HISTORY OF LIVING HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH

In 2025, after years of declining membership, First Baptist Elm Mott began the process of replanting the church, working in partnership with the Texas Baptists, the Waco Regional Baptist Association, and partner churches. On August 16, 2026 we held our first service as the newly re-launched Living Hope Baptist Church. Living Hope maintains the same values and theology as First Baptist Elm Mott but with new ministry strategies, which includes beginning the process of being a more welcoming church to Hispanic families, with the hopes of eventually becoming a bilingual church.

Living Hope is named after Jesus Christ, who is called our “living Hope” in I Peter 1:3 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

Our vision is to become a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church that effectively brings the hope of Christ to its neighbors through word, action, and example.

We’re looking for individuals and families who are interested in building a healthy church that loves Jesus and serves this community. We’re encouraging the people of Elm Mott to bloom where they’re planted and invest in a church that pours back into these neighborhoods. 

The trend in American churches in for big churches to get bigger and small churches to get smaller and die. This leaves smaller, lower-resourced communities with no healthy churches. We are praying and working hard to reverse that trend. We believe local churches that are planted and invested in their local community are essential. We don’t have the nicest facilities, the biggest programs, or the coolest worship team (though they are pretty cool!), but we do have people that love God, their neighbors, and their community well. If you live nearby, we encourage you to check us out and get involved in a church that gives back to your community. Join us in building up this little corner of God’s Kingdom in Elm Mott!