New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Possumneck plans to move into a new facility in mid-2023.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility was held Dec. 10. Pastor Raymon T. Carter, a graduate of Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, has a vision for growing the church and extending its reach. The plan for the new facility is to offer Christian education classes, a food pantry, a library, and a fitness center.
The educational classes will be offered for youth and adults and will cover topics such as managing finances, health and fitness, and nutrition. Classes will be taught by church members who have professional experience in those areas. Verna Felton, who teaches at William Dean Jr. Elementary in Lexington, will be one of the educators. She is excited at the prospect of the church having a library. It would include a selection of educational books from both Christian and secular perspectives. “There will be books there that meet the needs for our children and young people,” said Felton. “But not only just for the youth, we hope to have all types of material there in the library.”
In addition to offering health and fitness classes, the plans for the new facility include building a fitness center with treadmills, weights, and a walking area. The food pantry will offer dry goods and non-perishable items, but they also hope to become ServSafe certified, and offer prepared meals as well. “We want to be set up to meet the needs of any individual who may be in our area or may hear about us,” said Felton.
New Hope Missionary Baptist Church was founded in 1904 and has remained on the same property, although the building has changed once before. It currently has around 40 active members, and they are implementing a mail-out ministry and phone ministry as well. The mail-out ministry sends regular information about the church and its current projects. There are currently around 100 mailing addresses receiving the mail-out ministry newsletter. The phone ministry will be a similar service and is expected to begin in early 2023. “And we are growing,” said Felton. “Bishop Carter has been there since October 2021, and we’ve had 12 new members come, so we’re growing. We’d like to invite everyone. You’re welcome to come to New Hope. We’re a praying church serving a living God. That’s our motto.”
Carter and the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church members would like to thank everyone who shared in the groundbreaking ceremony for their new facility, including Alderman Henry Daniel, Supervisor Steven Goss, Supervisor Willie Perteet, Jeffery Jackson, Holmes County Sheriff Willie March, Steve Martin, and the churches in the Attala and Holmes County area who helped with their celebration.
