New Home Baptist Church – A Brief History
1986
Mr. W. O. Williams was a business man in Perry for nearly 30 years. He retired in 1940. About two years before his retirement, Mr. Williams was converted. As this fine man and his wife began to think about their material blessings, and to consider how they use some of those earthly possessions to further the cause of Christ, they arrived at a fine conclusion. They would build a 30’ by 40’ frame building on the property which they owned on Center Street, furnish it with pews, piano, heater, hymnbooks and give it to the Baptists in that area as soon as they organized it into a regular Missionary Baptist Church.
On October 5, 1941, a New Testament Missionary Baptist Church was duly organized with seven charter members. The church was named “New Home Baptist Church”. A pastor was called, which was Rev. Edward McCollum. The doors of the church were left open for a short time for charter members, and under the ministry of Brother McCollum there were 28 charter members.
Through the years, the church has worshipped in three sanctuaries: the original one, given by the Williams; the church facing Center Street, occupied in 1949; and the present one facing US 27, occupied in 1962.
Thirteen pastors have served the church since its beginning. During the first 25 months of her history, three pastors served. They were Rev. Edward McCollum, Rev. A. H. Townsend, and Rev. S. G. Ward. The fourth pastor, Rev. Alva Horton, served the church for 19 years, until poor health forced him to resign and take a smaller church. The following have served as pastors since 1963: Rev. Edward Harvey, Rev. David Pickern, Rev. Roy Rigdon, Rev. Don Sietman, Rev. Michael Hunt, Rev. Charles Houston, Rev. Bill Anderson, Rev. Ed Gardner and Rev. William H. (Bill) Jenkins.
We pay a sincere tribute to every minister who has pastured the New Home Baptist Church. We also pay a sincere tribute to the great multitude of men and women who have served in any capacity whatsoever, in furthering the cause of Christ through this church.
Several men have been licensed and ordained to the ministry, as they entered God’s service from this church. They were Rev. Olin C. Horton, Rev. William Terrell, Rev. Kenneth Gaskins, Rev. Leon Akins, Rev. John Dorman, Rev. Byron Tedder, Rev. Jerry Durden and Rev. Jimmy Moore.
New Home offers several ministries to our community. They are: the Bus Ministry; the Tape Ministry; the TV Ministry on Sunday Morning at 8:00 AM; and the Deaf Ministry, available in every service for the hearing impaired. In March of this year (1986) under the leadership of Rev. Jenkins, the church launched into a building program to construct a “Family Life and Recreation Center” to be used in God’s Service.
New Home Baptist Church is truly a “Growing Church for a Growing People”.