Our History
We started in a store-front in 1995.. We we’re officially organized May 28, 1995 with 36 charter members. We did not purchase a building until April 2000. The building we purchased was a very old church that had been in the neighborhood since 1935. I t was called the Lighthouse Assembly of God. They moved out on the highway and changed their name. So the old lighthouse, as it was called, was no more. Our vision was to make this church building a lighthouse again. Not in name, for our name (New Hope) was very special to us, but in purpose and scope. For you see this side of town (the southeast) used to be the growing and vibrant part of town. However, in the 70’s and 80’s things began to digress. And the northwest side of town began building and expanding. Most of the industry as well as businesses all moved to that side of town. The southeast began to decline. The church as well was bustling in the 70’s, but now it too had fallen off. The building itself was in need of a great deal of TLC. God moved on our heart, against all the “Church Growth” strategies, to go there and revitalize the church in that neighborhood. So we listened to the Lord and have been busy showing this neighborhood that even though business and industry has deserted them, God still cares. There is still HOPE is Christ.
Kid’s Ministry:
Our very first remodeling project was the children’s church. We have always had a heart for kids and youth. We fill up both a 25 passenger shuttle bus as well as a 15 passenger van every Wednesday night with kids and teenagers.
Youth Ministry:
Our second major project was a youth room. We turned an upstairs area (30x50) that was composed of 9 small classrooms into one room which is now our youth room. This was a major, major project because we had to install all new electricity and heat and air. But it was worth it all and the youth have a nice place to worship. The outside of our building was in bad shape as well. We installed vinyl siding and a metal roof, along with all new windows (the original windows from 1935 were still installed in the older part of the building). Now people can just drive by and they notice that something is happening here.
Praise and Worship:
We fight the battle like most congregations of ministering to everyone when it comes to music. We are extremely blessed with talent and it shows in our worship. We have mostly a contempory flavor, but we do incorporate traditional hymns and styles as well. We want to reach the contempory crowd without leaving out our seniors because we know how vital they are to the church as well. Of course our main objective in worship is to glorify God!
