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History

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Founded in 1970, First Hopewell Baptist Church was birthed by a few faithful and dedicated members. In February 1974, a call was issued to Reverend Robert H. Johnson to serve as the first Pastor and he was installed on the fourth Sunday in April of 1974.

After the installation of Rev. Johnson, the church began its search for a home. God answered the prayers of the people and the church moved to our current location at 525 Orange Street-Newark, NJ on the first Sunday in October of the same year.

First Hopewell Baptist Church is more than a building in our community.  It serves as a Well of Hope for many community outreach activities to include a clothing program where free clothes are distributed regularly; a feeding program that serves hot meals to the homeless every Saturday and a food pantry program which provides food to the needy every Wednesday.

For 32 years, Rev. Johnson served his church and community faithfully and on April 2, 2006, he retired and relocated to North Carolina. While the church began its search for a new shepherd called by God, Rev. Dr. Esther Haire served as the Interim Pastor.

In April of 2008, the call was answered by Rev. Antonio Porter (formerly of Fountain Baptist Church-Summit, NJ). He was later installed as the second Pastor of First Hopewell Baptist Church on Sunday, June 29, 2008. Since that time the Gospel has been preached, the Bible has been taught, our membership has grown, ministries have been revitalized, servants have been called into discipleship, and we are striving to move towards “All Things New” (Rev 21:5). Rev. Porter’s vision is for FHBC to continue its growth as a mission based church, to expand its Christian witness globally and to provide Christian Educational training and development that will empower the people and body of Christ.