History
I. Origins
New Hope Baptist Church traces its roots to the 12th of June, 1857, when a regular Baptist church was constituted, New Hope Meeting House, in Orange County, Virginia. Several ministers were invited to attend the occasion, but only Melzi S. Chancellor attended. After preaching a sermon suitable for the occasion, he went through the usual solemn and sacred services for such events, and afterwards, the members entered into and subscribed to the following covenant:
Article 1
We, the Brethren and Sisters of the neighborhood of New Hope Meeting House, desiring to worship God, according to his revealed will, feel the necessity of constituting a Church to be known as the regular Baptist Church at New Hope.
Article 2
We believe in the divine inspiration of the Old and New Testament scriptures, as the only infallible rule of faith, and practice the depravity of the whole human family by the fall of our first parents and salvation by the Grace of God through the Atonement of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Article 3
Justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the obligation of every intelligent creature to love God supremely, to believe what God says and practice what God commands.
Article 4
The necessity of regenerative believers, baptism by immersion only, as necessary to Church fellowship, the Lord's Supper a privelege peculiar to baptized believers.
Article 5
On regard to the settlement of difficulties which may take place among the members of the Church, we will be grounded by God's Holy Word, as set forth in the 18th chapter of Matthew.
Signed: Thomas Tinder, Weedon Wiltshire, William Lancaster, William Wiltshire
II. The Early Years
New Hope Baptist Church first appears in the Goshen Association report in 1858. The Letter of Constitution was read, and delegates admitted into the body in the usual way. The delegates were Thomas Tinder, James W. Webb, and Thomas T. Chewning. The association report showed New Hope on record as receiving 30 by baptism, 11 by letter, and a total of 50 members as a newly-established church. In 1860, the first record of mission gifts was recorded, showing $5.00 to domestic missions. Missionary support continued from this point onward, even though the Ladies' Aid Society was not yet established.
Melzi S. Chancellor was called to be New Hope's first pastor in 1857. He served in that capacity for 32 years. Reverend Chancellor was also the pastor of Piney Branch, Salem, and Wilderness Baptist churches when he accepted the call of New Hope and added it to the field. New Hope remained in the field with a number of different churches until 1888, when Rev. Chancellor resigned as pastor of all churches except for New Hope. He retired from the ministry in 1890, and passed away at his home in Fredericksburg in 1895.
The original New Hope Meeting House, located just east of the present building, was destroyed sometime around 1860. The second building had been constructed by 1863, when it was comandeered by the Confederacy and used as a field hospital during the Mine Run Campaign and 1865's Battle of the Wilderness. An interesting story involves the son of famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was injured very close to the church and brought there for immediate medical attention. A bullet had just missed his spine. It was while sitting at his son's bedside following this injury, in December of 1863, that Longfellow penned his famous words,
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
the words repeat
of peace on Earth, good-will to men!
III. The Pastors
Following the retirement of Melzi S. Chancellor, the following gentlemen served New Hope as pastor:
1891 M.E. Hatcher
1892 W.H. Reynolds
1893-1915 James M. "Gum" Beadles
1916-1919 M.G. Loaman
1920 S.T. Habel
1921-1923 George C. Venable
1923 Paul G. Wetson
1924-1937 Edgar G. Stephens
1938-1940 Horace L. Ford
1942-1952 Stanley F. Williams
1954 Jesse Parker
1954-1957 John Gordon
1958-1960 Robert Paciocco
1961-1965 Wendell R. Patterson
1965-1966 W. Wright Webb
1966-1973 Roy Orrell
1973-1981 Christopher C. Rackley
1981-2006 Wilson M. Corr
2009-2010 Dennis Martin
2011- E.N. Haynes
IV. Post-War Growth and Modernization
During the pastorate of Rev. Parker (1954), the church shared its pastor with Zoar Baptist Church. In 1956, the church appointed trustees to make improvements in the church and on the grounds. The parsonage was built and then dedicated on May 20, 1956. In 1962, the education annex was built and dedicated, adding Sunday School classrooms, a fellowship hall, and kitchen. Stained glass memorial windows were added in the late 1960's, and the church portico was dedicated in 1970.
Under the leadership of Rev. Chris Rackley, a rotation of deacons was instituted, a softball team organized (which required church attendance to play), and the music program expanded. He directed the choir and played the piano.
Beginning in 1982, a number of upgrades and renovations were completed. During the pastorate of Dr. Corr, the wood floors were refinished, a new piano and organ were purchased, a sound system installed, and -to the relief of so many summer worshipers- a central air system was installed. By 2000, a lighted sign had been installed in front of the church, and a church van had been purchased. 2001 saw the erection of a new steeple.
In 2000, the Women's Missionary Union, affectionately known as the "Tea Ladies" was re-organized.
V. Epilogue
Following the death of Dr. Corr, the church navigated a difficult period as it sought to both understand God's will for New Hope and to find a new pastor. Dr. Dennis Martin served as our pastor briefly, from late in 2009 to May of 2010, at which time he returned to his home state of Missouri to attend to urgent family matters.
Sunday, February 6, 2011, a new era was issued in when the church voted overwhelmingly to call Brother Eddie Haynes to be the next pastor. Since taking assuming the pastorate, Mr. Haynes has generated an almost unprecedented growth to the church. Truly God is still alive and at work in New Hope Baptist Church. No matter how bright our past may have been, our best days lie before us!
Going forward, we remain focused on our stated mission: "to preach the Gospel, make disciples, teaching them to love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves." We seek to "bring people to Jesus and to membership in His family, teach them to be Christ-like, and equip them for service in the church and the world in order to magnify God's name."
We dedicate ourselves to putting Christ first in our lives, and to serving Him through ministry in the local area and around the world.
