Past members of Gaston Ave. Baptist Church will celebrate the influence of the church on their lives at a Reunion Worship Service Sunday, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. at the church’s former location at Gaston and Haskell, now Criswell College.  Coffee at 9:30 a.m. will precede the service.

            The reunion has been organized by former young people of the church, who grew up there in the ’40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s.

            The times were simpler back then, and the church was an important part of the  community. Gaston Avenue (founded in 1887) was one of the largest Southern Baptist congregations in Dallas.  In 1953, church membership numbered more than 7,000, and it had a huge educational program that required many adult leaders who became extended family to the children they taught. Distinguished pastors during the church’s “glory years” included Dr. W. Marshall Craig, Dr. Harold Basden and the Rev. Lester B. Collins Jr. 

The church had a particularly active youth group, most of whom were students from Woodrow Wilson and North Dallas High Schools and Baylor School of Nursing who gathered every Sunday night and sat together en masse for the evening service followed by youth fellowship. Gaston Ave. Baptist was not just a place where young people developed in their spiritual lives and established the moral foundation for their futures, it was a hub of their social lives, as well.

Johnny Ray, organizing committee chairman for the Reunion, remembers Sword Drills, Vacation Bible School, Training Union, Latham Springs encampment, the basement recreation room, volleyball on the parking lot, and back yard Bible studies.  Others recall Wednesday night dinner before prayer meeting, hayrides, skating, Girls Auxiliary, Royal Ambassadors, camp at Mount Lebanon, and the Valentine banquet.

            Lifelong friends were made.  But many friendships lapsed as members moved on to other churches. Many moved to Wilshire Baptist, Park Cities and later to Prestonwood Baptist.

            After several years of declining membership as Dallas experienced population shifts to the suburbs, the Gaston congregation moved in 1990 to its present location at the corner of Greenville and Royal Oaks and became Gaston Oaks Baptist Church.  The church buildings at Gaston and Haskell, which include the 1905 sanctuary, the 1950 sanctuary that seated 2,000, and other structures, were sold to Criswell College, an independent Christian College.

            Gaston Oaks today is a multi-cultural, international church serving several congregations, including Spanish-speaking, Iranian, Karen refugees from Myanmar and African-American Katrina victims. Services are translated in several languages and members conduct training in English as a second language.

            Gaston Oaks will join in the reunion service.  Speakers will include the Rev. Bruce Troy, Gaston Oaks pastor, along with several Gaston Avenue “alumni.”  Dick Baker, who often led youth revivals at Gaston Ave. Baptist, will lead the singing.  He has written a special chorus for the occasion, “Carry On,” which recently was premiered at Prestonwood Baptist Church.

            Memories will be shared at a dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 26, preceded by tours of the Criswell campus.  Dickie Dunn, who works for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and is the son of Gaston’s former music minister Gale Dunn, will be master of ceremonies.

            All who had an association with Gaston Ave. Baptist are invited to the Reunion. For further information, contact Johnny Ray at johnnyray0623@sbcglobal.net or Donna Willett Wills at donnaww@verizon, net.