You're Welcome Here

Friday, July 5, 1975, 7:00 p.m. in the evening, at the home of the Rev. F.C. Cunningham, with the late Rev. R.B. Gray Officiating. The spoken vision that was to be the Saint John Missionary Baptist Church was given birth.  Five Souls were led to be a part of that historic event. Bro. Ray Calton, Floyd Cunningham, Lorenzo Cunningham, Deacon O.A. Cunningham and the late Rev. F. C. Cunningham were installed as Pastor.  Being directed by the Holy Spirit, Pastor Cunningham was led to the temple that would be home for the Saint John Baptist Church at 1020 Bryan Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76104. After purchasing that property, on the first Sunday, July 7, 1975, the Saint John Missionary Baptist Church, with Rev. F.C. Cunningham as Pastor held its first Sunday services and opened the doors to a dying nation. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you and expected end.  Jeremiah 29:11. 

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In 1980 one eventful Monday evening, the St. John body walked out of the church doors and straight into the predestined will of God. That Monday night, not only was the physical structure of that building altered, with the roof collapsing, but also the lives of not one church body but two church bodies would be intertwined in ways we would never forget. Pastor Cunningham as directed by the Spirit of God accepted the outstretched hands of our brother and friend in Christ the Late Rev. Kirby Holmes, overseer of the Upper Room Temple.  We have not forgotten the warm welcome and hospitality we received at The Upper Room.  We remained in Fellowship together until December 2, 1982, when we purchased the church building and fellowship hall which was to become home to the St. John Baptist Church, located here at 3640 Ave “F”, Fort Worth, TX. 76105. And with Praise, and Thanksgiving, on December 5, 1982 our first Sunday service was held here. God Blessed and provided for St. John to pay off the Church and Fellowship Hall note in 1997, where again Rev. Dr. R.B. Gray Pastor of the Greater St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church was again officiating, for our Note Burning Service.  But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him and he sat thereon and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands the one on the one side and the other on the other side and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. Exodus 17:12. 

As Pastor F.C. Cunningham’s health began to fail, the call went out to a young Minister who had answered the call of the Lord’s in 1973 and who had founded in 1978 the New Golden Gate Baptist Church. And just as Aaron and Hur held up Moses hands during the battle, Rev. C.E. Cunningham accepted the call to help hold up Pastor F. C‘s arms until the battle was over. So in March of 2000 the New Golden Gate Baptist Church found a new home with St. John, with Rev. F.C. Cunningham as Senior Pastor. The Lord moved Sr. Pastor F.C. Cunningham into a new building in Glory, on June 12, 2005. After facing the challenges of combining two churches, just as God changed Abram to Abraham and Saul to Paul, the Lord moved on Pastor C.E. Cunningham in 2006 to change the name of the church from St. John Missionary Baptist Church to The St. John Missionary Baptist Church Temple of Praise.             

For It Was Time!