By Luke Araujo | Staff Writer
In 1866, 18 Black members of the Waco community founded New Hope Baptist Church after Black people in America were emancipated, according to Texas Archival Research Online.
Dr. Kenneth Hafertete, chair of museum studies at Historic Waco Foundation, said New Hope Baptist Church is one of the oldest Black churches in Waco.
“It was founded just one year after the end of the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation,” Hafertete said. “The congregation was founded with assistance from Rufus Burleson, who was the president of Baylor. He was trying to promote the Baptist religion among newly freed Black people along with white Waco residents. It has a long history, and New Hope ended up becoming the most prosperous congregation among Black churches.”
Hafertete said the church was built in a time when slave owners were worried by the idea of Black people worshipping a higher power.
“During slavery times, there was a great deal of controversy among slave owners about whether they should allow slaves to worship at all,” Hafertete said. “Some thought that it shouldn’t be done; it encouraged them to think of higher powers other than the slave owner. There were some slave owners who let slaves attend service. Sometimes the slave owners would listen to the sermon to make sure there was nothing said that would be considered [to be] encouraging them to run away or think for themselves.”
Hafertete said the church tended to attract highly educated Black people, such as doctors, lawyers and other sorts of professionals.
“They became extremely well known for their choir and their orchestra,” Hafertete said. “They had an extremely ambitious program of music. Dr. George Conner was the music minister for decades. He was one of the earliest Black doctors in Waco and became associated with New Hope very soon after moving to Waco.”
Like many other downtown churches, Hafertete said New Hope’s membership has been declining and it is no longer the “dominant” Black church in Waco. The sanctuary, however, has changed little throughout the years. The biggest change was the transition of the auditorium seating to more modern pews.
“All the stained-glass windows are original,” Hafertete said. “There is a painting in the baptismal area of the church. It shows a river on the backdrop of the stage, and it is an imagining of what the River Jordan looks like in Israel. There is also a quotation from the Old Testament’s Book of Proverbs: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’”
When the church was built, it had rooms made for Sunday school and had double parlors, one for men and one for women.
“It had a library, a gymnasium and a nursery,” Hafertete said. “On the ground floor was a dining room, kitchen and offices. It was really a full-service church. They even had a radio-listening room when radio was a new technological innovation.”
When the grounds were broken for construction, Hafertete said it was mentioned that New Hope was one of the largest Black churches in the South.
“The current church building was dedicated in May of 1923,” Hafertete said. “It’s a very attractive church.” The church is located on N. 6th Street.
Jocelyn Pierce, an attendee of the church, said Black schools held their baccalaureate and graduations at the church when schools were segregated.
“It has always had a vital role in the Waco community, although the membership has diminished,” Pierce said. “We still remain there. By God’s grace we are still there and still trying to have our place in the community.”
Pierce said the church is currently not being used because of damage from winter storms last year.
“The insurance company and the restoration company that we have are working to restore some things,” Pierce said. “Unfortunately, the company we selected is also overseeing projects for 24 other churches, and materials have been hard to get in. We are not planning any services in the church, per se, but we are doing weekly worship services through conference call and Zoom.”
The church has gone through troubling times, but Pierce said she has faith the church will push forward and look to God for guidance on where to go next.
