STBC was started by the Baptist Convention of New Mexico in the early 1990s.
The Baptist Convention of New Mexico sent Mission Service Corp volunteers, Wes and Linda Barnett, to Santa Teresa as church planters. The earliest extant documents show a post office box, PO Box 1524, opened at Santa Teresa Postal Annex on August 28, 1992.
In September 1996, Dave Hendrickx and his wife Cathy, then members of FBC, El Paso, were invited by Wes to come and assist him in the work when his wife entered the terminal stage of cancer. With the blessing of FBC, Dave, Cathy and another 10 or so members of First Baptist came to assist STBC. Shortly after Linda died the planter suddenly abandoned the work. With no prior ministerial training and with no one else in the fledgling congregation capable, Dave assumed the duties of pastor. With the approval of the sponsoring church, the congregation officially called him to be their pastor and ordained him in February 1997. STBC constituted in February 2002 as a Southern Baptist Church.
Meanwhile, by the grace of God, Pastor Dave, reading good books by reformed authors was slowing coming to understand the Doctrines of Grace and early English Baptist history. Through a very slow and trying process, fraught with many errors along the way, he led the church to a confessional Baptist position in 2004. Sadly, after losing over half the church membership, A remnant persevered and unanimously adopted the Second London Confession in December 2005.
Today STBC is still a small but thriving congregation of predominantly young couples with small children. Set in a Hispanic community, we consider ourselves a neighborhood church. Located on the international border with Juarez, Mexico, STBC strives to be a true multicultural church. Our location strategically positions us to function as a Reformed Baptist gateway to Latin America. Over half of our membership is bilingual and we are able to offer simultaneous translation of all our sermons for Spanish-only speaking guests.
STBC maintains a vibrant relationship with Iglesia Bautista Pacto de Gracia, our sister-church in Juarez.
Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel is a Southern Baptist Spanish-speaking congregation served by Pastor Ramiro Lopez that meets in our church building.
STBC is a charter member of the Confessional Baptist Association (CBA), the Reformed Baptist Network (RBNet) and the Texas Association of Reformed Baptist Churches (TAARBC) and retains membership in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The most important question you can ask a church as you consider committing yourself to its ministry and membership is: "What do you believe?" Our congregation is a confessional church and identify with the Biblical beliefs of the early Southern Baptists. We believe these doctrines are most clearly set forth in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.
We believe in the sufficiency and authority of Scripture.
The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only absolute truth. The Bible is the only authoritative rule of faith, worship, and Christian obedience and is the sum total of God’s revelation concerning all things essential to His own glory, and to the salvation and faith of men.
We believe the
Bible and the Bible alone defines what a church is.
The Bible alone defines the offices of the church. It is a sufficient guide regarding what worship is and how it is to be given as well as who can become a church member and what is required of those members.
We believe that preaching is foundational to the life of the church.
How is God pleased to save sinners? How is God most often pleased to build up saints? How is Christ most powerfully displayed in heart and mind? It is through the preaching of the Word! The preaching of the Word of God is to be central in the worship of God.
We believe in
the serious nature of church membership.
We believe church membership actually means something. Membership means that you commit yourself to the local church and that you agree to participate in the life, ministry, and government of our church. We take the admonition of Hebrews 10:24-25 seriously to "stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together."
We believe that
salvation radically altars the life of a convert.
Christ does not leave His people in a lifeless condition. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Jesus came to seek, save, and make a people zealous for good works. If one has Christ at all, he has received a whole Christ—Prophet, Priest and King.
We believe that
the church exists for the glory of God.
The church is God’s house, not man’s. It is the body of Christ. It is not a building but a place where God meets with His people in a special way. The place where God dwells is the most glorious place on earth to the saint and it is an oasis to the thirsty soul of a sinner seeking the grace of God. It is this conviction that explains the reverence and seriousness of our worship of the living God.
We believe that
the church is central to the purposes of God on earth.
We believe church membership actually means something. Membership means that you commit yourself to the local church and that you agree to participate in the life, ministry, and government of our church. We take the admonition of Hebrews 10:24-25 seriously to “stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together.”
Meeting at 5750 McNutt Road
Mailing Address: PO Box 1524
Santa Teresa, New Mexico 88008
Call us at (915) 217-8187