The Voice of Southwest Louisiana

SWLAchurches
New Sunlight Baptist Church today.
NEW SUNLIGHT
BAPTIST CHURCH
CELEBRATES 120 YEARS
By Gloria E. Jackson
(An Abbreviated History of
New Sunlight Baptist Church)
In 1896, Lou Cornish, a small
group of Christians lead by
Rev. D. C. Bowman and God’s
guidance, met in Cornish’s
Haskell Street home and
called itself New Sunlight
Baptist Church. From meeting
in a brush arbor to building
their first church at 313
Haskell Street, they grew with
Rev. Bowman serving as its
first pastor. The foundation
remains steadfast with a very
thankful people celebrating a
very rich 120-year legacy.
“Thankful People Serving
a Faithful God for 120
Years” is the theme for the
anniversary weekend, Fri.,
Dec. 2nd through Sun.,
Dec. 4th. Events include:
the Anniversary Musical at
7 p.m., Fri., Dec. 2nd,
featuring Nina Gray, Lake
Charles native and Baton
Rouge resident as guest
soloist/musician with music by
the church’s combined chorus.
members with 40
or more years of
continuous membership
will be honored during
the "Trailblazers' Luncheon"
on Sat., Dec. 3rd.
and worship at 10:45 a.m.,
Sun., Dec. 4, with Rev. Dr. C.S.
New Sunlight Baptist Church’s old edifice.
Gordon, Jr., president of the
Louisiana Missionary Baptist
State Convention, as guest
evangelist. The combined
chorus will provide music.
Early pastors served well
from 1914 through 1923, and
several had brief ministries.
They were Rev. Henry Williams,
Rev. Alexander Oliver, Rev.
Edgar Keglar; Rev. J.E. Dennis,
Rev. Robert Washington, and
Rev. A.A. Gundy.
In 1924, Rev. Moses Tillman
Jackson was called. He
successfully organized a
general treasury system,
presented a program to
build a new and permanent
structure, and in 1949,
dedicated a $75,000 edifice to
God. He organized numerous
ministries, auxiliaries, and
departments were revitalized
until his passing in 1951.
Rev. Victor Elijah Washington
was chosen in 1951. A very
young, strong pastor, Rev.
Washington paid out the
mortgage on its edifice, built
22
December 2016 WWW.THEVOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 4 • Number 3