History Of Greater Barbours Chapel Baptist Church
In the early portion of the 20th century, in the tiny community of Texas City, the Reverend R.C. Barbour migrated
from Macedonia Baptist church in Galveston, Texas with the vision of providing spiritual leadership to African American
citizens. In 1913, Reverend Barbour purchased a parcel of land in the city's second division, which was located on the
corner of Eighth Street South and First Avenue South. With a congregation of approximately 40 members, a small
wooden one-story building was erected. The wharf, on Bay Street served as the baptismal pool for new converts. The
first deacons were John Bill, Wade Allen and Will Gilbert. Reverend Barbour served as pastor for seven years, leaving in
1920 to return to Galveston and then moving to establish a church in Tennessee. The church then became the property
of the Old Landmark Association. Over the next few decades, the face of the diocese, as well as the church's
infrastructure changed and the congregation continued to grow.
At the helm of leadership were:
Reverends A.G. Austin 1920-1924; R.B. Evans, 1924-1927
W.L. Taylor, 1927-1930
Organized the first choir with Swanee Simpson serving as musician and the first missionary society with Della Perkins
serving as president. Reverend Taylor died in 1930.
1930 Interim Pastor Reverend Harris
J.M. Lemmon, 1930-1932
General Lee George, 1932-1933
Organized the first Usher Board and Foreign Mission Board. Sister Terether Bates served as president.
E.H. Norton, 1933-1937
S.A. Adams, 1937-1943
Erected a baptismal pool within the sanctuary and reorganized the Music department.
J.H. Scott, 1943-1959
Served as the first full-time pastor. Secured property from the Old Landmark Association, renovated church structure
elevating the sanctuary, adding a balcony and providing space for a fellowship hall on the first story. Reverend Scott
reorganized the second Sunday as youth day, added usher board #2, organized a junior usher board, expanded the
Mission to include several circles, reorganized the Baptist Training Union, established the Deaconess and Trustee boards
and organized the Educational Fund department, renamed church Greater Barbour's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
B.M. Reynolds, 1959-1960
Reorganized the Ushers and Nurses Aides to serve as one department.
L.B. Brown, 1960-1965
H.A. Ratcliff, Jr., 1965-2000
Reorganized building fund, renovated the church and fixtures, increased the transportation department to include church
vans and a church bus, purchased adjacent property for parking, reorganized the Music department to form a mass
choir, established a food and clothing bank, reorganized the Sunday school to expand classes, organized a Bible
leadership class. In 1991, the church purchased land on Emmett F. Lowery Expressway to build a new church facility.
Reverend Ratcliff died in September 2000.
James Edward Brown, Sr., 2001-Present
On September 9, 2001 the Reverend Brown took the charge of the 14th pastor of Barbour's Chapel. The Sunday church
school has been reorganized into three divisions and a Deacon Family Ministry established to teach and spiritually touch
each member. A new member's orientation class was organized to prepare new members to transition into their new
church family; the Music department has been reorganized to include a sanctuary choir, men's chorus, the M.O.B. [i.e.,
Men Of Barbour's] and a traveling choir for church fellowship. A Trustee ministry was re-established to handle the
temporal interest of the church. With a dire need for space, a project management team was assembled to focus on the
church building plan. In August 2002, the church voted to sell the land on FM 1764 and acquire new land on FM 1765 to
build a new church campus. In July 2003, the project management team recommended DaySpring Resources as the
builder for the new facility while the team secured financing from Texas First Bank.
On April 8, 2005 the leadership held a 24-hour prayer vigil in preparation of the first worship service, April 10, 2005, at the
new church facility. After a final service at the 801 Martin Luther King Boulevard building, the membership engaged in a
celebratory processional from Barbour's Chapel to Greater Barbour's Chapel Baptist Church now located at 7420 FM 1765.
The official church dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony was held April 24, 2005.