A brief history of how it all began!
'Aussie Church Starting'. That was the announcement of the arrival of ‘The Hope of Sheffield Christian Church’ in a newspaper advert.
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The Hope of Sheffield Christian Church was launched in Easter 1991 after Dave and Jenny Gilpin watched coverage of the Sheffield Hillsborough disaster on Australian television. For Dave it meant coming back home, as he was born in Birkenhead but for Jenny, it meant leaving her native Australia and launching into the unknown. Here's the story so far:
1991 - 1993
The Church kicks off in Sheffield at the John Barnett Centre in Westfield, Sheffield before moving to the Carter Lodge School in Hackenthorpe, Sheffield. After a short stay it was off to the University Halls on the outskirts of Sheffield and then to Granville College in 1993. Ponds Forge International Sports Centre then became home to the church.
1994
The Hope of Sheffield Christian Church moves to a more permanent address right in the heart of the city in an old warehouse on Matilda Street. The Church continues to grow and thrive!
1998
'The Megacentre' is born as the Church continues to grow and be of influence in the city and the local community of Sheffield. As the Church takes over this old derelict tool factory, right in the heart of the city, that has been left empty for around eight years the name is also changed to the simpler ‘Hope City Church’.
The Sheffield Megacentre is now home to one of Sheffield’s largest indoor play centres for children - Megakidz, and comprises of everything from a Meganursery, Conferencing facilities, Megalearn (adult and community education), and the MegaRelax Café. The Megacentre is also the centre of all church operations including all the business and finance offices, event and pastoral administration and our creative media teams.
october 2002
With a vision to build congregations in cities across the North of England, a team headed up by Dave starts Hope City Church in Manchester. Hiring a room in Manchester's Jarvis hotel, and adverts in the paper and the local Wesley Owen bookstore provides the beginnings of this new congregation which meets at 5:30pm allowing a team of about 20 people to travel across from Sheffield on a Sunday afternoon.
The Manchester congregation met in the Jarvis until mid 2004 when it moved briefly to the Novotel hotel before leasing a small warehouse in the city centre on Mary Street in September 2004.
october 2003
In October 2003 the initial plan was to launch out into Leeds, but an unexpected turn of events leads to Hope City Church being given an existing congregation in Liverpool. Sheffield's youth pastors, Andy & Karen suddenly find themselves making a quick move as they are asked to take on the role congregational pastors - and Hope City Liverpool is born.
After starting out in an old school hall where the existing congregation had made there home for some time, the congregation moved into the city centre to the Marriott Hotel and then on to the FACT cinema.
october 2004
A similar team led by Pastor Dave that had started Manchester, begins making the Sunday afternoon trips and Hope City Leeds is born in the Radission Hotel at 5:30pm.
october 2005
After a year of building up a consistent congregation, the student pastors from Sheffield, Chris & Gosia are asked to step into the role of congregational pastors in Leeds. Services move to a Sunday morning in a new home at the Hilton Hotel.
april 2007
After great growth and success in Manchester the congregation is released to become Audacious City Church under the leadership of Glyn & Sophia Barrett who had been Associate Pastors in Hope City Church for 11 years.
september 2007
Once more the teams head out from Sheffield on a Sunday afternoon - this time up to Newcastle to establish the next congregation of Hope City Church. Simon & Rachel Taylor head over from being Congregational Pastors in Manchester to now pastor the new Newcastle congregation.
october 2007
Hope City Church Liverpool acquires its own Megacentre! The building is a Sports Centre with a vast array of facilities including a gym, flood-lit football pitches and a bowling green! This leisure, recreation and conferencing business is owned by the congregation and gives Hope City a great opportunity to reach out into the community of Liverpool.
september 2008
With the congregation in Sheffield expanding the Megacentre concert hall is expanded from a 600 seater to a 900 seater creating a brand new state of the art concert venue.
Also - after a great year of growth, the Newcastle congregation move to a new venue at Kings Road Centre and begin services on a Sunday morning!
november 2008
Hope City Church Leeds acquires its very own Megacentre - a large multi-story warehouse and office building on the edge of the city centre looking straight out on to one of Leed's busiest roads. The building will be used to house the congregation, serve the community and offer serviced office space and conferencing facilities.
march 2009
Our Leeds Congregation moves into it's new home having renovated phase one into an auditorium which will one day be the entrance foyer to a hive of activity serving the community of Leeds.
September 2009
Roger and Anna Davies move from Sheffield to Liverpool to become the new Congregation Pastors of our Liverpool congregation after six years under Andy and Karen Gorman who have been announced to be our Congregation PAstors in Ghana, Africa starting up in the spring of 2010.
Our Newcastle Congregation moved into the Newcastle United Football ground to meet every Sunday in the heart of the Geordie city. It's had a profound affect of the score sheets so far!
We also launched our first Series of Hope City TV on UCB TV (Sky Channel 586). A magazine style show with 10 episodes per series with each new epidose airing four times during the week.
March 2010
We sent a team of 8 people over to Accra in Ghana to begin the planning and establishing of our first congregation in Africa. The oficial launch is in Septpember with Pastors Andy and Karen Gorman at the helm. The Leadership Academy are heading out for mission in May and September to start training and equipping the early members in all areas of building church as well as doing outreach in the local community.
the future?
So far we have 5 congregations in the UK and plans for our first congregation in Africa to launch in 2010.
Our 2012 Vision includes establishing 5 new Congregations (three more in the UK and one in Europe), the creation of 3 new Megacentres and a Megaplex in Sheffield with a 2,000 seat auditorium for the Church. Our goal in 2012 is to have over 3,000 people worshipping in our services across all of these Congregations."
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