 |
|
|
|
History of Good Hope Baptist Church |
| Good Hope
Congregational Christian Church was organized in 1810 in Granville
County, North Carolina. The original church was an old log school
building. Revival meetings were held out of doors under brush arbors
for more space. The land for the existing church was given by
brothers Dave and Hugh Bragg. Early church records cannot be
located, but it has been verified by Congregational Church records
that the Southern Conference of the Congregational Church was
organized at Good Hope in 1847. Good Hope voted to join the United Church of Christ along with the other Congregational Christian Churches in 1962. In 1969, the church body voted to cease active participation in and support of the United Church of Christ. On June 3, 1979, Good Hope obtained membership in the Southern Baptist State Convention. Good Hope became a member of the Raleigh Baptist Association and the Southern Baptist Convention in 1981. The church voted in 1985 to start a building fund for a new, larger church. On October 12, 1986, groundbreaking ceremonies were held and the new church building was occupied in the summer of 1987. The current pastor, Dr. Waylan Owens, began serving at Good Hope Baptist Church in January 2006. Past pastors of Good Hope include the first pastor, Rev. Jesse K. Cole. Other early pastors include Rev. Wellons, Clapp, Carden, Wolf, Patton, Foster and Green. Rev. E. M. Carter was pastor for 35 years until the fall of 1962. Since, Rev. T. N. Daughtry, A.J. Conyers, Allen Fountain, James Hartley, Walter Vickers, and Leon Scott have served as pastors. Rev. Jerry Gray served 1978 – 2006. Good Hope Baptist Church is located at 4038 Graham Sherron Road, Wake Forest, NC in the southeast corner of Granville County, NC. |
|
Memories of Good Hope |
| I feel moved to tell
you that I have such wonderfully fond memories of Good Hope. My
parents, grandparents, and great grandparents are all buried there,
along with a slew of other relatives. I hope you’ll forgive my foray
into childhood memories of Good Hope. Walk with me, if you will. When I was a little girl, we lived in Jacksonville, NC (my dad was a career Marine) but we “came home” to Raleigh and the “Hurricanes” almost every weekend. If not, certainly every other weekend. Mom and I often “came home” to stay with my grandparents whenever my dad was deployed overseas. We always attended church at Good Hope, especially on Mother’s Day when they always held homecoming and at Easter. Back then (I was born in 1959), Good Hope did not yet have indoor plumbing. I always dreaded going to Good Hope because it meant I’d have to use the outhouse. I was so afraid of that outhouse. It was down a path into the woods behind the cemetery. I imagined it was haunted and I was sure there were snakes along the path. My father would walk me down to the outhouse and patiently wait for me. He was very sweet and sympathetic about my fears. My mother thought I was being silly. She’d used that outhouse for 40 years! Attending church at Good Hope was an all day affair. We’d arrive early so we could visit the cemetery and place fresh flowers on the graves. Then, there was Sunday School and Church – which always seemed to last longer than it should. Then, we’d either stay for lunch on the grounds or go to a nearby relative’s house for lunch. There were plenty of nearby relatives to choose from. We’d stay all day so we could go back to evening services. If we had lunch on the grounds, my mother would get up with the dawn to prepare an entire meal to take….fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, a pound cake, and “rot your teeth” sweetened iced tea. You’d think we were feeding the entire congregation. Among the long tables of food, I’d always search out my mother’s dishes. They were better than anyone else’s. Often, we’d drive all the way back to Jacksonville (about 3 hours to the southeast) after evening services. I have to admit, as a teenager, I was not particularly gracious or tolerant of these all day visits to Good Hope. But I went anyhow – my mother would never have allowed me to NOT go. Even in college, I drove the 6 hours one way to be at Good Hope on Mother’s Day with my mother or to attend family reunions at Good Hope. It was expected and I complied. Mother’s Day was always a particularly important Sunday at Good Hope. As with many churches, the mothers in the congregation were always recognized by the minister. We paid our respects to the oldest mother, the youngest mother, and the mother with the most children (God Bless HER!). The minister always gave us a lesson on mothers and the sacrifices they made for us. Each year in the spring, my mom would take me to Hudson Belk in downtown Raleigh to buy a new outfit which would double for Easter and Mother’s Day. I’d get the whole nine yards…a new petticoat, a Polly Anna dress, matching tights, shoes, handbag, and new white gloves. I even got a new Sunday hat if we could find one that went with my outfit. My mother was a southern lady to the core. Ladies always wore patent leather shoes and white gloves to church. The gloves must be white and they must have pearls on them. After shopping for what seemed like hours to a little girl – and probably was - we’d always have lunch at the cafeteria on the top floor of Hudson Belks. I’ll always remember my mother’s comments, “they use real silver and china”. Just as it should be for a country girl from Granville County who grew up dirt poor and worked hard all her life for something better. Back then, the roads around Good Hope were not paved. I think they were paved sometime in the early 1980s. Between the dirt roads, the outhouse, and the red Granville clay in the cemetery it was almost impossible for a little girl to keep her white patent leather shoes, gloves, and frilly dresses clean. I usually came home a mess. Sometimes, mom would take me a play outfit to change into after church. That was the best and I can still recall how wonderful it felt to change into my play clothes and have the freedom to play to my heart’s content around the graves of my ancestors. My daddy died February 11, 1997. Mom died ten weeks later on April 2, 1997 – of a broken heart, I’m sure. They were married 45 years. They had purchased a family plot at Good Hope many years prior, and that is where they are buried. My mother dearly loved Good Hope and all the people there. My father loved Good Hope simply because he loved my mother. His family was from Johnston County and he grew up in the Primitive Baptist church. I’m sure he thought the folks at Good Hope were far too liberal for their own good. My daddy was in the US Marine Corps for 23 years. Most of that time, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune with the 2nd Marine Division. He loved his Corps as much as he loved his family. I remember him saying “God, County, Family”. He loved us in that order. Daddy saw action in Korea and Vietnam. He did two tours of duty in Vietnam. He has who knows how many awards, stripes, and purple hearts. He truly felt that doing his part for his country was one and same of doing his part for his family. He was seriously wounded in Korea and spent months in a hospital in Philadelphia. He lost his hearing in the service from too many long nights on the firing ranges and on far away battlefields. He lost his health in service to his country. He spent his last years suffering terribly from lung disease, crippling arthritis, and past war wounds – both physical and not physical. I often wonder what he would say about this latest war. I’ve no doubt he would fully and completely support our President and our troops. It would never occur to him to do otherwise. He would look at the protesters on TV in disdain and shake his head. “What do they know about the price of freedom?”, I can imagine him saying. I can still hear the young Marines playing taps and firing their guns in salute to him when we laid him to rest at Good Hope. I can even smell the gunfire. I have the American flag they so carefully folded from his casket just before we returned him to the ground. They presented the flag to my son who was only 6 years old at the time. Will he truly understand and appreciate what that flag means? I do hope so. We will cherish it forever. I have to agree with my father on many counts. After all the sacrifices my family has made for the love of enduring freedom, I also have to wonder “What do they know?”. After all, it wasn’t just my father who sacrificed for his country, although he paid a very hefty price for his commitment to God, country, and family. His family paid a price as well. I try to remember that as I watch the news at night and I hear about families struggling with this latest conflict. They are all sacrificing for their country. That’s as it should be. For if we aren’t willing to sacrifice for our country and our ideals, what are we? I like to think that Good Hope is the peaceful and God-centered place that it is because of men like my father and women like my mother. May they rest in peace and always know the enduring freedom of God’s love. |
|
|
|
© 2007 to present by Carla Stancil, Nola Duffy for the NCGenWeb. No portion of any document appearing on this site is to be used for other than personal research. Any republication or reposting is expressly forbidden without the written consent of the owner. Last updated 12/18/2022 |
|
|
