St. Clair County Missouri
Churches
HOPEWELL BAPTIST CHURCH
Quincy, Benton Co., Mo.
Centennial Booklet, provided by Joseph Scott
History of Hopewell Baptist Church (partial)
On January 31, 1876, a group of Baptists gathered at the home of Sister Mary
J. Stewart
in Benton County for the purpose of organizing a church. After
preaching by Bro. Peter Brown,
a council was formed. Bro. Brown was
appointed as Moderator and Bro. L. H. Myers as clerk.
The church covenant, as published in the Central Baptist, was read and
adopted.
Church officers elected were:
Rev. W. P. Wright, Pastor, Phillip H.
Lacy, Moderator, L. H. Myers, Clerk, Ed Warren,
B. C. Hall, R. S. Kendrick
and L. H. Myers, Deacons.
Hopewell was the name chosen for the new church of eighteen members.
Church services were held at the Union School House for the first four
months, then the
meeting place was changed to the Harper Prairie School
House in St. Clair County.
In 1879 the membership had grown from eighteen to eighty. A building
committee was
appointed to superintend the building of a house of worship.
The committee:
SS. Iiams, Ed Warren, w. Zack Davis, F. L. Feaster, W. G.
Matthews and Dr. Josiah Childers.
They purchased two acres of ground in the Southwest corner of Benton County
and drafted
a plan for the building to be 40 ft long by 26 feet wide by 13
feet from floor to ceiling.
The first meeting held in this new church on the
Saturday before the third Sunday in March, 1880.
On August 5, 1960 the church voted to build another new building.
First
worship service in this building was on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1961.
