Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church Pastor Megan Elliot speaks during a recent ground breaking ceremony at the Juan Seguin campus.
(Seguin) — A chapter is being written for the complicated legacy for a school that was once used to segregate Mexican American students in Seguin. Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church recently broke ground at the Juan Seguin campus as part of the church’s effort to convert the school into a place for worship and a place for the community to gather together in support of one another. The ground-breaking ceremony was held earlier this month at the campus, located in the 400 block of Dolle Avenue.
The Juan Seguin campus has a complicated history in Seguin. Its roots began with an attempt to keep white, brown and black students separated, but eventually, the campus was integrated and went on to serve as a neighborhood elementary school and a pre-kindergarten campus for years. Project Manager Jim Dyess shared some of the school’s history during the groundbreaking ceremony.
“The Juan Seguin campus has had a major impact on our community. Let’s start at the beginning. The first building constructed for the elementary education for those defined as Mexican was open across the street in 1918. The stucco wall buildings across Dolle Avenue are 1920s and 30s additions. Historic documents show that the buildings had stoves for heat and no electricity or lights. David Maldonado Jr. in his book “Crossing Guadalupe Street” describes in detail his excitement on his first day at the school in 1949. Although it’s been 11 years since the last pre-k and kindergarten students passed under this majestic oak tree, over the breezeway through the limbs, we may hear their presence,” said Dyess.
Spirit of Joy members say they are committed to honoring the legacy of the Juan Seguin campus. They say they want to be good neighbors and they again want to make this an inviting space for the community.
“This nearly 100 history is recognized and honored by Spirit of Joy as it plans for the campus. Spirit of Joy has used rented space such as the Silver Center for the past 10 years. For many of those years, the Spirit of Joy land task force worked diligently to find raw land or existing buildings to use for the church’s ministries. Several were thoroughly evaluated but the decision was made to continue searching for a location that would be a good match for our interest and community involvement, service to others and lies of faith, active and love just as Jesus taught,” said Dyess.
One building was removed because it had fallen into a state of disrepair, but church members say the other buildings will remain.
“The initial phase is focused on the campus west of Dolle Avenue. Most of you are sitting on the side of the new parking lot which will connect with a broad sidewalk to a new main entrance located behind me where the side entrance to the auditorium is today. This beautiful oak will remain as the focal point for the entire campus as it has for years. The design goal for the auditorium building is to improve the functionality only for our purposes while preserving elements of the past. The entrance from Dolle Avenue will include the replacement of those steep stairs with a ramp. The front doors will open onto a lobby with few changes from when the building first opened. The original floors will be refinished throughout. Offices and classrooms will occupy the two large former classrooms facing Dolle and the restrooms and the kitchen will be reconfigured. The seal trusses will be exposed in the ceiling of the former auditorium and with the refinished wood floor will become space for worship and other church and community events. Less visible will be new electrical, plumbing, installation and a new roof and a new HVAC,” said Dyess.
The first spades of dirt are turned for the Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church Juan Seguin Project.
Dyess says there will be some additional work done on the west side of the campus, but it will take a little while longer for the church to turn its attention toward the buildings on the east side of the campus.
“The library will pretty much be unchanged providing a large multi-purpose space with the only addition being a restroom with a shower. The buildings on the east side of Dolle will have a little bit more of repair work completed now to minimize deterioration. As Spirit of Joy settles into the buildings on the west side of Dolle, the process will be to develop new plans and use of the original building and the brick classroom building can begin. Our hope is that it will become community space for the neighborhood and a place to honor the history of this school and the adjacent neighborhoods. The aim is to continue having the impact on Seguin that’s been ongoing from this campus since 1918,” said Dyess.
Spirit of Joy Pastor Megan Elliot says her vision for the space calls for this to be a place where people can worship together, play together, and learn together. She shared a potential calendar of activities at the new church once the work is finished. She says everything from family gatherings to LULAC banquets, to choir practices, to community classes can all be held in this new space. Elliot says this will be Spirit of Joy’s new home, but it will be much more than that. She says it will be a place that the entire community can enjoy.
“I haven’t even imagined half of the things that we will be able to do in this space and I haven’t even touched the things that we will be able to do across the street. But I have full confidence in our ability to fill this property with God’s work. I believe in you and this congregation and in our mission because together as the people of God, we welcome, we worship, we love and we serve,” said Elliot.
The ceremony opened with a prayer from Marion Dolford, the chair of the Guadalupe County Ministerial Alliance. Dolford was also there to welcome Spirit of Joy as a neighbor. He is the pastor of the Greater Refuge Church, just a block or so away from the Juan Seguin campus. Elder Dolford says it was a great day to celebrate the project and the good that it will bring to the community.
“So, here we are on the verge of this historic weekend for the Spirit of Joy. In fact, you are on the verge of building not only a legacy for the next generation but building a place where people will be able to meet God face to face, experiencing his love and his grace. You will be able to hear great preaching and teaching of the truth. You’ll enjoy the fellowship of one another, caring people and even in the future be able to meet physical needs of the community,” said Dolford.
Rev. Sue Briner, the Bishop of the Southwestern Texas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was also on hand for the ceremony. Briner says she has been so impressed by the work being done by Spirit of Joy.
“It really has been my joy to watch this project grow from a little tiny idea into what it is today and you all haven’t even started hardly yet so I’m just grateful for all that you are doing in this community,” said Briner.
Socially distanced crowds participated in the in-person ground breaking event for the SOJ Juan Seguin Project. The ceremony was also live-streamed for those who were unable to attend.
Seguin City Councilman Chris Rangel was on hand for the celebration. Rangel, who represents that area, also heads up the West Side Neighborhood Project, which annually hosts a Pachanga and Community Clean-Up Day for that area. Rangel says that he’s excited about the work being done at the campus.
“I just wanted to thank ya’ll very very much. It’s been great seeing ya’ll. Seeing this blossom all over again. I went to school here, so it was really awesome to see it. So, when it started coming up, my wife and I had just talked about someone doing something here and we couldn’t be happier,” said Rangel.
Rev. Stan Meyer, vice-president of the SOJ Congregation Council, served as the master of ceremonies. Meyer thanked all of those who helped to make this project possible, including leaders from the Seguin ISD and the city of Seguin that worked together through a number of challenges to make sure that Spirit of Joy was able to complete the purchase process. He also thanked all those who worked in helping to secure the site, and those who have been working in preparation for the construction work that is to come. He saved his final thanks for members of the congregation itself, for the vision and faith to move forward with this project.
“I really want to culminate the thinking about all the work that the congregation has put together by thanking every member of Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church. This is a group of people that should never be underestimated as I’ve discovered. They voted time and time again to do the right thing. They gave generously toward the project we have and they used their energy and their arms for the volunteer service that we needed to see accomplished and by doing all of these things, they shouted a loud ‘yes’ every time to what answer they would give to God’s call that we serve in this place, serving others, serving the community and caring for our worship life and our service life before God,” said Meyer.
The church has hired The Koehler Company to serve as the general contractor on the project. The project is expected to take several months to complete, with some of initial work done by late fall or early winter.