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Our History

Hope Church emerged as the fruit of a pastor's desire to plant churches in the greater Cincinnati area. This vision was shared and cultivated by a group of about 40 people meeting in a Sunday school class at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Milford, Ohio in early 1989. After much prayer and discussion the group made a commitment to begin a church and soon created a pastoral search committee.

Summer 1989 – Jonathan Burnham became Hope’s first Lead Pastor.
1989-1990 – Hope held services at Kings Mills Elementary School and then at the Village Church in Mason, Ohio.
December of 1991 – Hope acquired our current location (20 acres) from a Hope family who years earlier had felt led to purchase the property for some special purpose.
Late 1993 – Sunday services were moved to Mason High School.
Late 1994 – Having purchased an additional ten acres, Hope celebrated the opening of our new building in Mason.
Fall 1999 – Our ministry to preschoolers and their families begins as Little Schoolhouse Preschool launches.
2002 – Pastor Burnham left Hope Church to become a professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida.
March 2003 – Hope’s Special Needs’ Ministry begins.
July of 2004 – Dr. Michael Moriarty became Hope's Lead Pastor. After nearly three years of serving Hope, God led Pastor Michael in a new direction: giving leadership to Intervarsity.
May of 2008 – Pastor Stephen Kirk became Hope’s third Lead Pastor.
2016 - Pastor Stephen’s book, MULTIPLY, which communicates the vision of Hope, is published.
April 28, 2019 – The first “Love Mason Plus” takes place as our Hope Family meets tangible needs throughout our greater community on that Sunday morning.
Fall of 2019 – Hope’s vision is further refined and clarified by the sermon series, MORE, which results in naming it, This is the LIFE.
Winter 2020 – A Leadership Team from the Congregation, Staff, and Elder board is selected to develop a new facilities improvement project, called InsideOut; Renewing HOPE for All
May 2, 2021 – Hope members voted overwhelmingly to launch InsideOut.
March 20, 2022 – InsideOut Groundbreaking Celebration as construction begins.
Spring 2023 – The new Gathering is set to open.
Winter 2024 - Our new Commons area will open, giving a new life to the Hope Church campus.

The Lord has blessed us in many tangible ways, and we are very grateful. With Pastor Stephen's leadership and a strong united leadership team and staff, it is with great anticipation that we look forward to what God will do among us as we serve Jesus together and add new and exciting pages to our history. Hope Church has always been blessed by committed believers who have been equipped to do the work of the ministry. Whether it is serving our children, students, or adults, or leading in the many other areas of ministry, the people of Hope Church have been faithful in carrying the Gospel forward.

Our Affiliation

We are associated with and support the mission of the Evangelical Free Church of America, which exists to glorify God by multiplying healthy churches among all people. The growing ministry of the EFCA—1,300+ churches—currently extends to some 45 countries of the world. Our connection is based on our mutual commitment to serve our Lord Jesus Christ with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and obedience to the Word of God. It does not, however, control our ability to lead, make decisions, or structure our governance to reflect the individuality of our church. The term “Evangelical” refers to our commitment to the proclamation of the Gospel and to the central authority of Scripture. The term “Free” refers to our form of church government, which is an elder-led congregational structure.