New Hope-Bethel Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about New Hope-Bethel Baptist Church in Sabine County. Now, some churches just appear one Sunday morning, fully formed, with a parking lot and a fellowship hall. This one took the better part of two centuries to become what it is today, and the road it traveled is something else.

It starts, best anybody can tell, around 1818. That's when Elder William Cook, who had come all the way from North Carolina and settled in southwestern Louisiana, started riding both sides of the Sabine River and preaching wherever he could find an ear. No grand building.

No steeple catching the morning light. Just a log cabin sitting under a catawba tree on the property of Henry Chambers and his son Allen. That was the site of Bethel Mission services.

Elder Cook, who died in 1829, carried his work east and west of the Sabine, and the record of it didn't just fade away. His heirs kept the stories, and so did a 1910 Louisiana history called Footsteps of the Flock, written by one Ivan M. Wise.

That book is how we know the shape of those early days. Now, the mission doing its quiet work in the early 19th century was located one mile east of where the marker stands today, on a lane that is now Farm Road 276. Think about that the next time you roll past that road.

Then came February 7, 1841. That is the day Bethel Baptist Church was formally constituted as a congregation of the Pilgrim Church of Regular Baptist Faith and Order. And right along with that constitution, they built themselves a frame meetinghouse.

An actual building. Progress. But Bethel was not the kind of congregation to stand still for long.

In 1849, it broke off fellowship with the Pilgrim Order and joined the Central Missionary Baptist Association. Then, about 1870, the name Bethel was changed to New Hope. A new name, carrying an old story forward.

The years kept turning. In 1927 the church joined the Southern Baptist Convention, and it also holds membership in the Sabine Valley Baptist Association. By 1937, W.

T. Love had come on as pastor, and the marker tells us he's been there ever since. The land the church stands on was donated by J.

G. Mason. And in 1970, a brick sanctuary was erected on that donated ground.

From a log cabin under a catawba tree to a brick sanctuary. Same faith, same river country, same enduring reach across the Sabine. That is New Hope-Bethel Baptist Church.

What the marker says

In the early 19th century, Bethel Baptist Mission was established one mile east of this marker, on a lane that is now Farm Road 276. About 1818, Elder William Cook (d. 1829), having emigrated from North Carolina to southwestern Louisiana, began preaching both east and west of the Sabine. A log cabin under a catawba tree on property of Henry Chambers and his son Allen was site of Bethel Mission services. Elder Cook's work here and elsewhere is described by heirs of the pioneers and by a 1910 Louisiana history, "Footsteps of the Flock," by Ivan M. Wise. Bethel Baptist Church was constituted on Feb. 7, 1841, as a congregation of the Pilgrim Church of Regular Baptist Faith and Order. At that time a frame meetinghouse was built. Bethel broke off its fellowship with the Pilgrim Order in 1849, joining the Central Missionary Baptist Association. The name "Bethel" was changed about 1870 to "New Hope." This church joined the Southern Baptist Convention in 1927. It also belongs to the Sabine Valley Baptist Association. W. T. Love has been pastor since 1937. New Hope-Bethel Church stands on land which was donated by J. G. Mason. The present brick sanctuary was erected in 1970.