New St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church
ABOUT US
HISTORY
Josh Brown was born in the 1800's, during the slavery era. When he became a young man he was foreman over other slaves tending the fields and cooking. He worked in this capacity until freedom was declared. According to the Ascension Parish Census, Josh brown started purchasing property in the 1860's. In the 1900's the Census showed he was widowed at age 65. He was married three times and out of these unions he fathered 10 children. In 1898, Josh brown donated the property and built the St. Paul Baptist Church. He died in 1926.
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Elder Taylor was the first pastor of the St. Paul Baptist Church. Bro. Sam Freeman would pick up Elder Taylor and they would go out and visit the sick. The would sing, pray, testify with the sick and shut-ins. One of the missions that the church carried out every Easter and Christmas, was to prepare food baskets for the families in the community.
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There was a bell in the church tower and when there was death in the community, the bell would ring and members of the community would go to the church to find out who had died and then they would spread the word to the rest of the community by word of mouth.
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The church bell would also be rung on Sunday mornings before Sunday school. In 1983 Ben Godchaux and Zena Kemp added the bathrooms and kitchen. The church property was also surveyed during this year.
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Ministers who served as pastors of the Church were:
Elder Taylor - early 1900s, Elder Josh Hayward,Elder Isaiah Barnes, Elder Moore, Elder Henderson Jackson - 1940s
Elder James Delaney - 1950s, Elder June Thompson - 1970s, Elder Daniel Darrensburg - Mid 1990s
Elder Paul Murray - current pastor - 1996
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The congregation of the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church had been praying vigorously to God for funds to build a new sanctuary on the property where the first Church was locared, but it is evident that God had other plans for us.
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In April 2011, under the leadership of Pastor Paul R. Murray, Jr., the New St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church purchased a building located on Highway 44, Gonzales, LA and in August 2011, the congregation held their first Service in this location. We were truly blessed by God in leading us to this location and we take every opportunity to give him all of the Praise and the Glory for this new sanctuary.
MISSION STATEMENT
I serve as a "Life Coach" whose call is to help people now and worship their God, see and reach their divine destiny! "I see N.S.P.M.B. Church becoming a teaching community of faith who assist in leading our district, conference, denomination, and God's church in bringing unchurched and other persons into the raw presence of God through life-changing worship." God is the love of my life and I desire to serve Him with everything that is in me. My first priority is to give God the glory due Him in all that i do. For this reason, I have committed my life to full-time service through preaching and being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
My goal is to invest my life into other believers and continue being a disciple-maker. I also have a passion to spread the good news to those who are lost and in need of a Savior. I have a deep love for people and I desire to preach in a spirit-filled way that will lead Christians alike to the throne of God. I believe that under the authority of God and His Word, and in commitment to Christ and His Church. We can equip and motiivate people to advance the cause of Christ through the ministries and the spoken and uncompromising Word of God.
My ultimate desire is that every soul in our church would be saved and one day goes to live with the Lord. To communicate the full gospel of Jesus Christ in the Spirit. To love the sinner, the unwanted, the unloved, the hurting, the broken, the outcast, the has been and the forgotten for these are who Jesus came to save.
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Very Respectfully,
Pastor Paul R. Murray Jr.