Bethel Baptist Church

The Bethel Baptist congregation was organized in 1872 by formerly enslaved men and women who formed the small community of Bethel in rural Anderson County. During the early twentieth century, land was donated by one of the community members, Benjamin Cummins, to the Bethel Baptist congregation for a church. A wood frame church building was constructed on the site and remains in use by the congregation as a house of worship. The building was encased in a brick shell in 1984 giving the building its current appearance.

A structural assessment in 2019 uncovered a number of serious structural issues including a leaking roof, deteriorated bell tower, sagging top plates on multiple walls, and damage to the piers and sills of the foundation system.

This project has been awarded a $75,000 grant through Preservation Texas’s Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program, which will make it possible to repair the roof and bell tower, and reinforce the walls.

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“Bethel Baptist Church is more than a building. It is our family, and it is our future that stands upon our history and legacy. It has served this community for at least 150 years, which encompasses the Reconstruction Era. We are dedicated to being good stewards of this church in honor of our ancestors for as long as it takes.”

- Gwendolyn Gipson, Church Member and Project Liaison