Spanish Church

The Spanish ministry at Garden Ridge is about 30 years old. It began as a Bible class taught by Arturo Esquivel. The class grew, and Arturo approached the elders with the idea that the Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters would like to start meeting on their own. The Garden Ridge elders agreed to pay rent on a meeting space, and to support Arturo as the preacher. The new congregation was growing, and attracted members from as far away as Irving. But after just a few years Arturo’s health began to fail and the group decided to come back to Garden Ridge. For a while they met with the English speakers, but Nacho and María Ríos felt that it was important to give Spanish speakers the opportunity to study and worship in their own language. For several years the Spanish ministry was led by Mario De La Garza, until he started having health problems. Wimon and Rosalinda Walker have worked with the group since 2016.

Some visitors to the Spanish-speaking worship services have been surprised to see that we sit around a table, and that we spend a lot of time sharing news and concerns and praying for each other. We frequently keep in touch with text messages during the week so that we can continue to pray with each other.

The Spanish-speaking congregation met only on Zoom for more than a year because of the pandemic, and after that the meetings have often been hybrid, with some members attending in person and others connecting by Zoom.

Even though the group is small, over the years we have had members born in at least six Latin American countries as well as in the United States. This results in a wonderful and delicious variety of tastes and dishes when we share a pot-luck meal. And our distinct experiences also lead to rich conversations about how to apply the message of the Bible to our daily lives.