New Hope United Methodist Church in Bulloch County was organized in 1804, making it the county’s second-oldest Methodist congregation. Its mother church, Union United Methodist, was founded in 1790. Like most rural churches of its era, New Hope began humbly, meeting in a one-room structure on hand-hewn sills. In 1825, the trustees purchased a two-acre tract along the Milledgeville–Savannah Road “to build a meeting house on and to use and enjoy as may be agreeable to the rules and discipline” of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The building doubled as a school during the week. A larger sanctuary replaced it in 1855, serving until 1907, when the current structure was built at a cost of $2,000. In 1900, the 1855 building was moved across the road to allow for cemetery expansion. New Hope also served as a social and cultural hub for the surrounding Mill Ray community and is the mother church of Statesboro First Methodist and Hubert Chapel (Hubert UMC) in Brooklet.

Church records, preserved from 1842, reveal that between 1842–1845 the congregation had 30 white members and 59 Black members. After the Civil War, there were 59 white and 38 Black members. During worship, Black members sat in a designated section and had their own class leader—an important role in an era when circuit riders visited as many as twenty congregations a month. Class leaders provided weekly spiritual guidance, especially critical during the war years when no regular pastor was available. After 1870, Black members were assisted in establishing their own church.

New Hope also has a colorful Civil War–era story. When Sherman’s XV Corps marched down River Road toward Savannah, a hymnal belonging to H. B. Hodges was stolen from the church. It was later abandoned in the community of Ivanhoe and returned in August 1865 by Major George Cone, a former Confederate officer. Inside, an inscription reads:

“Stolen from New Hope Church, Bulloch County, by Sherman’s Raiders and left at Maj. George Cone’s… returned by him to the church August 19, 1865. ’Tis hoped the poor creature that stole this book… will benefit by the lessons.”

For over two centuries, New Hope has stood as a place of worship, community, and living history in Bulloch County.