Church Planting

It has been 4 years since we sent out about 25 people from Hope, as well as 13 children, to start St. Paul Fellowship.  St. Paul Fellowship has since doubled in size from its opening services, averaging over 100 people a week in worship, as well as establishing themselves in the community. 

We also helped Mark Van Steenwyk and his wife Amy start Misseo Dei, a church in the Cedar-Riverside area that is using the house church/large group meeting format to reach people in that area of our city. 

We are excited to report that Hope launched a different kind of church this last fall.  On September 7th, 2006 Hiawatha Church was born, led by new pastors Chris Wachter and Michael Devereaux, along with their wives, Aletha and Nicole respectively.  We are doing a new form of church planting that allows a slower ‘birth’ process than traditional models.  With this in mind, we look forward to a bit of a longer “break out” time than our other plants.  The Overseer and Leadership Teams of Hope continue to govern both sites as we, over a period of years, encourage Hiawatha Church to become its own church family while still retaining a partnership in ministry.

In this regard, our elders are currently praying about how Hope can plant multiple churches in the next ten years.  How could we seek God in this area that would be seriously faith stretching, not only 3 in ten years, but perhaps dozens and dozens all around our city, state and nation?  What would that look like?  How can we accomplish this?  What is God asking us to dream about for His glory and our joy in this area?  Over the next months, the overseers will pray, discuss and plan for what the Holy Spirit seems to be birthing in us.  Stay tuned for more information soon.