Historical Marker

Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church

ORGANIZED IN THE 1920s, THIS CONGREGATION IS THE OLDEST SURVIVING WITH ORIGINS IN DEL RIO’S AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. MEMBERS FIRST HELD SERVICES IN THE A.M.E. METHODIST CHURCH BEFORE SECURING THEIR OWN PROPERTY ON PEIRCE STREET ON MAY 15, 1922. REV. JAMES FENNELL DIRECTED THIS IMPORTANT STEP AND LED THE CHURCH FROM 1922 TO 1958. DESPITE MANY HARDSHIPS, THE CHURCH GREW IN MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCES. THE SANCTUARY WAS REMODELED AND ENLARGED IN THE 1940s. IN 1974, THE CONGREGATION MOVED AGAIN, THIS TIME TO THE FORMER GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH. MEMBERS CONTINUE TO ENRICH THE COMMUNITY IN WORSHIP AND SERVICE.