LANDMARK MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
4831 Tully Road
Modesto, Ca. 95356
Church Phone (209) 522-9690
Email the church
Pastor: Keith D. Perkins
A
Brief History of Landmark Missionary Baptist Church of Modesto
Information for this article was taken from
old minute books, some papers on the church history and recollections of
charter member Merle Gibson.
Above is a picture of the building where the
church currently meets twice every Sunday and again on Wednesday evenings.
In the beginning the church met in private homes. Some of the other places
the church met before purchasing the property on Tully Road included the
German Baptist Church building, South
Modesto Acres Auction yard meeting room, Prescott Community Hall, Modesto
Youth Center, and John Muir School Building.
The church was organized August 14, 1949
while meeting in the German Baptist Church building. L. D.
Perdue was the missionary pastor who helped organize the church. The
articles of faith as written in the Baptist Way book were adopted by the
church. The organization council included Charles Crouch, L.D. Perdue,
Thomas Lyon, Art Harris, Ben Crawford, Ed Hall, W. S. Goulding and others
from the area. There were seven charter members present. The charter
members were L. D. and Maurine Perdue, Arnold and Jewel Jenkins, Bill, Merle
and James Gibson, Dale and Sister Dale McIntosh. Enrollment was held open
one month for Clementine Bledsoe to join.
Originally called First Missionary Baptist
Church of Modesto, the name was changed to Landmark MBC in 1957. Gradually
it was referred to as TRMBC and the name was officially changed to TRMBC
during Brother Tom Judd’s ministry here in the 1980’s. December 1955 the
church voted that the men meet to discuss buying property.
March 14, 1956 church members
discussed disbanding the church due to low attendance and having no pastor.
Brother Monroe Patterson advised against this and the church struggled on
with the search for a place to build. Tully Road was not the first choice
for a building site but in March 1957 the church offered for the property
here. Part of the purchasing agreement was to deed 45 feet of ground to the
county. The size and design of the building was agreed on by the members.
It was to be 40 by 90 feet with slopping floors and colored blocks. Men
from other MBC churches in the area came to help the members work on the
building. They met each day after work and stayed long into the evening.
The first Sunday in the new building was in August 1960 with Brother M. B.
Hubbard speaking. The education wing was added in 1984. The church
building fell into disrepair during the 1990’s and early 2000 but has since
been restored and new windows and siding added.
The church was incorporated in 1958 and new
incorporation papers were done in 1959.
TRMBC history can be traced as far back as
1638 when the first Baptist church in America was established in Newport, Rhode Island.
The following are a few interesting motions
and actions taken by the church over the years:
In August 1959 the church voted to strike
Robert’s rules of order and use Pendleton Manual with the amendment to not
use pages 90-93.
September 1959 the church voted to replace
any teacher absent three times without a reasonable excuse.
The church seal was ordered and a pulpit
donated to the church in 1959.
The first wedding in the new building was on
November 23, 1960 (Lily J. Casteel to Larry E. Wood) which was a Wednesday
evening. The church moved their evening service to Tuesday evening to
accommodate the wedding.
Sister Merle had many stories to tell about
the church as she struggled through the beginning. She fondly said, “Oh my,
we were so young then. All we did was make mistakes.”
It seems
we haven’t changed that much. We still struggle, and we continue to make
mistake but we are still doctrinally sound, we are still God’s church and He
continues to love us and shower us with His Blessings.
Here
are some pictures that show the disrepair, the remodel, and where the Lord
has brought us to to date. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but God
has, is and will continue to bless the work here at
Tully
Road Landmark Missionary Baptist Church
Click on Picture to Enlarge
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The Disarray from early 90's to 2006
Began remodel in November of 2006 |
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The Lord Truly Blessed us with the means to remodel.
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This is where we are at to date.
We continue to progress in the material but more importantly in the spiritual! |
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