The Iglesia Menonita El Calvario (Calvary Mennonite Church) originated when various Mennonite leaders initiated outreach among Spanish-speaking workers in South Texas, many of whom were seasonal workers who returned to Mexico during the off-season. Tobias K. Hershey, a missionary to Argentina, became convinced in about 1935 that the Mennonite Board of Mission and Charities should initiate an outreach in South Texas. The board asked Hershey and William G. Detweiler to investigate. Initially, the Board held services in various places, with the assumption that converts would carry the message back to Mexico. A work in Tuleta, Texas, did not develop as hoped.

In 1937, Amsa Kauffman began a Spanish-language work in Mathis, 35 miles northwest of Corpus Christi and 150 miles from the Mexican border. A church organized in 1944, meeting in a house purchased as a meeting place and home for missionaries. In 1949, the Mission Board constructed a small meetinghouse, which it dedicated on 22 May 1949. Initially, this work was known as the Texas Mexican Border Mission, with Mathis as its center and five meeting places.

In 1952, a Voluntary Service unit assisted with operating a kindergarten, providing maternity support, and offering housing assistance. The VS unit erected a new Sunday school facility in 1955 and completed the church auditorium in 1956. The combined facility was dedicated on 12 August 1956. The VS unit used the former church building for recreation and the kindergarten program. In 1954, the Mathis congregation self-identified as the Calvary Mennonite Church, though it remained a Spanish-speaking core with an English-speaking VS unit.

The Iglesia Menonita El Calvario began an outreach in Alice, Texas, in 1956.

In 2023, the South Central Mennonite Conference withdrew from Mennonite Church USA and, in 2024, chose to become a district of LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches. Iglesia Menonita El Calvario thus became part of LMC.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Samuel J Steiner
Date Published	June 2025

Erb, Paul. South Central Frontiers: A History of the South Central Mennonite Conference. Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1974: 424-433.

Kropf, Viola. "New church at Mathis, Texas." Gospel Herald 48, no. 9 (7 March 1955): 207.

_____. "Our new church at Mathis." Gospel Herald 48, no. 24 (14 June 1955): 568.

Miller, Eldo J. "Mathis, Texas." Gospel Herald 42, no. 16 (19 April 1949): 377. (Includes photos)

"New Mathis church dedicated." Gospel Herald (11 September 1956): 880. (Includes photo)

Additional Information

Address: 719 West San Patricio Avenue, Mathis, Texas 78368

Telephone: 361-547-3574

Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079050377956

Denominational Affiliations:

LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches

Mennonite Church USA

Pastoral Leaders at Iglesia Mennonita El Calvario

Name	Years of Service
Amsa H. Kauffman (1894-1977)	1937-1946
Benjamin "Frank" Byler (1916-1999)	1946
William G. Lauver (1896-1984)	1947-1948
Eldo J. Miller (1919-2019)	1948-1951
Jacob "J. Weldon" Martin (1918-1998)	1951-1957 1972-1974
Paul E. Conrad	1957-1968
Samuel Hernandez (Assistant)	1961?-1962?
Adolfo Saldivar (Interim)	1968-1970
Atancio Paiz	1970-1972
Jose Armando Calderon	1974-1981
Guillermo Tijerina (Interim)	1982
Cosme Rodriguez	1982-1986
Gilberto Perez	1986-1988
Homero Ruiz	1988-1990s
Jose A. Calderon	1995?-

Iglesia Mennonita El Calvario Membership

Year	Members
1945	47
1950	53
1960	104
1970	137
1980	148
1990	70
2000	120
2009	120
2020	39

Original Mennonite Encyclopedia Article

Texas Mexican Border Mission (Mennonite Church (MC)), carried on in southern Texas with Mathis as a center, where the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities erected a church in 1955. Mathis is centrally located. This mission is under the direction of the General Mission Board although it is located in the South Central Mennonite Conference. In 1945 there were 50 baptized members, scattered over the entire district; in 1957 the membership was 66. This mission was officially organized at Normanna, Texas, on 11 December 1938, when A. H. Kauffman and wife, the first missionaries, became members of the Mexican Mission. On 1 January 1939, Kauffman was ordained to the ministry. During the first few years David Alwine and wife and Arthur Shertz and wife were helpers in the work. On 12 May 1940, the first and only Mennonite Mexican conference was held at Normanna, with representatives present from the mission stations of Falfurrias, Tynan, and Helena. In 1944 the Calvary Mennonite Church was organized at Mathis. In September 1946 the Kauffman family returned to Indiana and the Wm. Lauver family was appointed to take charge of the work in Texas. In 1954 J. Weldon Martin was the superintendent of the mission work until June 1957, when Paul Conrad became the pastor. A Voluntary Service unit worked at Mathis for several years, assisting in the building of the church and other work. In August 1958 work was begun at Alice, 35 miles southwest of Mathis, with Sylvester Zapata as licensed pastor. The mission in Corpus Christi, begun in 1956 by Don Brenneman, was continued by J. Weldon Martin.

Cite This Article

MLA style

Steiner, Samuel J. "Iglesia Menonita El Calvario (Mathis, Texas, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2025. Web. 2 Feb 2026. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Iglesia_Menonita_El_Calvario_(Mathis,_Texas,_USA)&oldid=180838.

APA style

Steiner, Samuel J. (June 2025). Iglesia Menonita El Calvario (Mathis, Texas, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2 February 2026, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Iglesia_Menonita_El_Calvario_(Mathis,_Texas,_USA)&oldid=180838.

Iglesia Menonita El Calvario (Mathis, Texas, USA)

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