Baptist Church born again
By Jerry W. Kram
A few weeks ago, a local landmark came tumbling down as the New Town Baptist Fellowship church was torn down. However, a new church is rising where the old church stood from the earliest days of New Town.
Pastor Larry Vickery said the old church actually predates the establishment of New Town. It was moved from Sanish when that community was lost to the rising waters of Lake Sakakawea in the early 1950s. Farmers built the original church in less than a week in the early 1930s. He said the old church had served its congregation well for 80 years, but those years had taken a toll of the structure.
"It would have taken about a third of the cost of new building to repair the old church," Vickery said. "It was basically falling in on us. It was also too small for us. So we have demolished the old building. But it served the congregation of New Town well."
Vickery said the dirt work for the new building was almost complete and that the concrete work would be done this week, weather permitting. About June 18, he hopes to see construction on the shell of the new church to begin. Volunteers will becoming from as far as South Carolina to help rebuild the church.
