Hope Midtown Launches October 2014
I’m really excited to announce that Hope Church NYC will be planting our third church in Midtown Manhattan in October 2014.
It’s hard to believe that in September 2012, we launched this church not knowing what to expect, especially with the challenges of starting anything new in a city like New York.
We hoped to become a movement of diverse, small/medium sized neighborhood churches where God could move throughout faith communities, and 20 months later, we’ve been able to start two growing churches (Hope Church Astoria & Hope Church Roosevelt Island) in remarkably diverse contexts.
Of course, we’ve had our challenges too, but in many ways those challenges have allowed us to press deeper into trusting that God is doing the work, while we’re along for the ride.
For the past year and a half we’ve had a group of folks journeying together in Manhattan, and this crew is now preparing to help us launch this church in the Fall.
I will be leading this new venture along with James Chi (you’ll hear more about James soon) and a host of awesome people that comprise our Midtown Community.
In addition, Craig Okpala will be overseeing the worship experience in Midtown while still being significantly engaged in Astoria.
I will also remain significantly engaged in Astoria (I’ll still be attending and preaching at Hope Astoria regularly, for the most part) as Hope Midtown will gather in the evening.
One of the clearest ways this has all been possible has been because of the standout leadership of people like Kristian Hernandez (Hope Astoria & Preaching Team Lead – Kris will be a regular preacher in Midtown), Dan & Amanda Sadlier (Hope Roosevelt Island), and our Transitional Leadership Team (Darryl Romano, Christine Okpala, & Tony Thottukadavil), and a stellar staff team at our churches.
They, along with so many of our leaders, volunteers, and attenders – have been a joy to serve alongside.
And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my wife Tina is as supportive of this as she’s ever been.
I’m excited about all that God is doing in NYC, and I’m so glad to be along for the ride.
Hope Midtown has begun meeting weekly on Friday Nights in Manhattan as we prepare to launch in October, 2014. If you’d like to find out more or if you’d like to get involved, you can email me at drew@hopechurchnyc.org.
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