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ST. JOHN MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, ORGANIZED IN 1899 BY REVERENDS GILBERT GREEN AND HILLIARD R. JOHNSON, FIRST MET IN A SMALL BUILDING NEAR CALHOUN AVENUE AND LIVE OAK STREET. IN 1901, REV. JAMES B. BOULDIN PURCHASED PROPERTY, LATER CONVEYED TO CHURCH TRUSTEES, IN THE 2100 BLOCK OF BROADWAY (NOW BASTROP STREET). A SMALL FRAME BUILDING WAS LATER ERECTED THERE, BUT AFTER A STORM DEMOLISHED IT, A TENT WAS USED TEMPORARILY FOR WORSHIP SERVICES. BETWEEN 1907 AND 1915, A NEW SANCTUARY WAS BUILT WITH A BAPTISMAL POOL, AUDITORIUM, PARTIAL BALCONY, ELEVATED CHOIR STAND, ADDITIONAL ROOMS, AND A BELL IN THE LEFT TOWER THAT CONTINUES TO BE USED TODAY IN THE RIGHT TOWER. IN 1917, THE CHURCH SPLIT DUE TO VARIOUS MISUNDERSTANDINGS, CREATING ANOTHER ST. JOHN BAPTIST CHURCH ON DOWLING STREET. AS MEMBERSHIP INCREASED WITH MORE PEOPLE MOVING TO THE CITY AFTER WORLD WAR II, A LARGER BUILDING WAS NEEDED. IN 1946, JAMES M. THOMAS, A LOCAL BLACK CONTRACTOR WHO BECAME HOUSTON’S MOST PROMINENT ARCHITECT FOR BLACK CONGREGATIONS, BUILT THE THREE-STORY GOTHIC REVIVAL MASONRY STRUCTURE WITH THE NAVE AND TWIN TOWERS EXEMPLIFYING 1930s TO 1950s LOCAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. ALTHOUGH ST. JOHN HAD MANY STRUGGLES AND GREW SLOWLY, IT BECAME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHURCHES IN THE EARLY 1900s, NOTED FOR ITS ATTITUDE TOWARDS CIVIC AND BENEVOLENT MOVEMENTS. IT HAS PROGRESSED FROM A TRADITIONAL SERVICE TO A SPIRIT FILLED, PRAISE AND WORSHIP EXPERIENCE AND CONTINUES AS AN INFLUENTIAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN INSTITUTION. |
