Hertford County NcArchives Church Records.....Bethlehem Baptist Church Copyright Date 1835 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Penny Beasley the3bees@embarqmail.com December 16, 2009, 11:14 pm Bethlehem Baptist Church Highway 561, Harrellsville District. Transcribed from a book/phamplet titled: A History of West Chowan Baptist Association and its Churches By: Elmer Lee Joyner In 1835 a group of Baptist, many of them member of the Ahoskie Baptist Church, came together and organized the congregation known as Bethlehem. All records of the church were destroyed from 1835-1842. The church was erected on two acres of land donated by Abraham Thomas. It has been said by the folks in a position to know that the church would have been considered “comfortable” by the day’s standards. Bethlehem was admitted into the Chowan Association during the anniual meeting at the Bethel Meeting House in Perquimons County, NC during the May 12-15,1835 meeting. The first messengers were W. Hill, A. Thomas, & James L. Grimes. Elder Thomas Hoggard was the first pastor, serving for 10 years. The minutes record numerous improvements to the building and grounds. In 1847, only twelve years after it’s formation, the church send forth William P. Britton, Jr. to be ordained as a minister. Mr. Britton was later called as the fourth minister. The first record of Sunday School is found in 1854, when Augustus Bass, Sr. was appointed superintendent. In 1858 a committee was named to be in charge of construction of the new house of worship at Bethlehem crossroads. The conference agreed that there would be “four doors to the meeting house” and the new one would stand back of the old one. The construction started Sept. 1858 when then men became responsible for $100 each and two agreed to pay $50 each. The Reverend A.M. Craig was pastor in 1859 when the building was complete. The Church had a slave gallery across the northern end. This was entered by an outside stairway. Women sat on the right hand side of the room and men on the left. A five foot high partition, running down the middle of the church prevented any view of the opposite sex. The last “colored members” were Allen Harrell and Grammar Harrell, who asked for their letters of dismission in 1871. Most of the Negro members joined to form a new congregation which they named Bethany and stands about one mile from Bethlehem Church. It was during the tenure of Rev. L.M. Curtis that the present building was constructed. Willie Hofler of Gates County agreed to build a “nice, handsome, workmanlike building” on the order of the Connaritsa Church for $375 . It was completed in the fall of 1902. Rev. K.E. Bryant was pastor in 1929. During his tenure the classrooms were increased from two to eight. Bethlehem was hit hard by the Civil War and the Depression, but survived to celebrate it’s 100th anniversary in 1935. On October 5, 1970, under the leadership of rev. J.I. McMahan word began on the rear section of the church to provide additional classrooms, fellowship hall and restrooms. It was ready for its first service of 1971. Bethlehem and Brantley Grove were in the same field in the sixties and up until 1975 when Rev. Ray Craig was called as pastor. At that time Bethlehem went into the field with Wakelon Baptist Church. 1975 under Rev. Craig a parsonage was built on the church property at the rear of the church building. It was completed in 1976. Bethlehem passed a pleasant milestone on September 16, 1979, when a note burning took place to pay off the parsonage and make the church debt free. It took place with two former Pastors present Rev. Craig and McMahan. During the 1980 Bethlehem celebrated its 145th year. Thus, since that first day in 1835, the story of a group of dedicated men and women giving their time and talents to worship God by building a church to hose their vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church still has a task to perform: “ To life the banner of Christ to a lost and dying world.” A direct quote from the pen of a deceased member who wrote a history of the church and has since gone to meet her maker sums up the history. “Incidents, fate, and dates in life of a people may be interesting but the real history of the church lies not in tangible things, but in the influence of the men and women who have been a part of it; those who have gone to their reward; those who have gone from the mother church and those who still are a part of it. That influence cannot be measured here but in the hereafter. Then let those who still are a part of the old Bethlehem take courage and get inspired from such noble forebearers and press onward and upwards.” Transcribed by: Penny Beasley of Woodland, NC descendant of an early Bethlehem member ( Solon & Cornelia Jernigan) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/hertford/churches/bethlehe50gbb.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb