Staff

Pastor

Alan Grisham became the pastor of First Baptist Church in October 2010. This has been quite a journey for Alan and his family. 
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Alan  accepted Christ at the age of nine at Eisenhower Road Baptist Church in  San Antonio, Texas.  At the age of thirteen, Alan felt a call to the  ministry.  He was encouraged by both his parents and his church to  pursue this calling on his life.  However, life continued and as he grew  up the thought of preaching did not seem appealing to him.  

 After  graduating from Clear Lake High School, Alan went to Stephen F. Austin  State University with the intentions of obtaining a degree in  agriculture.  Alan quit college and decided to go into the appliance  business with his family. Alan worked in the family business and lived a  moral life, but he continued to live disobedient to God’s call on his  life.  God still blessed Alan by placing a wonderful woman named Nan in  his life.  Nan and Alan were married in March 1987.  Alan was successful  in helping his parents grow the appliance business in Richardson,  Texas.  During this time, God continued to place His call on Alan’s  heart.  He continued to work, but decided that maybe he could lead in  church activities and not have to give up the business.  

Alan’s  family joined Allen Heights Baptist Church in Allen, Texas where they  grew both spiritually and numerically.  Alan and Nan had three children  Edward, Callie and Evan.  He continued to ignore God’s plan for his life  by not surrendering to the call to preach and instead tried to  substitute other things for God’s plan. Alan served in many capacities  in the church.  He was even ordained as a deacon at Allen Heights  Baptist Church.  God continued to work on him until he could not ignore  it any longer.  Nan and Alan sought God’s will and after many years  God’s plan became even clearer.  The business became difficult to run  due to many different issues. The economy struggled and several family  illnesses led to eventually closing the business. A Fortune 500 company  hired Alan, and he thought maybe more activities in church would satisfy  God’s call on his life.  It did not.  

Alan realized that  totally surrendering to his call was the only option he had for peace in  his life.  Alan continued to work for a mortgage company in the day and  attending Dallas Baptist University at night.  After completing his  business degree at DBU, he was now ready to attend seminary.  After  ignoring his call to preach for almost thirty years, Alan moved his  family to Ft. Worth to begin his Masters of Divinity at Southwestern  Baptist Theological Seminary. ​​

​The journey has been a long  one, but Alan knows that while he was not obedient in following his call  earlier, God has given him experiences that will be helpful in the  ministry.  God has blessed him with his wife of over thirty years and  three beautiful children.  Their oldest Edward is married and lives and  works in San Antonio.  Their precious daughter Callie is also married and lives with her husband and their new baby in west Texas.  The youngest is Evan who is  currently attending Texas A&M University.  Alan believes God has  placed him here at First Baptist Church of Buffalo and looks forward to  what God has in store for him and his family. 

Children's Minister

Marie began as Children's Minister  and Preschool Director of First Baptist Church in July of 1997.  She was  returning to her roots at FBC, Buffalo since this was where she was  born and lived until going away to college.  Marie has relished the  challenge of ministering and growing in a place that is so close to her  heart.
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Marie completed her undergraduate degree in Agriculture  and Speech Communications at East Texas State University.  She met her  husband, RC while serving as a youth intern at Bannockburn Baptist  Church in Austin.  

Once married, Marie went on to complete her Masters Degree in Religious Education at Southwestern 

Seminary  in Fort Worth and RC completed his teacher certification. They served  at Meadowview Baptist Church, Midlothian during this time before coming  to Buffalo. 

Marie,  RC and their two children, Ben and Mollie, are active in  their community and Buffalo ISD where RC teaches 5th grade.  They  enjoy spending time with their extended family and Marie loves  scrapbooking those special moments. She feels so blessed to be able to  impact the lives of children
and their families for Christ!!

Music/Youth Minister

Eli Lopez is our newest staff member here at FBC Buffalo and comes to us from Kingsville, TX. Eli was previously Discipleship and Youth Pastor at Coastal Bend Fellowship in Kingsville and Pastor at The Park Community Church in Premont, TX. Eli was also a band director for Kingsville ISD for 11 years, where he led the HM King High School “El Rey” Mariachi, Symphonic Band, Drumline and Marching Band.

Eli received his Bachelors of Music Education at Texas A&M University Kingsville with an emphasis on percussion. Eli also received his Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Dallas Baptist University. 

Eli has been serving in his church since the age of 12 and was called to the ministry at age 15. Eli has been married to his wife, Brooke Lopez for 8 years and they have two young children, Kadence 5 and Jonah 4.