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IN APRIL 1893, REVEREND JOSEPHUS WESLEY FORD AND WIFE, JAMES ALEXANDER FORD AND WIFE, RICHARD S. FORD AND WIFE, JESSIE GARRISON AND WIFE AND SISTER JESSIE L. PHILLIPS ORGANIZED THE NEW SALEM FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH SOUTHWEST OF DECATUR. REVEREND JOSEPHUS W. FORD PREVIOUSLY PASTORED A CONGREGATION IN McDONALD COUNTY, MISSOURI BEFORE TRAVELING TO TEXAS WHERE HE SERVED AS PASTOR OF THE NEW SALEM FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH UNTIL HIS DEATH IN JULY 1898. IN THE EARLY YEARS, THE CHURCH CONGREGATION MET ONLY ONCE A MONTH, BUT AS MEMBERSHIP GREW, SERVICES WERE HELD MORE OFTEN. CHURCH SERVICES WERE HELD AT THE PLACE OF ORGANIZATION UNTIL AROUND 1907 WHEN A NEW STRUCTURE WAS BUILT. THE BUILDING WAS CONDEMNED A FEW YEARS LATER. AT THAT TIME, THE PERRIN SCHOOL OCCUPIED THE PRESENT LOCATION OF THE CHURCH BUT WAS LATER RELOCATED WHEN THE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATED INTO THE DECATUR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT. THE BUILDING BECAME AVAILABLE AND THE CHURCH MOVED IN. SEVERAL MODIFICATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE OVER THE YEARS TO ACCOMMODATE THE GROWING CONGREGATION INCLUDING SUNDAY SCHOOL ROOMS, A NURSERY, PARKING LOT, FELLOWSHIP HALL, RESTROOMS AND A KITCHEN. THE NEW SALEM FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH EXTENDED OPPORTUNITIES TO YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED PASTORS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE AND FAMILIARIZE THEMSELVES WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CHURCH. IN ADDITION, THE CHURCH AND DENOMINATION HAS SERVED THE COMMUNITY THROUGH LOCAL AND FOREIGN MISSIONS. FOR OVER A CENTURY, THE NEW SALEM FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH HAS BEEN A SPIRITUAL AND CHARITABLE SANCTUARY FOR THE COMMUNITY. |
