New Edinburg Baptist Church

Compliments of Robbie Reaves 

The First Baptist Church of New Edinburg has a distinction of having been built and located in three counties without moving more than 100 yards and without ever crossing a county line.

At the time of the erection of the church, the town of New Edinburg was in Bradley County. Some years later, a new county was formed from parts of adjoining counties and New Edinburg and the Baptist Church found themselves in Dorsey County. Still later, the name of the county was changed, honoring President Grover Cleveland.

The church was organized almost 100 years ago in 1868 with Elders Solomon Gardner and John T. Craig consitituting the Presbytery. The church was in the Judson Baptist Association. After 1901, the church agreed that it could no longer see eye to eye on ecclesiastical matters with its present larger connection and joined the General Association, the American Baptist Association, and later the North American Baptist Association.

The first building was completed in September of 1869, after which the church adopted a resolution to the Methodist of the community expressing appreciation for being allowed to use the Methodist house of worship for its services for a season.

In early years, at almost every monthly conference, some-Brother or Sister was excluded from worship for some kind of unbecoming conduct: the men usually for imbibing too freely of alcoholic beverages and the women for "tipping light fantastic toe..."

In those days, revivals were popular, and one mighty one was conducted under the persuasive preaching of Rev. W. E. Penn in 1890. Results, fifty church additions and 122 professions of faith.

A new church was erected in 1936 and it was dedicated in 1937. The building, at the time of completions, consisted of an auditorium and six Sabbath School rooms. The Sunday School is first mentioned in church records of 1883. The church has had three buildings, the current one replacing one that was put up in 1890. This one replaced the orginal church structure. The middle building had an 84-foot steeple.

Source: The Eagle Democrat, Warren, Arkansas.  Wednesday, October 25, 1967, page 5.