New Journey Baptist Church History
Under the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit, Reverend James A. Jackson called a few family, friends, and former church members to explore establishing a new church within the local community of Stafford, Virginia. On April 21, 2007, fourteen (14) people responded to Reverend Jackson’s call and met at the Golden Corral Restaurant, located in Massaponax, Virginia. At the meeting, Reverend Jackson explained to those gathered his calling of the Lord to establish a new church and to obtain everyone’s views; everyone agreed thatReverend Jackson should establish a new church.
Throughout the month of May 2007 (May 5, May 12 and May 26) follow-up meetings were held at the residence of Brother Roscoe and Sister Edith Montague to discuss how the church should be established, how often services would be held and elect church officers. Brother and Sister Montague graciously allowed the newly established, yet to be named church to meet in their garage adjacent to their home located on Eskimo Hill Road, in Stafford, Virginia. On June 2, 2007, the group met to discuss the naming of the church. Reverend Jackson revealed that after much prayer and communication with the Lord, he was led to remember, it was a New Journey. The name touched the spirits of all who gathered and the New Journey Baptist Church was named. The church began with a motto of “Journeying with Jesus”. Along with the church name and motto, the church also started with eleven (11) charter members: Reverend James A. Jackson, Sister (Sis) Dianna Jackson, Sister Mary Mason, Brother Earl Mason, Sister Janet White,Brother Author Portis, Sister Melinda Portis, Sister Beverly Rocker, SisterMelissa Jackson, Brother Linwood Smith, II, and Sister Renee Smith.
On July 22, 2007, New Journey Baptist Church elected its first officers: Church Clerk-Sister Renee Smith, Assistant Church Clerk-Sister Melinda Portis; Chairman of Trustees-Brother Earl Mason, Assistant Chairperson of Trustees-Sister Melissa Jackson; Treasurer-Sister Melissa Jackson; Financial Secretary-Sister Mary Mason; Sunday School Superintendent-Sister Janet White, Assistant Sunday School Superintendent-Sister Beverly Rocker; Chairman of Ushers-Brother Author Portis; and, Deaconess-Sister Mary Mason. These founding members continued to serve in many additional offices as the church progressed.
The church held its first worship service and Sunday school on June 10, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. Sunday school consisted of three classes: Adults, Preteen and Primary. Reverend Jackson taught the adults and Sisters Dianna Jackson and Renee Smith taught the children’s classes. Reverend Jackson’s first sermon for the newly formed New Journey Baptist Church was “Building the Church” referencing Matthew 16:13-19. Nine people attended this service where the Holy Spirit filled the atmosphere.
On Sunday, July 29, 2007, New Journey received its first candidates for baptism: Kelvin and Brittany Jackson, father and daughter. The church held its first communion on August 5, 2007, the same day that the first offering was collected.
New Journey Baptist Church was blessed to have two local churches provide support by offering the use of their church and facilities to baptize candidates: Hearts Delight Baptist Church located in Catlett, Virginia and Oak Grove Baptist Church, located in Stafford, Virginia. In May 2008, the Lord blessed us to purchase a portable baptistery which has been used frequently, baptizing sixteen (16) candidates into the body of Christ and fellowship of the New Journey family.
During November 2007, New Journey began what has become a tradition for this small group of believers; they held their first Thanksgiving Dinner as a way to welcome friends and family. The dinner was held in the garage of Brother and Sister Montague and was very well received and attended. Through song, prayer and praise, the church along with family and friends celebrated the joy of the Lord’s blessing New Journey.
As the church began to grow, we recognized the need to develop by-laws to guide us in the proper conduct of the Lord’s business. A by-law’s committee was established with five (5) members consisting of: Reverend Jackson, Sister Dianna Jackson, Sister Mary Mason, Sister Renee Smith, and Sister Janet White. The committee met for several months in the home of Sister White and on July 12, 2008, the by-laws and Church constitution were adopted by the Church. The Lord continued to bless New Journey and on December 2, 2008, the church moved to its new location of 2066 Jefferson Davis Highway in Stafford, Virginia. New Journey occupied one of the smaller suites of the building. It soon became evident as the church grew that a new home would be needed.
On April 5, 2009, after much prayer, physical labor, and financial expense to overcome the obstacles set forth by the county zoning authorities, New Journey expanded to include the entire first floor of the building. Moving into the newly expanded area, members contributed to purchase new chairs and the men came together to purchase new carpeting for the new area.
Through prayer and obedience, New Journey continues to grow. On July 5, 2009, New Journey was blessed toreceive an associate minister, Reverend Norman Owens. On April 4, 2012, Brother Kelvin Jackson began as the church’s first deacon-in-training and on June 29, 2013, he was ordained as the church’s first Deacon. The Church held its first Youth Ministry meeting on March 4, 2013 after selecting its first Youth Ministry leader. From eleven (11) faithful charter members, New Journey has grown to fifty-five (55) members and has established the following ministries/auxiliaries: Missions and Benevolence Committee, Ladies’ Fellowship, Youth Ministry, Ladies’ Choir, and Men’s Choir.
Through God’s direction and leadership, the Church continued to grow. In October 2013, thanks to Brother Wade Green’s sincere desire to further the Church’s ministry and outreach, the Church begun to build it’s first website informing the public of its services and community commitment.
Our worship services are: Sunday School, 9:30 a.m., Morning Worship Service, 10:30 a.m., Holy Communion, first Sunday, prayer service and Bible study, each Wednesday, 7:00 p.m., and Friday Bible study at 7:00 p.m., as the Lord leads the Pastor.
Journeying with Jesus
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.