New Hope Free Will Baptist Church

New Hope Free Will Baptist Church has a rich heritage. The church organized in the mid 1890's, with a small group of charter members. Our knowledge of those early days is limited. However, according to oral tradition, the church began meeting in the old Shady Grove Schoolhouse.

The property, on which New Hope now stands, was purchased on January 27,1909 for $12.00. Nestled in a grove of trees, the building was constructed in a shotgun architecture made from sawmill lumber planks and stone pillars. It was whitewashed and underpinned at a later time.

That early congregation met for Sunday school and preaching twice a month and had revival once a year during the fall, after the crops were in. They endured the bighting cold of winter and the sweltering humidity of summer to worship.

God has truly blessed New Hope Church with a godly heritage. From its humble beginnings to modern day, the Word of God has been preached faithfully, and souls have been added to the kingdom.

This excerpt taken from the pages of the Centennial Celebration of New Hope conveys it best:

Organized prior to the Spanish-American War, New Hope has remained
undefiled and unwavering amid times of uncertain change.Through wars and rumors of wars, from times of want to times of plenty, for one hundred years, her light has remained unextinguished by the howling winds of time. She has stood, and continues to stand, a fortress in the midst of a raging storm.