Twenty years ago, the Rev. Colin Koch founded a new church in Clarion. On Sunday, the New Hope Church celebrated its 20th anniversary.
The church started at the old Days Inn and was there for four years before moving into a building on Route 322,” Koch said.
New Hope outgrew that location and then into Joe’s Gym in Strattanville, “where we set everything up every week and then tore it down,” Koch said.
The building required considerable remodeling.
“We used 56 gallons of paint and 15 different painters but within a month we had it done,” Koch said. “One Saturday we had 50 workers and we got a tremendous amount done in two and one-half hours.”
The sanctuary is contemporary and has chairs, not pews.
“We started this as a non-traditional church with a contemporary service. We have life lessons from the Scriptures and not just theology,” Koch said. “We try to minister to the needs of everyday life. People are dealing with a lot of problems in their lives right now. They want to hear about solutions and not the history book. They want to know how that history applies to them,” Koch added.
New Hope Church focuses on reaching out to the younger members.
“We have youth church every other week here in another part of the building,” said Koch. “We also have children’s church during the adult service. The kids have technology and a lot of activities outside the church,” he added.
Bradley and Gina Koch serve as the youth pastors.
The challenges facing the youth of today present different problems for the church staff, Koch said.
“One of the biggest things we deal with is single parent families,” he said. “The kids are being tossed back and forth. We want them to feel secure and safe in the world. They need to understand the Father’s love is different than what they are used to.”
The growth of the church hasn’t just been physical.
From the original eight people the church has grown to a congregation of about 220.
“We usually have between 180 to 190 people a week at our services. We have grown since we came here,” Koch said. “We have been joined by 50 or 60 people since we came here.”
New Hope takes a different approach in delivering its message.
“It isn’t just doctrine…it is life lessons so when something happens they will know how to take better ground in God and make better choices,” said Koch. “Those things are always a thread through everything we are doing.”
The church also reaches out to others.
“We do a little food bank here and families in recovery and we take some things that families are faced with and take it to prayer,” Koch said. “We also have a sunshine fellowship ministry that reaches out to the needs of senior citizens. We have that in the middle of the day so they don’t need to drive to drive at night. We also visit rest homes and sing for those people,” said Koch.
There is also a Christian school inside the church with a classroom on the second floor.