A Great Depression-era stained-glass window shows the first four generations of pastoral leadership at Houston’s oldest Black Baptist congregation, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.
The first full-time pastor, the Rev. John Henry “Jack” Yates, was elected to his position as the South was still reeling from the Civil War in 1868. Now, his great-great-granddaughter, Jacqueline “Jackie” Bostic-McElroy, sits in the 134-year-old pews of the church Yates helped build.
On Sunday, the pews were filled with congregants and local officials celebrating the church’s 160th anniversary. Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Controller Chris Hollins, and state Rep. Jolanda Jones joined Bostic-McElroy’s husband and Antioch’s pastor, the Rev. Lou McElroy, to commemorate more than a century of resilience and a strong link to the city’s history…