Hope Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little road-dust on it. Way back in 1885, eight souls gathered together in Lavaca County and constituted a congregation they called Shiloh Baptist Church. Eight charter members.

Not eight hundred, not eighty. Eight. And the place they first met was the Riggs Schoolhouse, somewhere in Lavaca County.

The exact location of that schoolhouse, the marker will tell you plainly, is unknown. Gone to time and memory. What we do know are the names of those eight founders, and they deserve to be spoken: M.

L. and M. Newsom, Daniel and Moneroy Fitch, J. L. and A.

A. Moore, Adie Riggs, and R. A.

Anderson. Eight people, a schoolhouse with no fixed address on the map anymore, and a faith they were determined to carry forward. They held worship services once a month, which in those days was no small commitment, and when it came time for baptisms, they went to Clark's Creek.

You can picture it. Now, 1896 is where things start moving. The church minutes record the formation of a building committee that year, and by December of 1896, the congregation held its first worship service in a brand new sanctuary.

They had a home. Over the years, as the congregation grew, they enlarged that space with additional facilities, and eventually a new building replaced the 1896 structure altogether. Then came 1920, and a decision that tells you something about who these people were.

The members of Shiloh Baptist Church agreed to change their name. Not because anything had gone wrong, but because they wanted to reflect the name of the community in which they worshipped. And that community was called Hope.

So Shiloh became Hope Baptist Church. Seven years after that, the congregation hosted the annual meeting of the Guadalupe Baptist Association, which is the kind of thing a growing, confident church gets to do. Throughout all of it, Hope Baptist Church kept its focus outward, involved in local and worldwide mission activities, upholding the ideals and traditions of those original eight who once gathered in a schoolhouse we can no longer find on any map.

Started with eight people and a creek. Some things take root and just keep growing.

What the marker says

Hope Baptist Church Originally called Shiloh Baptist Church, this congregation was constituted in 1885 with eight charter members, who first met in the Riggs Schoolhouse. The exact location of the schoolhouse is unknown, except that it was in Lavaca County. The original members were: M. L. and M. Newsom, Daniel and Moneroy Fitch, J. L. and A. A. Moore, Adie Riggs and R. A. Anderson. They held worship services once a month, and baptisms took place in Clark's Creek. Church minutes record the formation of a building committee in 1896. The first worship service in the new sanctuary occurred in December 1896. Over the years, the congregation enlarged their space with additional facilities as they grew. A new building eventually replaced the 1896 structure. In 1920, the members of Shiloh Baptist Church agreed to change their name to Hope Baptist Church to reflect the name of the community in which they worshipped. Seven years later the congregation hosted the annual meeting of the Guadalupe Baptist Association. Throughout its history, Hope Baptist Church has focused on outreach to the community and has been involved in both local and worldwide mission activities. It continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of the founders in its worship and Sunday school programs. (2001)