Fall 2023
Dear New Hope Church,
Since its beginning over fifty years ago, New Hope Church (NHC) has been a faith-filled community with the courage to “follow Jesus and share His love” in significant ways in the Portland Metro area. In the past several years, under the leadership of Pastor John Rosensteel, NHC has experienced God’s blessing as God has moved us out of our old building and adopted Mt. Scott Church of God into the NHC family to create something new—a “better together” church embarking on a remodeling project of our building in preparation for all He wants to do in our Southeast Portland neighborhood.
When NHC and Mt. Scott Church of God began discussing a potential adoption in 2020, we contracted with the executive leadership team from Willamette Christian Church (WCC) to guide us through the process. On this journey together, our connection with WCC deepened and we have become aware that both churches feel compelled to meet the needs of churches in the Portland area who are struggling and in decline. The reasons for this are many but it is important to note that our nation is in a “post Christian” era and the Pacific NW region leads culture’s movement away from church attendance and church relevancy. With a heart of concern for this reality, Pastor John has been at the center of helping hurting pastors and churches in Portland. The executive team at WCC has been actively involved in helping many churches flourish. For all of these reasons, NHC and WCC have been participating in a discovery journey to determine if we would be better together.
After a careful and lengthy discernment process, elder boards from both WCC and NHC have unanimously voted to move forward and are pleased to announce that we have decided to merge as one church effective January 1, 2024.
Who is Willamette Christian Church?
WCC has served the greater West Linn area for more than 60 years through meaningful weekend services, thriving small groups, exciting and relevant teaching, and service projects locally and around the world.
There are unique similarities between WCC and NHC. First and foremost, we are united in vision and theology. In addition, both churches have significant commitments to local and international missions through financial support and service. On Sundays, we desire to serve those who come through our doors with extravagant hospitality and welcome them to services that feature Biblically-based, approachable teaching and worship through music.
Since 2016, WCC has adopted two churches which now function today as three unique churches: Hope City in Milwaukie, Beaverton Christian in Beaverton, and Willamette Christian in West Linn. The unique aspect of this multi-site ministry is the provision of central services for all churches. Central services include human resources, finance, worship and media support as well as pastoral support. This streamlines the oversight areas of each neighborhood church so that the focus can be on ministry in the name of Jesus. NHC will be merging with WCC to become the fourth campus uniquely expressing the love of Jesus in SE Portland. Over time, it is the mutual desire of the merged church to invite additional compatible churches into our church family with the possibility of also planting some churches so that the love of Jesus is expressed in even more Portland Metro neighborhoods. NHC brings this to the table through the heart of Pastor John who has already built many of those relationships across Portland. Pastor John will be joining the executive team at the newly merged church to oversee both this growth and the ministry depth of the pastoral team, along with other aspects of ministry across all campuses.
What does this mean for our church?
New Hope Church elders understand that we are a church who has recently been through significant change and we are asking you to open yourselves up to another one. As we consider what it means to “follow Jesus and share His love” in an era where many are abandoning church and pastors are burning out, we believe God is expanding our resources and enlarging our community through this merger to do just that!
New Hope Church will continue to go by the same name. NHC will continue to express the love of Jesus to our neighborhood and in our worship services as we have done for many years.
We will continue to offer contemporary services that provide opportunities for people to grow in faith and relationship with Jesus regardless of whether they have questions, are new believers, or have known Jesus their entire lives. With this in mind, we will continue to invest in our ministry to kids and teenagers, as well as provide environments for connection through men’s, women’s, seniors, and home communities. We will continue the neighborhood ministries that mean a great deal to us such as “Neighbor to Neighbor” and serving at the Clackamas Service Center. The merger will not affect NHC’s remodeling plans which are now fully underway.
What does this mean for the leadership of our church?
Over the next 3-6 months, as Pastor John is transitioning into a new central role at our newly merged church, he will also be preparing the way for healthy succession and participating in leadership. NHC will continue to be the home church for the Rosensteel family and John will continue to teach regularly at New Hope as part of his new responsibilities.
A new elder board composed of three elders from the NHC elder board and four elders from the WCC board will provide oversight and protection for all four campuses. This new elder board will begin its governance on January 1, 2024 and the former NHC elder board will cease to exist.
Over the next 3-6 months, we’ll be building the process to name a new lead pastor for NHC. The new lead pastor will be included on the executive team at the newly merged church with full-time focus on leading the staff and ministries of NHC.
NHC staff have served God’s vision for this church well. We are committed to loving people well, to honoring existing leadership, and to steward our people-resources well through this transition. The current staff at NHC is right sized for the near future.
Why now?
While New Hope is a healthy, vibrant church, we also recognize that there are challenges ahead for the state of the American church. For more information on this, see the resources below on the Great Dechurching of America.
Final Considerations
NHC is merging its significant resources of amazing pastors and staff, generous and committed community, and all its material assets with the strong staff, community and assets of WCC with the vision of strengthening the message of Christ’s love for the world in the city of Portland. Both churches are in strong financial condition. While being a multi-site church, we are not an impersonal “mega-church” due to our commitment to being a family of strong, vital churches who express themselves uniquely in their neighborhoods.
We are grateful for those of you who faithfully give to the ministry of NHC. Your giving will be deployed as it always has been, with great care and thoughtfulness to honor the work that will bring God glory and will help produce healthy ministry. General funds received at each campus will be deployed to support the communities of that specific campus, as well as to support the central services that are required to provide leadership to both campuses.
What can you do?
We invite you to pray for us as we complete the merger. Among the elders, pastors, and staff from both churches there is a spirit of unity and great affection. Our excitement for what God is doing through our obedience continues to grow.
Please understand that the decision we have made is a missional decision. We believe that coming together as one church will allow us to accomplish our mission to a greater degree. It will allow us to more effectively serve the city and the church of Portland. We will truly be better together for the glory of God and the sake of the world.
We will welcome any questions you have. Dates and times for community questions and conversations will be announced shortly.
-The New Hope Elders
FAQS
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No. New Hope Church will continue to be called New Hope Church.
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We will continue to offer weekend services at 9 & 11AM so people can grow in faith and relationship with Jesus, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey.
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Over the next few months, Pastor John will be transitioning out of New Hope’s lead pastor role and into a more central role at our newly-merged church. This new position will give him the opportunity to strategically invest into the leadership on all four campuses as well as expand his influence and guidance to other pastors and churches across our city. John will continue to teach regularly at New Hope as part of his new responsibilities.
We are working to create a healthy succession plan for New Hope’s new Lead Pastor. The new lead pastor will be included on the executive team of our newly-merged church with their focus on leading the staff and ministries of New Hope.
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All full and part-time staff will continue in their current roles at New Hope. Additionally, our staff members will have the opportunity to partner with the staff members from the other three campuses and collaborate on projects and initiatives together.
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Both New Hope and WCC have been faithful stewards and are in strong financial positions. There will be one financial entity for all locations, and each location will have its own budget and will participate in supporting centralized services. All plans sit under the guidance and oversight of the merged Elder Board.
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General funds received at each campus will be deployed to support the communities of that specific campus, as well as supporting the central services that are required to provide leadership to all campuses. Your giving will be stewarded, as it always has been, with great care and thoughtfulness to honor the work that will bring God glory and will help produce healthy ministry.
