New Hope Baptist Church
6765 Dick Price Rd, Mansfield TX 76063; 817-478-6163.

New Hope Baptist Church History

A church history written by Nell Smith.

New Hope Baptist Church
Tarrant County, Texas

New Hope Baptist Church, organized in 1885, is located three miles south of Kennedale (Highway 287), at 6765 Dick Price Road.(1) It is in a lovely rural setting and seeks to meet the needs of the surrounding community.
When the church was first organized, meetings were held once a month at the New Hope School across the road (then known as New Hope Road) from the present site.(2) The schoolhouse burned in the l930's and later consolidated with Rendon School.(3)
The 14 charter members of the church were: Mr. and Mrs. Bud Truax, Mr. and Mrs. Anasley Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Mint, Mr. and Mrs. Shelton Grimsley, Mr. Mark Goza, Mr. and Mrs. L.G. Williams, Suair Morris, and Mr. and Mrs. Orbray. D. F. Smith served as the first pastor.(4) In 1886, the church joined the Tarrant Baptist Association and has not been a member of any other association.(6) There are no recorded minutes until the year l902.
One of the charter members, L.G. (Leroy Guthrie) Williams, who had previously lived in Shelby and Bell Counties, arrived in Tarrant County in the late l870's and settled in the New Hope Community.(6) In l903, his son, J.J. (John Jonathan) Williams, donated land so that the members could begin building a Missionary Baptist house of worship across the road from the schoolhouse. The sum of $250.00 was collected, and lumber for the building was hauled by M.D. Goza, Abe Wilson, J.J. Williams, and J.H. Caffee. Work on the one-room frame building was in December l904, and was done by volunteers of the church. It was dedicated in the spring of l905.(7)
According to Mr. Joe Williams, a son of J.J. Williams, there was no written transaction when the land was given, but it was done on the basis of a handshake.(8)
The church began meeting twice a month for preaching in September l917 on the second and fourth Sundays.(9) Early baptisms were held at Village Creek (near Kennedale) part of which ran through the farm of Snyde Wilson, a longtime member of the church. Later, they were conducted at Tate Springs and First Baptist Church of Kennedale, which offered the use of their baptistries.(10)
The period from l935-l952 has little information given about the pastors. In l942, however, the church did begin to have full-time preaching under the leadership of Rev. Mark Reeves. In l946, W.C. Carpenter was pastor, at which time work was begun on a new auditorium. It was finished in 1948, when Lamar Lewis was pastor, and a vestibule was added in l952, under Rev. Gene Garrett.(11)
In l952, when Gene Garrett became pastor, the church's average Sunday School attendance was in the 50's. In a matter of months, it increased to over l00. The church began a wonderful period of growth during this time.(12)
In April l956, the church voted to drill a 140-foot well, which cost $685.00. Besides serving the church, whose attendance was steadily increasing, it was also offered free of charge to be used by members of the community who needed water and could not afford deep wells. There was no way of knowing exactly how many people used the water, but the car tracks indicated that there were many.(13)
The church flourished under Gene Garrett's ministry. In one year, there were 72 additions to the church -- the largest recorded in the church's history, 30 of which came for baptism. The next year, there were 42 additions by letter and l8 for baptism.(14)
In l955-56, the pastor was approached concerning participating in the second annual rural and village church achievement and recognition program, sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The purpose of this program was to encourage more active participation of rural churches in the economic and social development of their areas and to encourage churches' participation in stewardship and world evangelism.(15)
In l956, New Hope Baptist Church gained statewide recognition when it tied for second place in awards presented by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Prior to receiving this honor, New Hope won first place in the Tarrant Baptist Association for achievement and first place in District l2 competition. Among the many accomplishments which helped win the awards were the purchasing of new hymnals, presenting 30 members (9-l2 years of age) with Bibles, buying a $600.00 grand piano, installing floodlights for outdoor meetings, digging a new well, and putting down a new floor in the church with volunteer aid of the church members.(16)
As the church grew, there were thoughts of sponsoring a mission. The small community of Britton, near Mansfield, provided this opportunity. About 300 people lived in the area, and a census taken showed many people of Baptist preference and many others. A large unused school building was offered for this purpose. On August 8, l956, New Hope Baptist Church voted to sponsor the mission. The mission work continued for about a year until the mission pastor, Rev. Havens, left and found other work.(17) The mission was reopened in November 1957, with a new pastor, Rodney Goff, who served several months. John Sturgeon then became mission pastor and work there continued until he resigned in l960.(18) The mission later became Friendship Baptist Church.(19)
John Jonathan Williams, who originally donated the land for the church, died on July 8, l940, and was buried in Hudson Cemetery located about two miles northeast of the church on Hudson Cemetery Road.(20) This cemetery is the burial place of many of the early pioneers. A historical marker is displayed at this site.
Upon J. J. Williams' death, his son Jake inherited the land which included the church property. In l959, he officially deeded the land to the church.(21) In l962, he deeded one more acre of land to the church for the construction of a parsonage.(22) The church purchased two more acres of land from Mr. Jake Williams in l968, which was used as parking space.(23)
When Bill Hamilton became the church's pastor in l959, the church continued in the direction of achievement. The 75th anniversary of New Hope Baptist Church was observed July 20-22, l96l.(24) During Rev. Hamilton's ministry, the auditorium was remodeled, an educational building was constructed, and a new three-bedroom parsonage was built on the church property.(26) A baptistry was installed during this time. Charlotte Hall (now Charlotte Cox) was the first person to be baptized in the new baptistry.(26) She is still a member of New Hope Baptist Church.
The church's growth continued and in l965, Art Criscoe came to serve as pastor. He served for 81 months, and a great deal of growth took place. A bus ministry was started in l970. A building fund was started, and the long-range planning committee presented plans for a new auditorium.(27)
In l972, the congregation moved into the beautiful new auditorium where present-day worship services are still held. The members united to retire the debt on this building, and the church became debt-free in November l984, at which time a note-burning ceremony was held. Jim Denison was pastor at this time, and the present-day pastor, Lawrence Hammond, who served as interim pastor on several occasions through the years, returned for this ceremony. In l985, the church celebrated its l00th anniversary, and many former members were present at this occasion.(28)
New Hope Baptist Church has served well the surrounding community and many have been influenced by its ministry. Rev. Lawrence Hammond, pastor for the past seven years, has been a very stabilizing influence in the life of this church. Presently, under his leadership, the church is cooperating with two other churches in a Food Bank Ministry, which serves about l50 families a week. The church has conducted numerous worship services, revivals, yearly Vacation Bible Schools, weddings, funerals, and many fellowships throughout its rich history. Contributions are made to the Cooperative Program, as well as state and foreign missions. The church offers its facilities for preparing and serving food to those of the community (members and non-members alike) who have lost loved ones. The church also provides the use of its building for local elections. Since Rev. Hammond became pastor, a community-wide candlelight service is held each Christmas Eve, encouraging people of all faiths to attend. The congregation continues to demonstrate a love for each other and for those in need. In the year 2000, New Hope Baptist Church will celebrate its 115th anniversary as a "lighthouse" to this community and the world.
Lawrence Hammond served as pastor for 9 years and resigned in December 2001. Dr. C.A. Johnson served as interim pastor from February until June 2002. Then the church called Michael Atherton to serve as pastor. His wife, Sara, teaches music at a private Christian school. They have a 2-year old daughter, Anna. Before the end of the year, the church also called two associate pastors: Wade Ricks (with wife Julie and son Aaron) for family ministry and James Ross (with wife Dawn and children Logan and Kailin) for youth ministry. All pastors are students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The church is steadily growing, and several new member have joined the New Hope family.
Michael Atherton served until June, 2005, and the church experienced stable growth. Another daughter, Abigail, was born about a year before they left New Hope. Three new deacons were ordained. For two consecutive Christmas seasons, New Hope had a Live Nativity, which involved several members of the church and which attracted many visitors. In October, 2003, David Hopkins became minister of music and served until January, 2007. Included in the many ways in which he led the church to worship through music, were the excellent Christmas musicals he directed each year which were attended by many members and visitors. In 2004, Chance Morton was elected to serve as Youth Minister. The Awanas program , involving the children, was begun during this time and has been very effective.
At present, Wade Ricks is our pastor. He previously served as the Associate Pastor. After Michael Atherton resigned, he served as interim pastor from June-September, 2005. In September, he was elected to be the regular pastor. He and his wife, Julie, have one son, Aaron. Wade completed his Seminary training and graduated in May, 2006. A new outreach program called G.R.O.W. is soon to be begun under his leadership. The church is steadily growing and we are looking forward to the future.
Footnotes

New Hope Baptist Church
6765 Dick Price Rd, Mansfield TX 76063; 817-478-6163
Copyright New Hope Baptist Church 2001. All rights reserved. WebServant