“…on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death will not overcome it” (from Matthew 16:18)
Even though Hope church was officially organized in 1874, its history and origins can be traced way back to the time of the day of the Holy Spirit, the birthday of Christian church, nearly 2000 years ago!
After the Pentecost (Acts 2), the early Christian church began to spread all around the world like a wildfire. Many of the followers of Jesus went to different countries and continents to plant Christian congregations. After a wave of initial persecutions, the early Christian church gradually gained acceptance and recognition among many state leaders and became an official religion. As the Church continued to increase in numbers, it was only a matter of time before universal, worldwide Christian church split in two branches in 1054.
As a result of that split, the Eastern (Orthodox) and the Western (Roman Catholic) churches were established.
As the Roman Catholic church continued to grow and expand in Europe in medieval ages, a few of our famous predecessors, known as Reformers (Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingly) began to boldly proclaim (protest) their drastic disagreements with the Roman Catholic church and its multiple deviations from the Bible and original Christianity. The Protestant movement was then born in the year 1517, and numerous Protestant churches began to spread all over the European continent. Many of them were established among the people of Germany and Switzerland. Quite a few of their descendents later immigrated to America in search of new life and religious freedom.
On May 23, 1874, the Evangelical Reformed Hope Congregation was officially planted in Fremont, Wisconsin, with 32 charter members. Consisting primarily of German and Swiss immigrants, the small congregation met in homes to sing, to pray and hear the Scripture. Initially, the services were held in German, and it was only in 1918 that the church decided to gradually move to having some of the services in English.
Hope has been at the present location since 1903, and continues to faithfully minister to all who seek to experience God’s power in their lives.
A lot of things have changed since then, but what remains is our uncompromising commitment to remain faithful to the spirit of the early Christians and our reformed heritage while developing modern forms of ministry and bringing the message of God to the people of the 21st century.
Now we are a modern, multi-generational and diverse congregation, strong in numbers and courageous in spirit. It is a church that is excited about its present and its future!
No matter where you are in your journey in life, we invite you to come and experience the life-changing power of God and share it with others!
The future belongs to the people of God!
