The IBC Story
In the 1960’s, many missionaries of the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States felt a need to gather for fellowship and worship in English, here in Costa Rica. They began meeting regularly at the Baptist Seminary in San Pedro. Soon other folks joined them, creating a very pleasant and comfortable group.
The Costa Rica SBC Mission then decided that its missionaries ought to be involved in worship in Spanish language churches. A few lay people remained in the original group. Showing good will, the SBC Mission assigned various ministries to preach on some Sundays for more than a year. In 1985, Frank Lay, a SBC missionary from Mississippi, along with his wife Margaret, was directed to devote 60% of his time to the English-speaking church and his remaining time to seminary duties. In time, the seminary became very demanding.
In 1991, the church was incorporated according to Costa Rican law, soon to operate as La Asociación Iglesia Baptista Internacional de Costa Rica having ten founding members of which two are still active. We were then able to function legally, allowing the association to open a bank account, purchase and own property, or enter into a mortgage agreement if needed.
The Lays took a much needed year-long furlough for health reasons in 1990-91 and Rev. Steve Henning, a teacher at International Christian School, served most of that time as interim pastor. Frank Lay returned to serve another five years as mission appointee resigning in June of 1996. The SBC then loaned us Rev. Gary Tufts, a local missionary who served until the years end. The attendance began to grow and by December of 1996 we often saw 80 people on Sundays. With more growth on the horizon, International Baptist Church, for the first time called a pastor, Dr. Tom Hill of New Mexico.
Dr. Hill, with wife Connie, assumed the pastorate on Jan. 3, 1997. One of his first actions was to move us from the seminary chapel which seated only 70, to temporary facilities in Faro del Caribe, a Christian radio station, where we could comfortably seat 120. Committees were then organized to design a building and find the best location for our church. We decided that the west side of the San José area would best serve the community, due to the population of English-speakers living there. Our site would need to be easily accessible, the building very visible and of course affordable. Locations in Pavas, behind the Irazu Hotel and a few spots in Escazu were considered before God directed us to the hilltop above the Guachipelin Road and just off the Santa Ana Highway. He allowed us to procure this property for about one-eighth the market value! Some people could not support the changes and withdrew in early 1999 to begin their own work on the east side of San José.
Dr. Hill retired in October of 1999, having stayed to pastor longer than originally planned. It was his leadership, being guided by the Holy Spirit, that brought our church to the point where construction was able to begin. He was God’s man in God’s place in God’s time.
Dr. Hill helped us locate Dr. Richard Steel in Baytown, Texas who agreed to serve as an interim pastor while we looked to find a permanent leader. As soon as Dr. Steel recognized our needs he offered to stay on-board to see us through the building project. With unanimous enthusiasm the congregation invited he and his wife Betty to remain for a long time. Under Pastor Steel’s leadership the church has not looked back.
The sod turning of our new temple took place on January 28, 2000. An Easter sunrise service was conducted that April on the site that would soon become our sanctuary. The building, a Nicolas Belcic design, grew slowly at first, but by year’s end our Christmas cantata; “Adore Him” was the first service to be held in our partially finished sanctuary. That day we set a record attendance of 260.
With attendance climbing we soon saw it impossible to return to the radio station for our regular Sunday worship. So for the first fifteen weeks of 2001 we met in the spacious top floor ballroom of the Gran Hotel de Costa Rica. With Easter drawing near we decided that even though the sanctuary was far from finished, it was our church home and we needed to hold the Resurrection Sunday service there. For those who were in attendance, I’m sure the fond memory lingers of the two small dogs that meandered through the auditorium looking very much at home, during that service.
For about a year we continued to meet in the sanctuary as it was being completed. Then in March of 2002 we were finally able to dedicate this wonderful campus to the glory of God. We wanted to do our very best for Him, and our church has been called by many, both attenders and those people passing by, the most beautiful Christian church in Costa Rica.
Dr. Richard Steel had completed what God had called him to do by organizing the building project, teaching God’s Word and to help our congregation locate a successor. We then called a new younger pastor, Paul Dreessen who came to us from Houston, Texas in August of 2002 along with wife Dina and daughter Denae. Immediately, we noticed an increased number of young families attending. Our music ministry was also under new leadership which too, was partly responsible for the increase. Along with a reorganized Bible study and our youth programs growing weekly in popularity, God’s path was clearly visible for us.
Since 2003, IBC has continued to grow and expand. By 2006, our 275 seat auditorium was close to capacity so a decision was made to go to a second service. We currently offer 2 services, one at 8:30 a.m. and another at 11:00 a.m. with Bible Study at 9:45 a.m. This has allowed us to reach our current size of about 300 attendees in our worship services.
IBC, as its name implies has always been a church with many nationalities represented. Beginning around 2005, we became much more diverse as we began to have students from the University for Peace attend our church. Then a new school, United World College, also opened its doors and students from this institution began attending as well. The result of this has been an even greater diversity in our congregation. In the last year people from 59 different nations have attended IBC.
We have continued our tradition as a mission-minded church. We support numerous ministries that share the gospel in word and deed. We are one of the first churches in Latin America to join the International Baptist Convention which is a convention of international churches all around the world. We have also now been sending teams to other countries, most recently a relief team, led by Nery Duarte, went to Nicaragua to take needed supplies to the Miskito coast which was devastated by a hurricane.
New ministries have continued to emerge. We now have a vibrant Men’s and Women’s ministry, a Prayer and Care Ministry and we are offering English and Spanish classes. Our 2008 Easter Services set a new attendance record with 545 people attending our communitywide Sunrise Service and our regular Easter Service. A 5-year planning committee has been looking towards the future so that we can continue to reach and disciple the international community in Costa Rica. We look forward with great expectation for all the Lord will do in us and through us.