‘Carrying the torch’: New Hope Missionary Baptist Church celebrates 35-year legacy

DeKALB – As New Hope Missionary Baptist Church celebrates 35 years in DeKalb, the milestone prompted some of its founding members to reflect on the legacy of the community’s first Black church.

New Hope Missionary Baptist Church originally opened its doors in July 1987 from the living room of the Rev. Leroy Mitchell and his wife, Veatrice “Drue” Mitchell. But after meeting at the home and finding the congregation was expanding, church leaders made the decision a short time later to sign a lease with the Seventh Day Adventist Church in town.

In July 2000, the congregation first set up shop at its current home at 1201 Twombly Road.

Fast forward more than 20 years, and the Rev. Senior Pastor Joe Mitchell has been passed the baton to preside over the church.

Joe Mitchell said that knowing the church is celebrating its 35th anniversary means a lot to him.

“I grew up at the church, so I’ve been a part of it all 35 years,” Joe Mitchell said. “It is an amazing milestone and very exciting time in the life of the church. And to know that we’ve been in DeKalb for 35 years and specifically in the North Annie Glidden community for 22 years and how we interact and serve the community is a great accomplishment.”

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Shaw Local 2008 file photo - SIMSA, or Safe In My Sister’s Arms, Director LaMetra Curry dances in the center of a circle of SIMSA/SIMBA members during their monthly gathering June 8, 2008 at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in DeKalb. The message of the 87-member group is of love. “We love you, we really do,” the group sang as they swayed together.

Amid its anniversary, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church is embarking on a plan to build a new community center using a portion of the available 6.5 acres of land under its ownership.

Leroy Mitchell said it makes sense to keep building for the future.

“When we finished building the church, we knew it was not over,” Leroy Mitchell said. “We knew we had more work to do with this community.”

The leadership at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church plans to sign a pre-construction contract to initiate the process for building a community center as part of the church’s anniversary weekend.

The facility, once built, is envisioned to be a space for hosting classes, job trainings and a small-business incubator.

Lula Gordon, a DeKalb resident who is a longtime member of the church, said she is excited about the church’s plans to invest in the community.

“It’s going to fill a void that this community needs because we’re situated near Eden Garden [Apartments], which there’s a lot of children over there with families … and there’s other apartment buildings around,” Gordon said. “There’s no center or any place for children to gather other than the [YMCA], and not everybody can afford the ‘Y.’ This is going to be great for the community that children have a place to go, a safe place to go.”

Joe Mitchell said the existing church facility is not equipped for certain gatherings, and church leaders are hoping a new community center can fill a community need.

“On Sunday, we’ve always used the building for other programming, summer camps,” he said. “But to really make it something that’s conducive and has the size to really engage a broader population, we need a lot more space than we do right now.”

For example, if the church needed space to have a fellowship or banquet, it would have to rent from other facilities in the community, Joe Mitchell said.

“But, really, we want to be able to have something that is in North Annie Glidden that’s in walking distance for specifically children, that they can engage and have covered space,” Joe Mitchell said. “[There’s] really no covered space in North Annie Glidden. We want to have a covered space again, where we can do tutoring, where we can do mentoring, where we can do job training. We want a computer lab. We want to engage them. We really want to have a place that really empowers and educates for the broader community and not just for the church.”

Leroy Mitchell said the building would be named in honor of Derrick Smith, one of the church’s deacons.

Regina Parker, a Sycamore resident who is longtime member of the church, said it’s clear that the leadership at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church cares about the community it serves.

“It’s a community – you can’t even imagine the love and support that this community gets,” Parker said. “It all started with the Mitchells – Drue and Leroy Mitchell and then his son, Joseph, and his wife, Andria Mitchell – carrying the torch.”

Joe Mitchell said the church community is excited to chart the course of its next 35 years.

“The congregation is thoroughly excited to know that we started with 20 members in my parents’ living room 35 years ago to where we are right now – to own a church that we have paid off, to own 10 acres of land that we own the deed for, to know the way we engage in the community that we do,” Joe Mitchell said.

The church plans to host a community picnic and an anniversary service to commemorate the milestone this weekend.

Leroy Mitchell said he maintains a positive outlook that quite a few people will return for the events.

“After COVID, we’re still recovering,” Leroy Mitchell said. “I think it’s true for a lot of churches.”

The picnic will be open to the community and is expected to be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Hopkins Park, 1302 Sycamore Road.

“Anyone’s welcome to come out, [share in] fellowship and eat with us,” Joe Mitchell said.

New Hope Missionary Baptist Church’s 35th anniversary service will feature a message from the Rev. Linda Carter and is scheduled from 10:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the church, 1201 Twombly Road.