Dear Hope Friends and Family,Today we start the season of Advent. It is the four weeks leading to Christmas, and also the start of the Christian year. This year we turn to the wisdom of Dr. Kate Bowler, who teaches us how to bless our actual lives - the good, the bad, the ugly.Not only will we be talking about this in our online-worship (livestream at 11am, on demand any time), but I am inviting y...  Read More

Dear Hope Church,Earlier today I heard my junior higher talking to a friend about about traditions leading up to Christmas. In his friend's house, they have a moving elf that brings them little gifts every day leading up to the big day. My son said, "Bruh, at my house an angel flies around and brings a Scripture to read everyday, and then we get a piece of chocolate from the Advent calendar."He's ...  Read More

Dear Friends,We're in the in-between, but we are so close! The anticipation of all-that-is-to-come is building! As we hear timelines from the contractors, we hesistate to put any hard and fast dates out there. However, as soon as we can determine volunteer availability (form below), we can get a sense of when we'll be ready to start Preview Services.Preview Services allow us to figure out our rhyt...  Read More

Dear Hope Church Friends and Family,You Did It!!! We've said all along that our giving campaign was not about construction, it was about community and belonging and a place to share God's love. Yes, we'll be able to pay our construction bill which puts our building in compliance with codes. More than that you all communicated that we want to continue to connect with each other and serve the commun...  Read More

More Details About 10/29/20239-10: Final Coffee Hour at Hope. This is your last chance to hang out in 1304 E. Empire, with good food and coffee!10-11:15: One Worship Service Online and In-PersonWe'll celebrate with lots of music - two original pieces!We'll receive any Open the Doors for Good pledges and gifts to add to the total received/pledged to date and celebrate that number!We celebrate all t...  Read More

Dear Hope Friends,As we've started the campaign to Open the Doors FOR GOOD, I've received great questions. One of them is: "In the 130K we need to raise, how much is fluff?" I wish this answer was different, but none of it is fluff.Some of you might remember our charge conference, where we had learned that code would require a firewall (keeps fire at bay for 90 minutes) for this building, and it w...  Read More

Dear Hope Church Friends,You are part of this congregation during a pivotal time in our history! There are lots of moving pieces as we grow our ministries for children, youth, and adults all while prepping for a move.Thank you being part of it! -- JennieFundraising & Generosity GroupFirst Meeting Tomorrow at 12:15 (Right after 11am Worship)It's time to open the doors for good in our new location. ...  Read More

Sunday, September 17th after each worship service, we are excited to offer tours of 1 Yount Drive, our future church building. Worship is 9 & 11, Tours are 10:15 and 12:15!The most common query: when do we move!? Here's a very general timeline, some of which is out of our control:September: Close on building, work days for landscaping and demo, wait for permits from the city for contractor workOct...  Read More

When I asked Ronda Queen to chair our Leadership Council, I promised her that it would be easy! Little did we know that we would face building eviction due to new fire codes - in the midst of one of the most competitive real estate markets Bloomington-Normal has seen! Everyone familiar with commercial real estate was not optimistic about our chance of finding something that would work for "assembl...  Read More

5 Ways to Find Glimmers of Hope:You may be very aware when a story, a song, a person, a conversation, or even a smell triggers a negative memory or makes you feel anxious or depressed. The same can happen in an opposite way with glimmers. Glimmers have been defined as those micro moments in your day that make you feel joy, peace, happiness or gratitude.We're going to focus the beautiful month of S...  Read More

Sept 10, 17 & 24 at 10am on SundaysLooking to put down some roots?Come to our Connection Class series, Rooted in Hope, this September, where Jennie will help you find community, and learn more about Hope and church membership!Ideally you are able to attend all 3, but flexibility always exists! If an evening time would be better, let Jennie know....  Read More