members of our congregation and a new church will begin soon.