A lasting legacy: Bethel Baptist Church to celebrate 75 years

It was in 1949 that 19 community members came together with a common purpose: organizing a Baptist church in the north portion of Graham. Seventy-five years later, Bethel Baptist Church still stands strong welcoming and praying with the community.

November will mark the 75th anniversary of the organization of Bethel Baptist Church. The church will be hosting a celebration Sunday, Nov. 3 beginning with Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. 

The worship service will be held at 11 a.m. with preaching from Rev. Robert Wheat, former mission director of Bi-Fork Baptist Association, and music by Pam Benner. A potluck meal will be served after the worship service with Kelly Chappell leading southern gospel music and Ronnie Chestnut playing saxophone. 

“We just want people to recognize that we’re here and we’re trying to make an impact on the community for Christ,” Pastor Chris Rice said.

Rice has been a part of the church since 2018, starting first as youth minister and becoming pastor in 2022. He said what makes the church special is its congregation.

“I’ve been a youth minister at a lot of churches all over Texas, and a lot of good churches, but out of all the churches I’ve been a part of, I’d have to say this is one of the most loving congregations,” he said. “...People in our congregation are just very loving, caring and giving, and they just never cease to amaze me when they reach out and take care of somebody. They do, they take care of people, and they want people to succeed and want to help people.”

Rice said another difference between Bethel and other churches is that while other churches may alter the way they worship to adjust to a changing demographic, Bethel has worked to have appeal for all.

The church was organized by the charter members Nov. 20, 1949, with the first service being held in the rented Seventh Adventist Church Building on north Virginia Street. 

“My grandparents were charter members of this church, there were 19 of them, and they belonged to Oak Street Baptist Church,” Mary Brown said. “Oak Street said, ‘We need a church presence on the north side of town.’ The churches were all downtown or on Oak Street, they were all in that area.”

In 1950, the church purchased lots on north Tennessee Street and the Tonk Valley Church building, which was moved to those lots. In October of the same year, army barracks were purchased to be used as Sunday school classrooms.

Construction of the current church sanctuary began in August 1954. Five years later in June 1949, the Red Top Church united with Bethel Baptist Church and their building was moved south of the sanctuary and converted into classrooms. It would later be used as a youth building and the offices for the church and was demolished in 2009 due to foundation problems.

A new educational building was constructed east of the church sanctuary in 1961, and both the new building and the former Red Top Church building were dedicated Jan. 6, 1963. 

It was in 1968 that a group of church members saw the need to help working parents and single mothers with affordable and safe child care and organized Bethel Children’s Day Center. The day care, which still runs strong today, is a separate entity financially with its own board of directors.

The church provides the facility for the organization free of charge, and after 56 years the day care has helped generations in Graham.

“Bethel Daycare is huge. I mean that daycare has been here forever, and there’s still a lot of older people in the community who remember being a part of Bethel Daycare when they had little kids or even were kids in Bethel Daycare,” Rice said.

Remodeling was completed in the sanctuary in 1980, and in 1981 the church voted to build a new parsonage across the street from the church. 

A multipurpose facility was constructed in 1985 which serves as the location for Sunday school, a large kitchen, a gym and a furnished apartment. 

One of the largest efforts of the church since 1988 is the Thanksgiving meal which welcomes all for a meal free of charge. The church has delivery options available and last year served over 600 meals.

“We’ve been doing that community-wide Thanksgiving dinner to feed people to meet a need in our community,” Rice said. “...We do that in order to reach out to the community and just basically provide a place where people can come worship and experience God. That’s the big thing for us. We want people to come here and know what Jesus Christ is about. That by far is the biggest mission (and) the purpose of our church is to just pray the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ.”