GAINESVILLE - Hopewell Baptist Church in Gainesville celebrated its 200th anniversary on Sunday.
"It's a true accomplishment for the church itself, as it was one of the churches founded in thie area," Senior Pastor Robby Foster said. "So here we are 200 years later, celebrating its birth."
Sunday was "old-fashioned day" at the church, and people dressed in styles from the past 200 years. A picnic at Laurel Park featured softball and children's activities.
Foster, who has been at Hopewell for 16 years, said he is "thrilled" to be part of a congregation that's existed so long.
"You think about all the pastors that's been at Hopewell for the last 200 years, and people that's been up on those grounds, and it's a great accomplishment," he said.
One of the oldest churches in Hall County, Foster said Hopewell has seen much growth and success since it began. It has "birthed" six other churches in Hall County, and 56 churches overseas.
Foster attributed the growth to the church's vision, which includes worship, educating its people and sending them out on missions.
"We just feel like with our vision we've set in place a solid foundation that the church can continue to grow, and it can continue to be a lighthouse in this community and be a lighthouse throughout the world to share the gospel," he said.
"We're actually believing that our best days are in front of us."
In addition to celebrating 200 years on Sunday, Hopewell Baptist is also kicking off five months of special events and activities that will culminate with a revival in November.
"I'm just thankful for this time and thankful for our people," Foster said. "God's certainly blessed us with a good congregation. Our people are wonderful people and they're always excited about what God's doing in our congregation, and they're always excited about visitors coming and being a part with us."
According to the church's Web site, in March of 1808 the Baptists in the Hopewell community met to organize a church to be known as the Hopewell Bapist Church. It was a young church for a young county, because the United States was only 32 years old then. (This was 37 years before the organization of the Southern Baptist Convention, which took place in Augusta, Ga).
Through the years other congregations were formed from the church. In 1884, Oak Grove Church was organized; later Belmon, Calvary and Poplar Springs were also founded. The Chattahoochee Baptist Association (then called North Georgia Association) was organized at Hopewell in 1825.
Hopewell Baptist Church is located at 5086 Poplar Springs Road. For more information, contact: 770-287-3311 or visit www.hopewellonline.org.
Thursday
June 5th, 2025
3:42PM
