But God was persistent over those months, and finally Jeff shared what was on his heart with his wife Marilyn and a few close friends. After he and Marilyn returned from an extended trip to Ghana in early 1989, he invited 40 of their local church members and friends to a meeting in the chapel. There, he asked them to spend the next 30 days praying about whether he was really being called to start a church in the area. Or whether he just needed to watch Field of Dreams one more time.

A month later, the group met again with a resounding response: Create the church! In the fall of 1989, many of those same people who had prayed helped Jeff and Marilyn make 1,000 phone calls out of a local real estate office.

At about 10:20 a.m. on Sunday, November 18, 1990, about 30 people gathered for HOPE's inaugural service. But at 10:25, it was as if the buses pulled up and unloaded. HOPE was “birthed” with 189 in attendance. On its first anniversary, HOPE became an official United Methodist church. In December of 1992, with a congregation that continued to expand, HOPE “graduated” to the brand-new, high-tech auditorium at the local Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, NJ.

In November 1999, on HOPE’s 9th anniversary, the first service was held in HOPE's very own building. HOPE ’s continued growth led to the expansion two years ago.

From a town square project that was missing a vital element, to a band of 15 people who really didn’t know what they were doing (luckily, God did), to an elementary school, a high school, and a building of its own, HOPE UMC has come along way, baby. And, as we’re fond of saying at HOPE, “God is good. All the time. And all the time, God is good.”

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