Greater New Bethel Church celebrates 100 years
By SHARON KERR Staff writer

THE CONGREGATION met in the old church in this photo, thought to date from the 1950's.

New Bethel Church became Greater New Bethel Church when the congregation marched from the old building to the new building in 1966, but even back then the church was more than half a century old.

This Sunday, March 9 at 3 p.m., Greater New Bethel Church at 1288 Martin Luther King Boulevard in Jasper will celebrate 100 years.

Lola Faye Smith, Josie McCoy, Willie Smith and Hessie Marie Cleveland met more than a week ago to discuss plans for the celebration and some of their earliest memories of the church.

A picture of the "old" building, a simple white frame church with a large porch is dated 1949-1966, but Willie Smith said before that, there was an arbor where the congregation met.

"It was four posts and a straw top," Willie Smith said. "That was before my time, but I heard about it."

"The meetings in winter were in homes where you'd be warm. Then when we got the old building, we had gas heaters for winter and a big fan for summer," Josie McCoy said.

A brief history According to church historians, New Bethel Baptist Church was organized in 1908 by Frank "Bud" Adams and his wife, "Ma Lottie."

The first congregation, numbering about 20, met under a brush arbor, in various buildings, and then in a wooden building that was demolished by "the 1936 cyclone," as it is called in their history album.

(1936 had 17 numbered cyclones, as all tropical storms were called then, seven of which became hurricanes; the year set several records for storm activity that were not surpassed until 2005.)

Harvey Peacock was pastor when the white wooden church was built in 1949, and still pastor when it was replaced by the main brick building in 1966. He retired in 1977.

Immanuel Dent was pastor from 1979 to 1990, and it was during his term that the fellowship hall and educational wing were added to the building.

The current pastor is Kenneth Otis Lyons, who also serves as president of the moderators' auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention.

Newsboy photo/Charles Kerr GREATER NEW BETHEL CHURCH as it looks today.The new sanctuary with steeple was built in 1966.The educational wing at right was added under the leadership of Immanuel Dent.

1950's & 1960's Willie Smith came to Jasper in 1952 after the Korean War. He and his mother and brother lived in Atlanta, GA, but his grandmother was here in Jasper. They came to visit and decided Texas was a good place to stay.

His name is on the cornerstone of the church building, along with deacons O.A. Beahy, R. Filyaw, Herman Monroe, W. Frazier, R. Woods, Ben Cheathum, E.D. McCoy, E. Armstrong, James Byrd and Pastor Harvey Peacock.

The group of women remembers how hard the whole congregation worked to raise money for the new brick edifice.

"We would all cook dinners at the church and sell them at the businesses around town," Lola Fay Smith said.

Josie McCoy said there were no paved roads out near the church, and trying to drive through sand beds to make deliveries, the cars would get bogged down.

Hessie Marie Cleveland was a teenager during the sixties, and remembers making some of those deliveries.

"We delivered dinners to the two wrecking yards owned by John Renfro and Holman Jack Sheppard, my father. We delivered to Visador, to the chicken factory on Burke St. and to Armstrong's grocery store, to homes and businesses all over every Tuesday and Thursday," Cleveland said. "We as children knew we were a part of something and were working to be able to build something better."

Children in the church

Hessie Marie Cleveland, the wife of Jasper Junior High principal Mervyn Cleveland, was six years old when she joined New Bethel.

"I always wanted to play piano, and we didn't have one at the house, so I played wooden chairs on the front porch," Cleveland said.

Her biggest treat was to go to church and be able to play a real piano. Mary Traylor in the community also allowed children to play her piano, and Erma Peacock gave piano lessons.

Josie McCoy said, "She thought that every girl should be able to play the piano."

The church was the place to be after school, according to Cleveland, even as a teenager.

"We'd get off the bus and throw our books in the house, and then we'd be at church for lessons, 4-H meetings, or just to sing and hang out and have a good time," Cleveland said.

"If the parents weren't there, the elders had permission to discipline the children," Lola Fay Smith said. "The grandmothers were there, strong women like Katie Lou Adams."

Josie McCoy said, "You knew they would tell your mamas what you'd done and you didn't want that. They could just give you a look, that look, and you knew you had to behave."

Cleveland said she remembered Mary Nell Byrd teaching Sunday school and all the children went to the BTU (Baptist Training Union). James Byrd Sr. was superintendent of the BTU for many years; a post now held by Bethina Cade, with Cleveland as assistant superintendent.

Josie McCoy said they are proud of their continuing Christian education department and all the programs to keep young people involved in the church.

"We send our young people to regional and state camps, where they mingle and bring back new ideas, " McCoy said.

Lola Fay Smith said, "We're the church that always has something going on, third largest in town."

Willie Smith said the church makes sure the young people are educated, and every year they divide scholarship money among all of their graduates; last year they gave three scholarships.

Anniversary

Ethel Brooks said the Usher Annual Thursday, March 6, is the beginning of the celebration, with John Hardin and the Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church as special guests.

Oletha Woods, the president emeritus of the general mission, is on the planning committee for the big anniversary.

Oletha Woods has been a member of New Bethel for 53 years, and served on the general mission more than 50 years. She was raised in Antioch Baptist Church in Newton County, and came to Jasper when she married logger/barber C.B. Woods.

She is also the niece of Harvey and Erma Peacock, and remembers her uncle as the long-time moderator of the Lone Star District.

Josie McCoy said they have been mailing flyers for the past month to more than 300 members who are scattered in Houston, Dallas, and across several states.

Oletha Woods said past members often come back for different events. During black history month, the church had a different speaker each week, and all were graduates who grew up in the church and then went on to successful careers beyond Jasper.

Oletha Woods' daughter, Lexa Fay Woods, recently moved back to Jasper after many years as a school teacher. With her husband in the military, Lexa Woods lived all over the country and all over the world, but like many raised in Greater New Bethel, she came home.

The anniversary celebration is Sunday, March 9 at 3 p.m. with St. James Baptist of Tyler and DR. D.C. Brown as special guests. Brown is the president and founder of the Texas Educational Convention and treasurer for the national moderators' auxiliary of the Baptist Convention.

Oletha Woods said the ceremony will begin with some of the oldest in the church marching in and each one lighting a candle.

Out of town guests will be recognized, and the mass choirs will sing. The event will be followed by a brisket dinner. They hope to share memories and capture more recollections to add to the ongoing history of the church.

Willie Smith said he hopes they will be able to toll the old bell one more time.

"Used to be, when someone died in the community you'd hear the bell. You'd be at work and hear it, and it would send chills up your spine," Willie Smith said.

The bell called the community to gather at the church. That was in the days when Smith's grandmother was the first in East Jasper to have a telephone.

"In those days, children were sent to call someone to the phone," Cleveland said.

Oletha Woods says these days it's hard to keep children's attention, "what with cell phones and all those distractions now."

She said one way they keep their young people involved is by putting them in charge of second Sunday services, and they continue to help educate the young and find activities that relate to the church.

"So much competes for kids attention today," Woods said, "But we've got it together."

A sign in the main church tells the congregation, "A child brought up in church is rarely brought up in court"