In 1997, a small group of men and women from First Bap­tist Church Col­lege Sta­tion decided to plant a church for the unchurched and the lost of south Col­lege Sta­tion. South Col­lege Sta­tion Bap­tist Church began meet­ing for­mally that year, and called its first and only pas­tor, Butch Smith, in 1998. The name of the church was changed to Liv­ing Hope Bap­tist Church, and it grew from a few dozen peo­ple to over 700 mem­bers and upwards of 1,500 in atten­dance in just 10 short years.

In May 2008, Butch led the mem­bers of Liv­ing Hope to begin two core groups that would be the start of two new churches. Less than one year later, Liv­ing Hope Bap­tist Church – Bryan and New Life Bap­tist Church were the result of the faith­ful­ness of the mem­bers of Liv­ing Hope Bap­tist Church. Instead of build­ing larger build­ings, cre­at­ing more pro­grams, or hir­ing more staff mem­bers, Liv­ing Hope decided to plant more churches for the glory of God and the pro­mo­tion of the Gospel in the Bryan/College Sta­tion area.

All three churches are autonomous South­ern Bap­tist Churches with their own elders and dea­cons. How­ever, all three churches desire to remain con­nected in fel­low­ship, mis­sions, and other endeav­ors that will bring God glory and reach the lost with the Gospel. We have seen God do great things thus far, and we are excited about what the future holds for all three bodies.