History of newhope church

Pre-launch Stage...

The conception of newhope church began not with its launch, but in September of 1998 as Dr. Benji and Amy Lynn Kelley lived in the Graham/Burlington area of North Carolina. It was during these days that they finished their degrees from Duke University, had their first three children, and God started placing the vision of newhope in their hearts!

While serving at Salem Church, Pastor Benji simply could not shake the burden of starting a new kind of church for the cause of Christ in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, and surrounding areas. The vision of newhope was a burning passion during these early days, though the birth of this church would not take place for 3 years.

It has often been said, "God doesn't call the equipped; God equips the called." As Pastor Benji contemplated the launch of a brand new church, he sensed a great need for further learning and equipping for the task at hand. In 1999 he applied to the prestigious Beeson Pastoral Program (BPP) at the Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. The Beeson Pastor Program only accepts 15 - 20 pastors each year from around the world. If one is accepted, he/she joins an elite group of pastors who are granted full tuition, full housing, books paid in full, and all expenses paid to travel around the world and study the best of the best churches and learn from many of the most effective pastors and communicators in the world today. Fortunately, Pastor Benji was accepted into this program. As a result, the Kelley family loaded up a U-Haul truck and with their three children, Anna Grace, Benjamin Cole, and Wesley Jacob, set out for Wilmore, Kentucky for Doctoral studies.

The entire Beeson Pastor Program, in the words of Pastor Benji, "Was a priceless opportunity to focus all of my attention and efforts on strategically planning for the birth and life of this new church." As Amy Lynn worked tirelessly raising the three Kelley kids, Pastor Benji took a full-time course load while traveling around the world every three weeks learning from the best churches and leaders around the world. He uniquely tailored his doctoral degree toward planning for newhope. He graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary with a doctorate in church leadership and biblical preaching.

Launch Stage...

On May 25, 2001, they arrived in Chapel Hill and moved into their first home, on 108 Nuttree Lane, which would also serve as the "Upper Room" out of which they would start newhope. The primary reason they bought this home was because it offered a third floor upper room from which they met and prayed and launched their Core Visionary Team.

From May 25, 2001 to January 27, 2002 Pastor Benji met with the Core Visionary Team in the upper room. These Sunday evenings were powerful celebrations of worship and leadership development. From moment one our pastor cast vision for a high impact church grounded in biblical truth and authentic community through Small Groups. The core visionary team started with a total of 5 people involved, namely Pastor Benji, Amy Lynn and the three Kelley children.

The first outreach took place on July 4, 2001, as the Kelley family handed out ice-cold water bottles at the Chapel Hill Fourth of July Parade. The water bottles were free and refreshing to local residents and the label read, "No strings attached, God loves you and so do we, newhopenc.org 960-HOPE (4673)".

Over the course of the next six months the Core Visionary Team grew from 5 to 30. Between November 2001 and January 2002, newhope church strategically publicized the upcoming birth of this baby church to be launched on January 22, 2002. Appearing in newspaper ads, radio spots, and multiple mass mailings, newhope blanketed the community with their message. Simply put, the vision of newhope was to "Reach (People for Christ), Teach (The Bible), Release (Fully devoted followers of Jesus)."

After relentlessly pursuing multiple locations from which to launch this church, Pastor Benji and the Core Visionary Team decided the perfect location was East Chapel Hill High School on Weaver Dairy Road in North Chapel Hill. They had carefully pursued other locations like the Friday Center on Highway 54, and the Timberlyne Movie Theatre, but January 27, 2002 quickly approaching, God flung open the doors for newhope church to be born in East Chapel Hill High School. Thanks to wonderful people like Principal Dave Thayden and Betsy Harvey, this public school location served this community well for two years.

In an interview with a newspaper reporter, Pastor Benji declared, "We knew East Chapel Hill High was a public school during the week, but on Sunday mornings, we firmly believed the auditorium and common area became a house of God as people Worshipped Jesus and the Holy Spirit descended each and every week."

The Core Visionary Team was blown away as God drew 607 people to our very first worship celebration. About the Grand Opening on January 27th, 2002, Pastor Benji says, "I recall looking out at an empty parking lot at 9:40 am. The Core Visionary Team was looking at me as if to ask 'Where are the people?' I remembered praying like never before, 'Please let somebody come,' and then the greatest scene unfolded as I looked out at the parking lot and the long concrete sidewalk and the cars and people began arriving as far as the eye could see." The Core Visionary Team members could not contain themselves. They were hugging and crying and hi-fiving one another as the music kicked in and the very first public worship celebration took place. The first message and series came from the book of Acts and was titled, "Do It Again, God!"

The original Pastoral Team of newhope church consisted of Senior Pastor Benji Kelley, Children's Pastor Amy Lynn Kelley, Youth Pastor Jeremiah Dodson, Administrative Pastor Ed Hanigan, and Worship Arts Pastor Elijah Chester. That Easter newhope celebrated its first Christian Baptisms on a cold, rainy, and dreary Sunday. We baptized 12 persons outside, in a stainless steel cattle trough, under the Stars and Stripes flag of the United States of America. Amy Lynn Kelley was one of those first newhopers baptized into Christ!

Over the course of the next two years we witnessed over 100 baptisms and the church community continued to grow in attendance and faith. However, as 2003 came to a close the school district and East Chapel Hill High began to inform us that newhope needed to look elsewhere. The school district had a policy that churches should stay no longer than two years, and we were approaching those time constraints. This was a frightening time in the life of our church, for we had no idea where we were going to worship. The thriving community had pursued multiple land purchases and each time God would shut the door.

One day while jogging with John Durbin, the local priest of Saint Thomas Moore Catholic Church, our pastor learned of the old Saint Thomas Moore sanctuary at 740 Gimghoul Road becoming available for rent. The two pastors put their minds together and in no time, newhope church and the Raleigh Diocese of the Catholic Church had worked out a lease agreement so that our church family could transition this baby congregation from East Chapel Hill High School (ECHHS) to Gimghoul Road.

Following Vision Day 2 (Our Annual Anniversary), the community immediately loaded two large U-haul trucks at ECCHS location and drove the short distance to Gimghoul Rd. It was an exciting day as our young church had a more permanent location. Again, God blessed this movement and location and strong growth and discipleship continued to be hallmarks of this movement.

Securing our Post...

In 2004, we established a relationship with Dr. Craig Dunn, the CEO of the Wesleyan Investment Foundation (WIF). Through the generous support of newhopers, a gracious gift of 1 million dollars, and the Wesleyan Investment Foundation, newhope was able to put a stake in the ground and claim 27 prime acres of land 3/4 of a mile from the Streets of Southpoint Mall. This land was nothing less than a miracle and an answer to prayer. Since then, we have secured an additional 9 acres for a total of 36 acres of land in the heart of North Carolina.

In 2006, the old Catholic Church was sold to a local Chapel Hill resident and newhope was forced to move for a second time. Once again, through God's providence, Pastor Benji met another pastor and this partnership provided for newhope to rent the Garrett Road location near hwy 15-501 and Duke University. At this third location, we witnessed amazing growth, both in people being saved and committed to Christ, but also in racial and socio-economic diversity. This is a core value we fully embrace.

Between 2006 - 2009, our leaders and staff worked with POLYCON and Pat Morgan Architectural service to developed a 5 year Strategic Ministry Plan (SMP). The result was not only a ministry plan for all 36 acres but an incredibly designed 36,000 square foot Phase One building to the glory and honor of God!

Grand Opening at the Southpoint Campus...

On Sunday, March 15, 2009, the newhope community of faith moved from the Garrett Road location and opened her new doors to the Southpoint Campus. The newhope volunteers and staff could not be more pleased with what has taken place over the course of the first year in our building! We have more people growing in Christ than ever before, more people in Small Groups and serving in ministry than ever before, hundreds of people accepting Christ and getting baptized, and our church doubled in less than a year!

In addition to spiritual and numerical growth, God has strategically positioned us to serve the larger body of Christ. As such, we are increasingly becoming a conference site for other churches to come and be encouraged, blessed, and challenged to take their ministries and leadership to entire new levels of faithfulness and effectiveness. (Romans 12:9) We are so committed to blessing other pastors and churches that in 2009, we tweaked our church's vision for the very first time since the inception of newhope church. It now reads, in its entirety:

Reach people for Christ...

Teach People the Bible...

Release fully devoted followers and other churches to the glory and honor of Jesus...

It's that, "And other churches to the glory and honor of Jesus" that was added and fires our team up. We are thrilled about what God is doing among us, not only in our own church, but also in other churches throughout central, North Carolina.

At the end of the day, newhope church can only be describes as a "God Thing." Any words, stories, or adjectives fall woefully short of what has taken place since 2002. In eight short years, we have seen steady growth averaging between 40 - 59% annually, with 97% growth during our first year in the new building! Thankfully, that growth is not just in numbers but involves salvations, baptisms, small groups and ministry participation, and newhopers actively engaged in investing and inviting their friends to Christ and/or the newhope environment! We praise God for this harvest! We are experiencing front row seats as God struts His stuff and blows our minds every step of the way.

We give thanks to Almighty God and promise to keep lifting Jesus up, trusting that God will continue to draw all men/women to Himself. (John 12:32)