Church History

Pastor Richard and Dilia Garza have served as head pastors at Iglesia Centro Cristiano for over 30 years. The church was birthed on July 11, 1989. Pastors Richard and Dilia Garza had felt the calling of God on their lives to reach out to the hispanic community and went to Pastor B.B. Hankins to speak to him about what God had put on their hearts. Pastor B.B. told Richard and Dilia that the Lord had already spoken to him about them. Their ministerial journey began that July with at-home bible studies and prayer meetings with just a small group of people. They later added worship services and bible teaching.

Over the next decade, the church continued to grow as part of the Hispanic Ministry of the Christian Center led by Pastor B.B. and Velma Hankins. The Garzas saw the need for the ministry to have a place of its own. A group of men of good report joined Pastor Richard to speak to Pastor B.B. about the need to meet somewhere else.

Pastor B.B. Hankins approved the move to a building that was being used for the Christian Center’s Bible Institute (CBI) and Iglesia Centro Cristiano transitioned from Saturdays to Sundays in one of the smaller classrooms. However, church quickly outgrew that space and Pastor Richard again approached Pastor B.B. about using a larger part of the CBI building which was being used for storage.

Pastors Richard and Dilia still clearly remember what Pastor B.B. asked of them. “Do you have money in your church account to be able to fix the walls and turn it into a place to worship?” Pastor Richard responded, “Yes, we do,” and Pastor B.B. responded, “GO FOR IT.” Praise God! Many of the men began the process of putting up walls and converting it into a place of worship that has held Iglesia Centro Cristiano services for over twenty years.