The St. John Missionary Baptist Church was founded in Houston, Texas by the late Rev. Hillard Rueben Johnson and was considered to be one of the leading churches in its spiritual leadership ability in the city, district, state and nation.

August of 1899, Rev. Gilbert Green and Rev. H.R. Johnson met along with Bro. James and Sis. Terry Bullock; Bro. Henry Stockin; Sis. Francis Ford and daughter - Sis. Amanda Foster; Bro. Paul Taylor and several other men and women met at Little Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Velasco Street. It was there St. John Missionary Baptist Church was born. History gives credit to Bro. James Bullock and Bro. Paul Taylor for the founding of the name, St. John Missionary Baptist Church.

Rev. H. R. Johnson was appointed as Pastor. Bro. M.D. Haller was appointed First Superintendent; Bro. James Bullock was appointed First Chairman of the Deacon Board and Sis. Synth Dixon was the First Chorister. Today, we refer to that position as - Minister of Music. The church had five locations:

1) Live Oak and Calhoun

2) Broadway, (now known as Bastrop) between  
     Hadley and Webster

3) McGowen and Dowling in a small building owned by
    East Trinity Methodist Church facing McGowen

4) 2616 Dowling

5) 2702 Dowling

Rev. Johnson, along with Rev. Gilbert Green and a few families (charter members) - The Bullock's, Ford's, Taylor's, Evan's, Foster's and Perkin's, purchased land and constructed a small frame building on Gray Avenue. This great preacher chose his final location on Dowling Street where a brick edifice was constructed. The first "Meeting House" as it was called had been erected under the pastorate of Rev. H R. Johnson at a cost of approximately $27,000 and was financed by Mr. Minor Stewart.

Rev. S. A. Pleasants, Jr. was called to Pastor on August 3, 1925. After finding the church heavily in debt and members scattered, he came with the message, "Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus." The membership was 280 members and the indebtedness on the Meeting House was $21,115.62. He used his personal finances to help liquidate the indebtedness of the church.

Membership was scattered because some had joined other churches. The church was several years behind on notes to Mr. Stewart; interest had compounded, windows and lights were broken out; every officer that was paid for service had missed their pay for several months. There was no money in the treasury with which to pay utility bills, or to pay for some urgent and necessary repairs. The church was behind on paying the notes for paving Dowling Street and interest had compounded on this obligation as well.

There was no parsonage in which the pastor and his family could live. The first move was to rent for them a residence on McGowen Avenue. In order to meet some of the urgent obligations, the pastor used his personal money for church debt, spending his money on necessary repairs and obligations that had to be met.

During Rev. Pleasants first six months, the Church progressed by centralizing the finances and creating a financial secretary's office, The church chose a bank depository and established a checking account and $97.18 was raised. Among the first lessons taught under Rev. Pleasants, were: soul saving and Christian giving. Many were added to the church and tithing became the method of financing the church. After a period of spiritual teaching, a New Testament church was organized on April 28, 1940. The membership had grown to 6,677. The church was organized into divisions, assigning division leaders. This organization would make it easier for the leaders to see after the physical needs of the members. The Home Department - which was Sunday School at night; Mission Societies; Brotherhood and Mothers' Uplift were areas in the church that was put into action. The church grew by leaps and bounds and set the pace for the nation.

From August, 1925 to December, 1949, (2,237) members were added by baptism, (1,659) by restoration, (4,025) by Christian experience and (110) by letter - totaling (8,031) members.

The total money raised was $93,565.1O from 1925 -1938 improvements on the Meeting House totaled $10,746.33. Thirteen and a half (13½) lots were purchased and paid for at a total cost of $72,914.73.

During the late thirties, St. John recognized the special needs of all people. Under Rev. Pleasants the "Silent Department Deaf Ministry" was established. Sis. Helen Grimes was our first Interpreter and Sis. Mary Stewart was the first deaf person to join our Church. Today our Deaf Ministry is still active and we have eight members who enjoy service through interpretation. When the membership grew to 8,000, a new edifice was built that included educational facilities. The church that we worship in today was erected at an approximate cost of one half million dollars, with an adjacent parking lot. Rev. Pleasants passed away in 1953.

Rev. Marshall Monroe Malone was selected as Pastor. Under his leadership, a new educational building was constructed, known as the M. M. Malone Chapel and new windows were added to the main building. While carrying on the same ideals for this ministry that were set before him, Rev. Malone served St. John for 30 years. After his passing on July 23, 1983, he left a legacy of ministry to the young people of the church. He formed 'The M. M. Malone Scholarship Committee' that was continued by his wife, Sis. Doris Murray Malone. As of today, this Scholarship Committee is chaired by Sis. Norma Lewis.

Dr. Jess E. Baker served from 1984-1992.

Dr. Lewis R. Morris served as Interim Pastor for a short while.

Rev. T. C. Collins A dynamic preacher of the gospel, was elected as Pastor on October 24, 1993 and installed on February 20, 1994. Rev. Collins came with a vision to activate the lives of men, women, boys and girls to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of all life. Rev. Collins served until his resignation in May 19, 2000.

Rev. Vernus C. Swisher was selected as Interim Pastor and on November 4, 2000, elected as Pastor. Rev. Swisher showed his love for the Lord, therefore, his focus for the church was that, "St. John put into practice their love for God and one another. His vision was that the Saint John Baptist Church would be a church that reaches out to Houston and beyond with effective ministries that enable people to grow in love and grow in their prayer life. Rev. Swisher resigned in October, 2003.

Rev. Gerry L. Baldwin served for one (1) year as Interim Pastor.

Dr. Terrance D. Grant-Malone was installed as the new pastor at St. John on Dowling on May 15, 2005. He came in from Beaumont, Texas on a mission with a vision of a Christ centered church, that meets the needs of people and saying, "It's not about us, but, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."