Community Corner

New Hope Baptist Church Pastor Receives Key to Bolingbrook

New Hope Baptist Church recently celebrated its 25th anniversary in Bolingbrook.

Charles Branch, the 88-year-old pastor emeritus for New Hope Baptist Church in Bolingbrook, recently received a rare honor.

Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar, as part of New Hope’s 25th anniversary celebration, presented Branch with a key to the village. Attendees said Claar told the crowd he has presented only five keys in his 25 years as mayor.

“Chuck Branch is a longtime supporter of Bolingbrook,” Claar told Patch. “I wanted to give (New Hope) something to commemorate what he, in particular, as well as his church, has done for Bolingbrook and the community. I thought, given their long history and interest in our betterment and what they do for our residents, the key would be representative of such a success story.”

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Branch served as chaplain of Statesville Correctional Center before becoming pastor of New Hope in 1989, just three years after New Hope was formed. He served at the church until the late 1990’s. His nephew, David Branch, is the current church senior pastor for New Hope.

During Charles Branch’s tenure at New Hope, the church grew from 65 members to 500. “We became known as the fastest growing church in the Baptist Conference,” according to a church program from the anniversary.

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David Branch and Timothy Bowie, one of New Hope’s first members, said Charles Branch installed a church philosophy focused on love.

“We didn’t want to be the traditional Baptist church," Bowie said. "We wanted to be what we considered more of the new church, loving and trying to be there to show love. A big part of that, who infused it in all of us, was Chuck. That’s when it took off. He taught us by example, how to love and how to show others that we care.”

Bowie said the church has helped those who have needed food or money for rent. It has also lent its baptismal font and opens its door to those who needed to use the church for a wedding or funeral. 

“(Charles Branch) has been the champion,” Bowie said. “If God gives it to us, we should use it for God’s work. And we need to be helping all people, not just our members.” 

Building a church

New Hope started with just four families and 27 charter members in 1986. The group first met at Bolingbrook High School. 

“We operate not like a business or a traditional church, but like a very inviting, warm and family-oriented environment," David Branch said. 

New Hope had an extensive publicity plan, according to Bowie. Church members made calls and “went to every news media" to spread the word of its opening. Promotions were in newspapers and on local television. They contacted key members of the community to promote the church's name. 

The church met at Bolingbrook High School to have a local presence. 

"No one had tried to start anything out of the high school," Bowie said. "We picked that as part of our strategy of getting the word out." 

From Bolingbrook High School, New Hope began to meet at its current location, 509 E. Briarcliff Rd., sharing the building with a congregation of the Church of the Nazarene. The church purchased the whole building through what Bowie and Branch called "an act of God."

“God gave us that building,” Bowie said. “The building was $500,000, and we didn’t have $10,000 in the bank. We had no idea where we were going to go and where we would get the money.”

New Hope was able to get a loan, and as it grew, purchased their new home.

Serving death row

When he first became a Christian, Charles Branch said he wanted to do something other than “sit in church and sing songs all day long.” He was steered to someone who ministered to local jails. Branch started there before ministering at Statesville.

As chaplain at Statesville, he said he ministered to those on death row.

“It didn’t make any difference to me,” Branch said. “They’re people just like you and me. It’s a ministry of presence. That worked well over the years, just to let somebody know that someone cares.” 

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