The records of the New Hope Baptist Church are arranged alphabetically by topic. Although limited in quantity, they are a source of much information on the life of the church.
The Church Anniversary Booklets and Pastoral Anniversaries publications contain histories and information on church activities, especially those of the many church auxiliaries. The incomplete run of the church newsletter Whispering Pines, is a source of information on church events and social gatherings, denominational news, and sometimes includes messages from the pastor and biographical sketches of individual members. The Building Dedication folder contains two programs from the 1974 dedication. The Correspondence file primarily consists of routine outgoing letters of greeting, letters of recommendation and invitations from Lightfoot. The Minutes files are from meetings of church officers and the male choir, and include minutes from the organizational meeting of the church on December 12, 1965. The minutes are useful for tracing the early efforts of members to raise funds for a permanent home for the church and to increase membership. Although incomplete, information from the Financial Reports files can be used to study changes over time in income and expenses of the church. The Membership Information file consists of orientation materials given to new members of the church. The materials are useful for understanding the theological and organizational underpinnings of New Hope. The Officers Profiles folder provides interesting demographic information on the educational and employment background of church leaders.
The organizational meeting for the New Hope Baptist Church, which serves the African American community, was held in the living room of an Ann Arbor resident on December 12, 1965. The Church was organized by the Reverend Albert Lightfoot, Jr. an assistant minister of the Second Baptist Church of Ypsilanti, Michigan and thirteen others who gathered together to fulfill their spiritual needs. The Reverend Lightfoot, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama and later moved to Michigan with his wife and seven children, became the first pastor of New Hope and continues to serve the church. The name of the church was chosen by Reverend Lightfoot to signify a new beginning for the group, and new hope for those searching for spiritual meaning in their lives. The church incorporated on October 3, 1966, and through the years has been affiliated with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention.
For its first seven years the church used the Ann Arbor YM-YWCA for worship and Sunday school. In 1972, a building was purchased at 218 Chapin Street in Ann Arbor. Architect David Byrd, a graduate of the University of Michigan College of Architecture and a deacon of the church, was responsible for drawing up the plans to renovate and enlarge the building, which was dedicated on July 21, 1974. As Byrd wrote at the time of the dedication of the church:
In this design we find an expression of many things which remind us of Thy Son who on earth took clay, as our bricks are made of and did make the blind to see. The wood is natural as the wood that stood on Calvary. We inscribed the building with the words, "Remember ME". These words were the last lines of communication between Jesus and a mortal man, a sinner. (See Building Dedication folder, Building Dedication program, for additional thoughts from Byrd on his design of the building.)
Members helped with much of the church renovation work. Membership in the church grew from 250 in 1975 to 653 a decade later, largely because of word of mouth and recruitment efforts undertaken by church members. The building was again enlarged in 1985 with the addition of a social hall, new offices, and several classrooms.
