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On Mission in the Metroplex
200 Years of church planting among Hispanics and Latinos continues in Texas
Moises Gomez doesn’t just see his time at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) as one of knowledge acquisition. Instead, he sees how each class shaped him holistically to live out the Great Commission in every aspect of his life. Before coming to SEBTS in 2015, Gomez started his ministry in the Dominican Republic and began to pray for the opportunity to be further equipped to serve the Church wherever God called him. He sees how God is answering that prayer through theological training and the call to help Hispanic families in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex. “We are training people in the same way — using theology as an instrument of grace to shape, train, and equip people for their lives,” said Gomez, who now serves as the Spanish Pastor at First Irving Baptist Church in Irving, Texas.
While Hispanic ministries in the DFW metroplex are growing, so are the prevalence of the prosperity gospel and the need for healthy churches in the area. God opened Gomez’s eyes to this need to plant healthy, gospel-centered Hispanic congregations and gave him the faith to say yes to that call.
Gomez joined First Irving’s staff in 2019 after receiving his MDiv in Christian Ministry in December 2018. Since moving to Irving four years ago, Gomez has seen tremendous growth in the lives of Hispanic families in the DFW metroplex. When Gomez, his wife Betsy, and their three children (now four) moved to Texas, his goal was to plant a Hispanic congregation from First Irving. That congregation started with less than 10 people. Despite a global pandemic, over 140 people are now attending services each week.
First Irving isn’t just discipling people through weekly services. The church offers a Bible training institute, small groups, monthly women’s gatherings, monthly couples’ gatherings, and men’s Bible studies. Through these avenues, God is training men and women across the DFW to know God and his word more deeply and share the gospel across the metroplex.
Gomez represents many other pastors seeking to reach the Hispanic population in the United States. The Hispanic population is growing, and so is the need for healthy churches that can reach them. Those who identify as Hispanic now account for 18.7 percent of the country’s population, which represents half of the nation’s population growth, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census. With that growth comes the potential for increased Hispanic leadership and involvement within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC),where there are 3,500 Hispanic and Latino SBC churches. “I think we’re going to continue to see Hispanics rise in leadership in our Convention and our churches as the second generation and those who were born here — like myself — see the value of it,” said Pete Ramirez, associate executive director for the California Southern Baptist Convention, in a 2021 Baptist Press article, “Census Reveals Future for Hispanics, Latinos in the SBC.”
The state in which Gomez serves is where Southern Baptist work to Hispanic populations began. In his 1992 compilation “Ethnic Baptist History,” Joshua Grijalva writes that the first Baptist Bible study for Hispanics started in 1821 at First Baptist San Antonio, which expanded to First (Mexican) Baptist Church in 1861. Gomez now finds himself continuing this ministry in Texas, where the highest number of SBC Hispanic congregations still exist.
When you listen to Gomez talk about all that God is doing at First Irving, he speaks with genuine passion and excitement for what has already happened and what God will continue to do in the years ahead. But as he now seeks to train others, Gomez is deeply grateful for how SEBTS professors equipped him in every area of life and ministry.
Gomez and his wife didn’t just talk about serving the Church while in school; they passionately pursued it. Gomez preached in various cities, including New York City, Miami, Raleigh-Durham, and Orlando. Even while a student, he led the Hispanic Initiative at Imago Dei Church for a year and a half, which included about 40 Hispanic congregants and 20 kids coming together once a month for a time of teaching and fellowship. “Southeastern prepared me to fulfill the mission by developing a Christ-centered, Scripture-driven, Spirit-filled, and mission-oriented pastoral ministry,” said Gomez, who saw firsthand through working at SEBTS and studying there as an MDiv student that the school intentionally lives out its mission to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.
Gomez and his ministry fit into the larger narrative that God has been telling through faithful ministers of the gospel in Texas, the United States, and the world. He is simply devoted to fulfilling the mission in his context, so that more people can know Christ and make him known.
