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New Bethel Baptist Church has a history that spans over 100 years. Times have not always been good, or the path easy. As with most any church, there have been "ups" and "downs". But the people have kept "plugging along". Below are some highlights of our "church history".
HISTORY OF NEW BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH This information was gleaned from (1) New Bethel Baptist Church Ledger, 1906 -- 2002, (2) Agenda notes from church business meetings, 2002 -- 2004, and (3) "A History of New Bethel Baptist Church" written by Allen Davis Spaugh.
Please plan to return to check out any new information. We will be adding more things, such as events and such soon. Please contact Pastor Jack if you have any questions / suggestions.
DECEMBER 15, 1895 A NUMBER OF BAPTIST MET AT WALLER SCHOOL HOUSE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ORGANIZING A CHURCH NEAR DONNAHA. THESE PREACHERS MET WITH THE GROUP: · REV. J. H. VIPPERMAN · REV. O. J. MARTIN · REV. W. B. CASTEVENS REV. VIPPERMAN WAS ELECTED AS MODERATOR AND C. O. SPRINKLE WAS APPOINTED AS CLERK. A COVENANT WAS ADOPTED AND APPROVED BY THE GROUP. THE CHURCH WAS NAMED DONNAHA BAPTIST CHURCH Among them were the following men, who became charter members:
The church members met for what they called a monthly conference on the second Saturday and Sunday of each month, in which the pastor preached his sermon, took up a free will offering, then the church would be called to order for a business meeting at which time the doors of the church were opened for new membership. Afterwards, the meeting was closed. Communion was received by the members once a year. Church officers were also elected once a year. They met in the school house building, which was located at the corner of Ridge Road and highway 67, until they were able to build a new church building, at what is now 6340 Ridge Road, Tobaccoville, NC. They moved into their new church building on April 10, 1897, at which time they changed the name of the church to New Bethel Baptist Church. Later on, Ray and Ola Snider lived in the old school house building, and ran the store nearby. They were also members of New Bethel, and are buried in the church cemetery.
JANUARY 5, 1896 REV. J. H. VIPPERMAN WAS ELECTED AS THE FIRST PREACHER FOR DONNAHA BAPTIST CHURCH
JANUARY 11, 1896 A GROUP MET AT WALLER SCHOOL HOUSE (DONNAHA BAPTIST CHURCH) FOR THE PURPOSE OF SELECTING A SITE FOR THE CHURCH.
FEBRUARY 8, 1896 REV. W. A. AYERS WAS ELECTED PASTOR. C. O. SPRINKLE WAS ELECTED CHURCH CLERK. H. F. AYERS AND J. P. SPRINKLE WERE ELECTED AS DEACONS. THE SECOND SATURDAY AND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH WAS SET ASIDE FOR MEETINGS.
MARCH 7, 1896 A MOTION WAS MADE AND APPROVED TO CLEAN OFF THE NEW CHURCH LOT ON RIDGE ROAD F. E. SPEAS AND C. A. SPRINKLE WERE APPOINTED AS BUILDING COMMITTEE. THE CHURCH WAS BUILT IN THE LATTER PART OF 1896 AND FIRST PART OF 1897.
JANUARY 19, 1897 REV. W. A. AYERS RESIGNED AS PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. REV. W. B. CASTEVENS WAS ELECTED AS PASTOR OF DONNAHA BAPTIST CHURCH. HE WAS THE FIRST PASTOR IN THE NEW CHURCH
APRIL 10, 1897 BY BALLOT VOTE THE CHURCH NAME WAS CHANGED FROM DONNAHA BAPTIST CHURCH TO NEW BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH.
MAY 18, 1897 REV. CASTEVENS RESIGNED THE CHURCH REV. T. C. MYERS WAS ELECTED PASTOR OF NEW BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH HE RESIGNED MARCH 31, 1918.
SEPTEMBER 26, 1897 THE FIRST REVIVAL WAS HELD.
JANUARY 22, 1898 I.E. DAVIS, F. E. SPEASE AND B. W. SCOTT WERE ELECTED THE FIRST DEACONS OF THE CHURCH IT IS SAID THAT NOTHING OF ANY IMPORTANCE HAPPENED UNTIL FEBRUARY 10, 1906 OTHER THAN THE REGULAR SERVICES. March 31, 1918 Rev. C. H. Johnson was elected as Pastor. He served until January 4, 1919. June, 1919 Rev. L. W. Burrus was elected Pastor and served until May, 1923. June 1923 Rev. O. H. Hauser was elected Pastor and served until October 16, 1927. October 16, 1924 Beulah Sprinkle was elected church treasurer and served until June 20, 1925. June 20, 1925 John Thomas Scott was elected church treasurer and served until June 5, 1929. October 27, 1927 Rev. R. P. Coram was elected as Pastor, and served until December 1933. November 3, 1928 Clyde Davis was elected church clerk. He served until November 1, 1930. November 1, 1930 Alleen Davis was elected as church clerk and served until February 1, 1941. June 5, 1929 Gray Petree was elected treasurer June 5, 1929 and served until December 3, 1933. August 4, 1929 J. H. Culler, T. E. Long, R. S. Scott, W. H. Petree, W. T. Hunter and H. H. Davis were elected Deacons and served until their deaths. January 13, 1934 Rev. O. H. Hauser was elected as Pastor (second time). He served until February 6, 1938. December 3, 1933 Clifford Hunter was elected treasurer and served until December 28, 1935. January, 1934 Lucille Joyner was elected as treasurer and served until January 4, 1941. February 6, 1938 Rev. J. H. Hall was elected Pastor and served until March 12, 1939. March 12, 1939 Rev. W. T. Crissman was elected as Pastor, and served until July 1, 1945. He was kicked by a horse on July 4, 1945 and died on July 5, 1945. January 4, 1941 Paul Davis was elected treasurer and served until September 6, 1941. February 1, 1941 Addie Long was elected as church clerk and served until January 15, 1955. January 15, 1955 Alleen Spaugh was elected church clerk and served until 1971. September 6, 1941 Marvin Speas was elected treasurer September 6, 1941, and served until April 4, 1944. April 4, 1944 Alice Sprinkle was elected treasurer and served until January 15, 1950. January 15, 1950 Alleen Spaugh was elected treasure and served until June 27, 1954. June 27, 1954 Arzie Marlor was elected treasurer and served until March 4, 1982. 1945 Rev. T. G. New, Jr., Rev J. F. Manuel and Rev. R. W. Cook were nominated for Pastor. September 23, 1945 Rev. T. G. New was elected Interim Pastor. Served until February 5, 1950. February 5, 1950 Rev. T. G. New was elected Pastor and served until his death August 18, 1983. 1950 The church was remodeled. Two additions were added on the sides to allow more seating. January 29, 1967 The church voted to install water and bathrooms in the building. These were finally installed in 1975. May 1971 Gracie Joyner was appointed temporary church clerk. She was elected to that office October 1, 1972. March 28, 1982 Gracie Joyner was elected church treasurer. Hody Creech would take care of the collection and attendance board. September 7, 1983 Rev. R. O. Bennett Jr. was nominated as moderator. A pulpit committee was appointed consisting of Hody Creech, Mike Renigar and Nina Robbins. September 14, 1983 Rev. R. O. Bennett Jr. was voted in as interim Pastor. December 7, 1983 Rev. Bennett was elected as Pastor for one year. He resigned March 25, 1984 due to bad health. He was promoted to glory August 7, 1994. October 30, 1983 Jim Angel, Nick Robbins and Dallas Davis were voted in as the building and grounds committee. January, 1984 The church voted to install new windows, and the job was awarded to High Point Glass Decorating Company. Sunday February 5, 1984 Harry Joyner, Gilbert Shore and Milburn Marshall were elected as Board of Trustees. March 28, 1984 John Wolffinger was appointed and approved to serve as interim Pastor. He will be leaving as of August 26, 1984. Most of the land for the church was donated to New Bethel Church, the latest being 1/2 acre donated by Mrs. Irene Joyner. July 15, 1984 The church voted to have the parking lot paved. The job was awarded to Stanleyville Paving Company and was completed on August 7, 1984. Sunday, March 25, 1984 Rev. R. O. Bennett resigned due to his health. We were saddened by this news. August 30, 31, 1984 The stained glass windows were installed in the Sanctuary. September 5, 1984 The church voted to install stain glass windows in the small Sunday school rooms. High Point Glass was to do the installation. The work was completed August 1 and 2, 1985 September 19, 1984 The church voted to have the pews covered. This was completed in December, 1984 October 14, 1984 George Presson was elected Pastor. He resigned May 12, 1986. Sunday, December 9, 1984 The church voted to purchase new pulpit furniture. A deposit was made to Winebarger Church Furniture. It was received April 5, 1985. Wednesday July 5, 1985 The church voted Nina Robbins as Assistant clerk, Treasurer and Secretary to Gracie Joyner. Sunday, July 21, 1985 Hody and Doris Creech donated a new register board to the church. August 13, 1985 Gracie Joyner, our church clerk, secretary and treasurer passed away. The church was saddened by this loss. Gracie was faithful and dedicated in her service to her Lord and church. Nina Robbins was put in as the new clerk, secretary and treasurer. The church voted to have Homecoming and Dedication on Sunday, September 15, 1985. August 3, 1986 Carlyle Zeigler called as Interim Pastor, and served until November 23, 1986. November 23, 1986 Steve Peters elected as Pastor, and served until November 29, 1987. December 13, 1987 Carlyle Zeigler called as Interim Pastor, served until August 21, 1988 August 21, 1988 Allen Nichols Elected as Pastor. Served until March 31, 1997. April 6, 1997 Rev. Phillip Goins was called as Interim Pastor, serving until August 31, 2002. August 4, 2002 Rev. Jack R. Elliott was called as Pastor. Pastor Jack is a bi-vocational pastor, which means he works a full time job plus pastors the church. We the members are taking a hard look at that, as we desire a full time pastor. We the church took a hard look at ourselves...and we did not like what we saw. We immediately began to pray seek the Lord's guidance as to the next step. The need was great for classrooms, meeting space and teaching tools. The Lord has allowed us to do some remodeling in the church to add: one classroom, an office for the Pastor, a nursery and new gas heaters for the classrooms. Also added were a storage building and a picnic shelter. The shelter allows us a tool to have the community join us for special gatherings. One of our first moves was to update our missionary outreach. We were loosing the one family we were supporting on the field, because he took a church and came back to the states. We have added four ministries...Chaplain Charles Joulwan, Prison Ministries; Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc.; The Gideons International; and the NC Baptist Children's Homes. These ministries were funded from our general fund. Beginning January 1, 2005, we switched to a Faith Promise program to support missions. Also, beginning January 1, 2005, our pastor became full time, as he took early retirement from his public job. The Lord has blessed us. We have added a portable Baptistery, did some much needed electrical repairs / renovations, added electricity and lights to our storage building and picnic shelter, and outside lighting to the church building and storage shed. We have been blessed to start a building fund to which our folks have been willingly and joyfully contributing towards our new fellowship building. Our numbers have grown from 13 in attendance for the morning worship hour to a high of 63. We have moved from NO piano player to our present 3. We have a small choir, the Pastor is leading the choir until the Lords sends his person for this job, and several in the church who can sing and play guitar. To The Lord be honor and glory forever!!!
PLEASE COME BACK...THERE IS MORE TO FOLLOW!!! |
