AboutUs - Hope Of Christ Presbyterian Church 44 West White Street in Summit Hill, PA

Our session voted to join with twelve other churches in the Lehigh Presbytery in a new venture called the Jeremiah Initiative. The design is to enable our church to better understand our place in our world. We wish to discern our mission in today's Post-Modern church world. The process will take three years to complete. When finished it is our prayer that we all will be able to serve the Lord more effectively and that we will better understand our place as Christians in this particular vineyard. We have a consultant who will help us as we move through the process. We are pleased that our consultant is one of our "daughters". (Rev. Ruth Ann Christopher, pastor at Faith Church in Pen Argyl.)

We have a Coordinating Team which represents a rather broad spectrum of our members. This group will be helping us to make the decisions which will be the basis for our vision to become a more "Missional"congregation.

The scripture that is underlying the Jeremiah Initiative comes from the prophet himself: "for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future ." (Jer 29:11).

The Coordinating Team was Commissioned on Sunday April 29, 2006 at a special service. We gather with the Coordinating Teams from the other JI churches for training about once/ quarter. We created a "Conference on the Past": when the congregation looked at where where have been as a church and began to identify where we will be going as well as discerning where God's spirit is taking us. Currently we are in the process of establishing a conference on the present and we will have a conference on the future.

Our Jeremiah Initiative has stalled as of late and we hope to be able to jump start it in the future months.

It was recently discovered that the bellfry needed some structural supports added. It was also decided to refurbish the outside brickface which had been fading over the years. The color of the brick which should, of course, be red had faded to a greyish look. We want people to look at our building and think:"Hey, that looks like an up and coming place! Perhaps we should check it out as a new church home!" We contracted with Sobrinski Painting from Allentown PA to do the work. Their men arrived late in April and worked every day (so long as the weather was good) and now they have finished all their work. They added a fresh coat of new color and new facsia to replace rotting fascia was completed August 1. They also were able to put the belfry into a structurally stable state. The combined cost of all the work is approximately $103,000.
As soon as the congregation was apprised of this need people began to donate to the cause. As of this update the church has received a number of anonymous gifts which was to help defray the cost along with a gift of $5000 which we received from Emanuel UCC in Lansford. Emanuel is closing and their governing Board has seen fit to grace us with money gleaned from the sale of their building. We thank the good folk at Emanuel United Church of Christ and pray that all goes well with them. We know how difficult it is when a church decides that it must close.
If you have not had a chance to see our new "digs" please take a trip up the mountain and take a look. Certainly, you would be welcome to drop in for worship or just to say hello!