New Hope-Bethel Baptist Church
Milam, Sabine County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Around 1818, Elder William Cook—who had emigrated from North Carolina to southwestern Louisiana—began preaching on both sides of the Sabine River, holding early services in a log cabin on the Chambers family land. Bethel Baptist Church was formally constituted in 1841 as part of the Pilgrim Church of Regular Baptists, later renamed New Hope about 1870. The congregation joined the Southern Baptist Convention in 1927 and built its present brick sanctuary in 1970.
Why it matters
It reaches back to the frontier missionary preaching that planted some of the earliest Protestant congregations in the Texas–Louisiana borderlands.
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Related people
- · William Cook
- · Henry Chambers
Themes & tags
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