‘Our church …. our church is burning …’
Greater New Macedonia Baptist in Rosharon intends to rise from ashes
Shalita McKnight meticulously prepared for last Sunday’s service at Greater New Macedonia Baptist Church in Rosharon.
The day before, she gathered all her bibles. She charged her camera to take photos of the congregation. She purchased balloon bouquets to serve as a backdrop for Valentine’s Day photos at the church. And she laid out an ensemble of red, white and pink for the holiday.
Early the next morning, her phone rang. It was her fatherin-law, Carlton Wade, who is the church pastor.
“Our church,” Wade said. “Our church is burning down.”
A 6:30 a.m. blaze at New Macedonia ravaged the church down to ash and charred remains. Now, only small portions of the sanctuary remain standing in the 15400 block of FM521, about 30 miles south of downtown Houston.
Foul play doesn’t appear to be a factor, according to Brazoria County Fire Marshal Martin Vela. “Obvious electrical issues” likely played a role, he said, but investigators haven’t been able to nail down a single cause amid the debris. No one was inside when the building caught fire, and no one was injured.
McKnight, a worship leader at the church, set up a GoFundMe page to help the rebuild with a $100,000 goal. She said the congregation watched all morning as firefighters battled the flames where each week they prayed. Video footage from OnSceneTV showed some members praying in a circle at the site.
McKnight is one of about 100 members at New Macedonia. It’s small, she said, but feels more like a tight-knit family. A north Houston resi
dent, McKnight drives nearly an hour each week to attend the service.
She said she became a member in August 2019 but has visited the church for about three years.
“I passed up dozens of churches in the county just to get to that church,” she said. “It has its own uniqueness … it was a different level of love that I felt when I was there.”
Houston resident Linda Francis Gibbs, 72, said in the 1950s and ’60s the church was one of the largest in Rosharon. As a 3-yearold, she joined the choir with her seven siblings. Her aunt, Ophelia Holman, was the “rock” of New Macedonia, serving in various leadership positions and even mowing the church lawn on occasion, Gibbs said.
The church was first built at another location in Rosharon more than 100 years ago, she said, but moved to its current spot in 1949.
She said it was a landmark before people started migrating into the city around the 1970s. Back then, most of the members lived close by, she said.
She recalled how the role of the historically black church was vital during the civil rights movement. The church, she said, became a sanctuary from the era’s racial tension .
“We knew we could go to the church of God to find some release, because God was going to take care of us,” she said. “The pastors would preach, and we got to love on each other regardless of what was going on.”
Wade, McKnight’s fatherin-law, said four years ago he became the fifth pastor in the church’s history.
He was stunned Sunday morning when a neighbor told him the church building was gone.
He told fire investigators that he was there all day Saturday, and that he shut off the electricity before leaving.
“Everything was normal,” Wade said.
Wade said recently the church had been growing. They picked up a few members from other churches hit last year by Tropical Depression Imelda. He was started to notice younger faces in the crowd.
“I’d rather my house burn down than the church,” Wade said. “It’s family, and we got this new generation. And I was able to get people off the street into the church to feel welcome. … I had a relationship with them. That’s why the church had started growing so fast.”
“It’s gotten to where I feel empty,” he added. “I feel helpless.”