In the spring of 1999, a group of about 25 people met for dinner at the Casa Linda Cafeteria and considered the question: Does Dallas need another Bible church?
Of course, our answer was, yes. Specifically, this small group believed the East Dallas / White Rock community needed a Bible church that offered worship in a style that took advantage of the great hymns of the faith and that provided solid expository preaching and teaching.
From there, what was to become Redeemer Bible Church grew quickly, led by the Rev. Don Geiger, Sr. For the next two Saturday nights, we met at the home of Milvern and Aloha Harrell. We filled their home and then accepted the hospitality of Casa View Baptist Church, which loaned us the use of one of its buildings for a couple of weeks.
We then met for several Saturday nights in the youth building on the campus then used by the First Assembly of God congregation.
About this time, a steering committee was formed to provide direction for this fledgling congregation. It met weekly, and among many other things wrote our constitution.
We also began to think about the possibility of beginning a Sunday morning worship service.
New churches without a facility of their own often look first for a Seventh Day Adventist church, which worships on Saturday. We held our first Sunday morning worship service on Aug. 15, 1999, at the Hispanic Seventh Day Adventist Church on Fuller Drive. That was a banner day.
During this time, we formally called Don Geiger as our founding pastor and held our first congregational business meeting, where we adopted the constitution and moved to a governance structure under boards of elders and deacons.
We soon saw that we would outgrow that facility, and so began discussions with leaders at St. Peters Vietnamese Catholic Church, who were interested in renting the gymnasium and classroom space to us. In December 1999, we moved across the street, where we had plenty of room to grow. The gymnasium became our sanctuary, recreation facility and banquet hall.
We also began a serious effort to find a permanent location that would serve as Redeemer’s home and as a foundation for ministry and outreach.
Our limited use of facilities had a positive effect on our early years. It forced us to choose where we focused our energies. We were able to concentrate on worship, and to do the right things at the right time.
Eventually, God gave us the campus where we worship today – the former First Assembly of God property. It’s obvious that he wants us here, and for that we’re grateful.
Don Geiger retired in August 2009, after more than 50 years in ministry and 10 years as Redeemer’s founding pastor. Doug Hornok began his ministry as senior pastor the following month. We are thankful that God has provided two such godly men as our pastors and shepherds.