DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about New Hope Baptist Church in McLennan County. Now, before we get to 1866, you've got to understand what came before. In the years before 1865, some Black residents of Waco were already worshiping at the city's first Baptist church.
That's where this story takes root — in a congregation already gathered, already faithful, already there. Then comes 1866. The congregation's pastor — and this is a man who wore more than one hat — Baylor University President Dr.
Rufus Burleson, together with the Reverend S. G. O'Bryan and Dr.
Richard Burleson, organized a Black church. Eighteen members. That was the beginning.
Now the new congregation needed a name, and that name came from its first pastor, the Reverend Stephen Cobb. He called it the New Hope Baptist Church. And friend, there is something in that name — Hope, and the word New out front of it — that tells you everything about what this moment meant to those eighteen souls.
In its early years, the congregation was nothing if not resourceful. They held services in an old foundry. Then at the Howard Institute.
Then in a building they shared with a local Methodist Church. No permanent home, but a permanent purpose. They kept meeting.
They kept worshiping. And eventually, the congregation found its place — right here, at this very site, where they have been gathering since 1923. One of the oldest Black Baptist churches in Waco, still standing, still holding on.
Some stories don't need an ending. They just need to still be going.
What the marker says
In the years before 1865, some blacks in Waco worshiped at the city's first baptist church. In 1866 the congregation's pastor, Baylor University President Dr. Rufus Burleson with the Rev.S.G. O'Bryan and Dr. Richard Burleson, organized a black church with 18 members. It was named the New Hope Baptist Church by its first pastor, the Rev. Stephen Cobb. During its early years the congregation held services in an old foundry, at the Howard Institute, and in a building shared with a local Methodist Church. One of the oldest black Baptist churches in Waco, the congregation has met at this site since 1923.