The Place to Begin Again on New Zion Church Road
Just north of Covington, past the town center and out along New Zion Church Road, a Southern Baptist congregation has been gathering under the name New Zion Baptist Church since 1905. The church calls itself "The Place to Begin Again," and that phrase shows up on signs, in bulletins, and on its welcome materials. It captures both the congregation's evangelistic heart and its rootedness in a stretch of St. Tammany Parish where many families go back several generations.
What began as a single building on one and a half acres of donated land is now a fourteen-acre campus with four buildings that support an unusually wide range of weekly ministry. A century of steady growth has given New Zion room for a sanctuary, a Family Ministry Center with a working kitchen and gym, classroom space, and the parking to handle three Sunday services at once. The congregation's leaders talk about the property not as real estate but as a tool, calling it the kind of space a church needs in order to keep making disciples "in our hometown and across nations."
Three Sunday Services, One Drive-Up Frequency
Sunday is the busiest day at New Zion, and the schedule reflects the church's effort to make worship accessible in several ways at once. Three worship services meet in the sanctuary each Sunday at 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 6:00 p.m. The 10:30 and 6:00 services are also livestreamed, so members at home or in the hospital can follow along. For those who would rather stay in the car, every service is broadcast on FM 87.9, letting worshipers park and listen from the lot. The drive-up option is offered for both Sunday morning worship and the 9:15 Life Groups hour.
Between the early and late morning services, at 9:15 a.m., the church runs its Life Groups program for every age. These are small-group Bible studies that meet in classrooms across the campus, with separate groups for infants through high school and adults. Sunday morning Life Groups are designed so the whole family can study at the same hour before reconvening for the late service, and parents of babies have their own rooms so they can attend an adult class.
At 5:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings, the Family Ministry Center fills with two parallel programs. Children's Bible Adventure gathers the younger kids for an age-appropriate time of Bible teaching, while Youth Fusion pulls middle and high schoolers together for youth worship, games, and food. Both programs run until the 6:00 p.m. evening service begins, allowing families with children in different age groups to hand off and still make the late service together.
Midweek Rhythms: Monday Recovery, Wednesday Bible Study, Thursday Meals
The midweek calendar at New Zion has its own structure, and three nights in particular give the church a steady weekly pulse.
On Monday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Celebrate Recovery takes over the Family Ministry Center. Doors open at 6:30 for a meal on the first Monday of each month. The program is a Christ-centered twelve-step ministry for anyone wrestling with hurts, habits, or hang-ups - abuse, anger, addiction, codependency, grief, compulsive behaviors, eating disorders, and more. Childcare is available on request, and the group meets every Monday of the year, including holidays.
Wednesday night is the church's discipleship night, beginning at 6:30 p.m. for children's missions programming and 7:00 p.m. for everything else. A prayer service runs alongside an adult choir practice, a youth Bible study, and the missions organizations for children. Boys in grades 1 through 6 meet as Royal Ambassadors, or R.A.'s; girls in grades 1 through 6 meet as G.A.'s, or Girls in Action; preschoolers gather as Mission Friends. Together, these Wednesday programs turn the Family Ministry Center into a cross-generational classroom.
Thursday brings the Lunch Ministry, a long-running outreach to shut-ins and physically homebound people in the community. Volunteers arrive at 8:00 a.m. to prepare hot meals in the church's commercial kitchen, finish by about 10:30, gather for prayer, then load slotted plates with lids into cars for delivery. At any given week the route reaches around 75 to 80 households spread across Covington, Abita Springs, Folsom, and Bush, and the majority of recipients are not New Zion members. The same night also hosts REFIT, a ladies' exercise class that meets from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., and REAL Moms, a potluck fellowship for mothers that runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on the third Thursday of the school year.
Children's Ministry: Belong, Believe, Become
Children's ministry at New Zion is built around three words that show up in every brochure: Belong, Believe, Become. The staff wants children to feel they belong in the church, to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and to grow into disciples who live like Jesus and love others.
The Sunday pathway for children starts in 9:15 a.m. Life Groups, where kids are grouped by grade for Bible study. At the 10:30 a.m. service, children in kindergarten through second grade attend worship with their parents for the music portion and are then dismissed before the sermon for a separate Children's Church tailored to their age. Wednesday nights add the missions organizations, and the 5:00 p.m. Bible Adventure gives elementary-age kids another weekly touchpoint, with worship and Bible study starting at 5:00 and food and games running from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. A Children's Choir for K through 6th grade has historically met at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, though that program is currently on pause.
Vacation Bible School is one of the biggest weeks of the year for the children's team. VBS 2026 was themed Illumination Station, a Lifeway curriculum built around Jesus as the light of the world and the question, "Who do you say that I am?" Classes run from age 3 through fifth grade, with a youth VBS called Ignite offered the same week for students who have completed sixth through twelfth grade. The week closes with a Family Celebration Sunday, where the children sing their VBS songs during the 10:30 a.m. service and the church provides lunch in the gym.
One Youth Ministry
The student ministry carries its own three-word identity: Be ONE with Christ and Be ONE as a Community. Weekly rhythms include Sunday morning small-group Bible studies at 9:15 a.m., the 5:00 p.m. Fusion gathering for worship, games, and food, and a Wednesday night program at 6:30 p.m. called Let's Talk About It, a small-group Bible study split by gender.
Beyond the weekly schedule, the youth calendar includes an annual Guys Retreat for students in grades 7 through 12, a Youth Evangelism Conference trip to Alexandria each winter, summer camps, and seasonal mission events. A youth version of VBS, Ignite, now runs alongside the children's program so older students can stay involved as either campers or volunteers.
Women's, Men's, and Senior Adult Life
Several long-running ministries shape the adult life of the church beyond Sunday worship.
Women on Mission gathers women of all ages for fellowship, prayer, and education about state, national, and international missions, while also sponsoring Mission Friends for preschoolers and G.A.'s for girls in grades 1 through 6. The group hosts seasonal events such as a fall conference called "Don't Try to Pray Like Her" and supports mission causes through prayer, giving, and hands-on service.
The Men's Ministry focuses on training men to be godly leaders at home, in the church, and in the community. The men sponsor the R.A.'s program for boys in grades 1 through 6 and host a men's breakfast on the second Sunday of each month, along with an annual Guys Retreat and other fellowship events.
Seniors at New Zion are organized as the Silver Sonshiners, an active group of around 70 adults aged 55 and older. The Silver Sonshiners take a monthly outing or host an in-church activity, with past trips ranging from the WWII Museum and Cajun Man's Swamp Tour to Camp Living Waters Senior Fest and a multi-day trip to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. In-church favorites include a February Seafood Gumbo Luncheon, "Dinner and a Movie" nights, and an annual Thanksgiving Luncheon.
REAL Moms rounds out the women's ministry lineup. The acronym stands for Relational, Encouraging, Accountability, and Laughter, and the group meets in the FMC Gym on the third Thursday of each month during the school year for a themed potluck, fellowship, and a short devotional. Childcare is provided, and the children's meal is covered so moms can show up without preparing anything.
The Annual Blessing of the Hunt and the Christmas Drive-Thru
Two signature events give New Zion a strong connection to its wider community.
Each September, on the Saturday just before the start of Louisiana hunting season, the church hosts the Blessing of the Hunt, an evening built around guest speakers, door prizes and grand prizes, and a prayer of blessing over hunters heading into the woods. The event has become a regional draw that connects the church to a deeply rooted part of Louisiana life.
Every December, New Zion stages Cradle to the Cross, a free drive-through Christmas presentation. Fifteen separate scenes portray the sweep of the biblical story from the Garden of Eden through the birth of Christ, his miracles, the Last Supper, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and his second coming. Live people, live animals, authentic costumes, and hand-built scenery fill the route from one end of the campus to the other, and visitors can experience the whole presentation without leaving their vehicles. The Christmas Drive-Thru is a major outreach event for the church each year, with volunteers guiding cars through the scenes and follow-up materials offered to anyone who wants to learn more about what they saw.
Celebrate Recovery and the Lunch Ministry at the Heart of Outreach
Two of New Zion's most distinctive weekly ministries reach well beyond the church's own members.
Celebrate Recovery meets every Monday night from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., year-round, including holidays. The program follows the well-known Christ-centered twelve-step model used by churches across the country and is open to anyone struggling with hurts, habits, or hang-ups. Senior Pastor Clark Stewart regularly invites people in the community to attend, writing that "all of us have hurts, habits, and hang-ups" and that Celebrate Recovery exists to help people "watch God set you free by His power in your life." Childcare is offered on request so parents do not have to choose between recovery and caring for their kids.
The Thursday Lunch Ministry is a quieter but no less significant outreach. Every Thursday morning a team of volunteers cooks hot meals in the Family Ministry Center kitchen, gathers for prayer at about 10:30, and then delivers the food to homes throughout the area. Many of the recipients are elderly, homebound, or physically disabled, and the program intentionally serves both members and non-members alike. The mission of the Lunch Ministry is simple and steady: a hot meal, a friendly face at the door, and the sense that someone from a church on New Zion Church Road is thinking of them during the week.
A Vision Called Horizon
Looking ahead, New Zion is in the early stages of a building campaign called Horizon, developed in partnership with the church consulting group Auxano. The plan centers on two major projects: a new two-story, 22,620-square-foot secured children's building estimated at $3.5 million, and a 10,000-square-foot enclosed atrium estimated at $2.5 to $3 million that would link the sanctuary, the new children's building, and the Family Ministry Center. Renderings by Michael Graves of the Martin Planning Group show a clearly defined main entrance, weather-protected walkways between buildings, and a fellowship area with a coffee bar where members can gather.
Church leaders describe the campaign as a response to growth that has already happened. Recent years have brought a record number of baptisms and strong financial support, and the new children's building is intended to free up nine additional classrooms in the Family Ministry Center for adult Bible study. The Horizon materials repeatedly emphasize that the project depends on congregational discernment, sacrificial giving, and prayer. The mission statement that anchors the campaign comes from Matthew 28, and the church frames the work this way: "Loving people by sharing Christ with them and helping them grow in Christ's likeness."
What New Zion Believes
New Zion's statement of faith follows the Baptist Faith and Message prepared by Southern Baptists as a summary of generally held convictions. The church teaches that the Holy Bible is God's revelation, written by men divinely inspired, and that there is one living and true God who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christ is the eternal Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, who honored the divine law through personal obedience and provided redemption through his death on the cross.
The church teaches that salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, and there is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. Christian baptism is understood as the immersion of a believer in water, an act of obedience symbolizing faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of the Redeemer's death and an anticipation of his second coming. New Zion also affirms the priesthood and autonomy of the local church, the cooperation of churches for the work of the gospel, the separation of church and state, religious liberty for all, and the family as the foundational institution of human society, defined in marriage as the covenant union of one man and one woman.
The Pastoral Team
Dr. Clark Stewart has served as senior pastor of New Zion Baptist Church since March 15, 2009. A graduate of Mississippi College and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he and his wife Pam have been married for 27 years and have two sons who are graduates of Mississippi State University. His favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13.
Rev. Toby Hughes has been part of the New Zion staff since 1999 and serves as associate pastor and music minister. A graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he has been in church ministry since 1984 and loves both traditional and contemporary Christian music.
Rev. David Maxwell serves as associate pastor for administration, education, and outreach. A graduate of Louisiana College and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he has served churches across Louisiana, has served on the Nominating Committee of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, and currently sits on the board of Camp Living Waters.
Rev. Matthew Smith leads the youth and children's ministry. Together, this team oversees everything from Sunday morning Bible Adventure to the Wednesday night missions organizations, the Thursday Lunch Ministry, and the annual Guys Retreat.
Getting Connected
New Zion welcomes visitors to come as they are. The church livestreams the 10:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Sunday services, broadcasts every service on FM 87.9 in the parking lot, and offers Life Groups and a 5:00 p.m. children's and youth program the same day. Midweek offerings include Celebrate Recovery on Monday nights, the full slate of Wednesday night Bible studies and missions organizations, and the Thursday Lunch Ministry alongside REFIT and REAL Moms.
Families can stay connected through the My Church app by Pushpay, which links to New Zion's Church Community Builder database for event registration, group messaging, and online giving. Weekly bulletins and monthly newsletters are available, along with sermon audio and the church calendar. For anyone wanting to know more, the Connect page offers a simple form to request a follow-up from a staff member.
After more than 120 years of ministry in St. Tammany Parish, New Zion Baptist Church still introduces itself the same way it always has: a community where anyone can walk in, sit down, and start over.