Hope + Lutheran + Church

Who We Are... Being People of Hope

We are people who have been claimed by God's grace in Jesus.  As God's beloved, we are...

• ...Christians in the Lutheran tradition, who are gathered around God's Word and God's Table every Sunday in liturgical (ordered) worship

• ...receivers of God's free welcome to all at the font and at the table, and so we are led to share that welcome with everyone around us freely, too.

• ...broken and sinful people who are forgiven and made new daily by the sheer mercy of God--and we are reminded of that forgiveness each week.

• ...seeking to follow Jesus out into God's beloved world to serve, love, and share.  Come along for the adventure!
• ... a community of believers, young and old, new and lifelong, families, singles, couples--all are welcome.
• ... a growing congregation, growing in trust and faith, in service and love, in mission and in ministry, and in membership--and we invite you to come and be a part of our family.

Hope is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, within the Northwestern Pennsylvania Synod, and a partner in a shared ministry with sister congregation New Life Lutheran Church outside of Marion Center, Pennsylvania.  Hope is a participant in the Homer City Area Ministerium.  All of these connections are a part of our most basic, most central identity--we are followers of Jesus, walking and stumbling after the risen Christ to bring the news of God's gracious Reign wherever we go, in words, in actions, and in love.  We are Jesus people, held together by the Spirit, and made new each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Brief History of Hope

On February 21, 1871, Trinity Lutheran Church of Homer City was organized by Doctor R.A. Fink, then president of the Allegheny Synod with 28 charter members, the majority of whom were from Luther Chapel, Coral.  On May 19, 1878, Trinity, Homer City joined with Luther Chapel, Coral, into a shared ministry served by a single pastor.  In 1922, Trinity and Luther Chapel were joined by Brush Valley  Lutheran Church into a three-point parish. During the 1980s, those three partnered congregations were part of the Town and Country Lutheran Ministry initiative, and were served along with several other congregations by a team of pastors and interns.

In 1994, Trinity Lutheran Church, Homer City, and Brush Valley Lutheran Church merged to become Hope Lutheran Church.  Since then, Hope has been in a shared ministry with New Life Lutheran Church, a congregation in northern Indiana County near Marion Center.

The present building in which Hope worships was originally a frame structure, completed and dedicated by Pastor Snyder on October 6, 1872.  In July 1952, the old frame building was faced with Colonial Red brick, the old belfry was replaced and the roof was redone.  Between 1954 and 1964 the narthex was renovated and a pastor's office was put in.  In 2001, the most recent renovation added three new classrooms to the ground floor, and a new office, pastor's office, meeting room, and sacristy were added to the first floor.  An elevator and wheelchair accessible ramps were added in this renovation, as well.  The renovation was paid off in January 2009, and the congregation continues now to dream new visions of doing God's work in this community, and from this place out into the world!