Flerida Alvarez, 37, said she does not have the words to describe how much she admires Randy Hughes, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, who will retire on Sunday.

But someday she might.

Alvarez moved to Waco from Mexico in 1995 to join family members. She spoke only Spanish but wanted to learn English, so she joined a class offered at Emmanuel by Hughes and his wife, Judy.

Pastor Randy Hughes delivers a message during the 70th anniversary of Emmanuel Baptist Church in 2000. Hughes, who celebrates his 62nd birthday on Sunday, is retiring. He said he has enjoyed leading a church that embraced new ministries, including one that helps Spanish-speaking people learn English.
Emmanuel Baptist Church photo

She has done so well that Hughes hired her as church secretary in 2004. Three years later, she became a U.S. citizen, with Randy and Judy helping her study for the test.

“I think he’s an awesome person, very friendly, considerate of others. I don’t really have the words to say how I feel because I’m still learning. I just know I’m going to miss him,” Alvarez said.

Others at the 80-year-old church on Gurley Avenue feel the same way.

“I consider Randy not only my pastor but a dear, dear friend. If you wanted to paint a picture of what a pastor should be, he would be their model,” said Cecil Perry, 54, who serves as chairman of deacons.

Luke 9:23

Hughes turns 62 years old on Sunday. His final message will come from Luke 9:23, where Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

“That has shaped my ministry,” said Hughes, who became pastor of Emmanuel nearly 23 years ago.

Emmanuel Baptist Church has a rich history. Before Waco’s devastating tornado in 1953, it would run 500 people in Sunday School. But the wind that tore the roof off Emmanual seemed to signal a change in its course.

“After that, the neighborhood changed considerably,” Hughes said. “People who had walked to church or attended church here moved to the suburbs and drifted away. Wherever I go in Waco, someone tells me they grew up in Emmanuel or were baptized at Emmanuel. But they have moved somewhere else to live.”

Today, about 80 people attend Sunday school, while 125 go to morning worship. But to believe that Emmanuel has lost its influence in South Waco would miss the point.

Hughes vowed to tailor the church to the needs of a changing neighborhood, one increasingly Hispanic. He and Judy started classes to teach English as a second language.

The ministry expanded to help people become U.S. citizens and to pursue their high school equivalency diplomas.

For years, Emmanuel has had a ministry for the Chinese of Waco. About 50 meet each Sunday in the church’s former fellowship hall, including Baylor students, visiting professors and employees of local Asian restaurants.

“They have rotating pastors and I have the privilege of baptizing those who come to Christ,” Randy Hughes said.

Hughes said he loves Emmanuel because longtime members have embraced new ideas. He cherishes Emmanuel’s seniors and the church provides them an opportunity to socialize at a weekly luncheon.

‘A good one’

“Pastor Hughes has been a good one for us,” said 85-year-old George Wilkins, who has attended Emmanuel since he was 29 years old. His wife of the same age, Juanita, has been going there since she was 13 years old.

Flerida Alvarez, secretary of Emmanuel Baptist Church, came to Waco from Mexico speaking only Spanish. But courses at the church helped her learn English and become a U.S. citizen.
Duane A. Laverty / Tribune-Herald

George Wilkings said he likes Hughes “because he preaches the Bible, he doesn’t tell stories.”

Hughes said a winding road brought him to Waco. He received an appointment to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., as a young man, “but I sensed I was supposed to be doing something else.”

He enrolled at Wayland Baptist University in the Texas Panhandle and found himself wrestling with what God would have him do with his life.

In the spring of 1969, he committed himself to ministry.

During the years, he headed up congregations in small West Texas communities such as Sanford, Borger and Roscoe as he pursued his master’s degree and doctorate at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

In 1988, he learned about the opening at Emmanuel from longtime Texas Baptist leader Paul Stripling.

“It was like I put on a pair of shoes, and it fit from the first day,” he said of his tenure at the church.

Hughes said he wants to create a pastor’s retreat on 72 acres he owns near Moody. He will place cabins there and hopes to offer pastors and their spouses a place to get away from life’s pressures.

mcopeland@wacotrib.com

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