A new home for New Hope’s congregation

A New Hope has taken root at the building that once housed the Free Methodist Church at the corner of Fourth Street and Fourth Avenue Southeast in Jamestown.

Specifically, it’s the New Hope Free Lutheran Church, which purchased the building from the closing Free Methodist church on Dec. 21.

“Folks are just excited,” said the Rev. Frank Cherney, New Hope’s pastor. “They’re wiping down all the pews and polishing all the furniture.”

Both Cherney and New Hope member David Glinz praised the Methodists for how well they had taken care of the building, and how neat and well-maintained it already was when New Hope took possession of it.

The building includes a spacious sanctuary with padded pews that originally came from Victory Lutheran Church, when it switched to chairs.

Cherney called the new building “the little church that’s big inside,” noting that it seemed much larger on the inside than it looks from the street.

New Hope’s new sanctuary is relatively plain, with arch-shaped clear glass windows and green carpet.

A simple cross forms the centerpiece, flanked by two glass cross-shaped windows, as well as two musical instruments — a piano and a vintage organ.

The organ — an electric-powered Hammond — takes a few minutes to warm up, but its condition, like that of the rest of the church, is excellent, Cherney said.

The church got started in 2010, first with prayer meetings and later as a worshipping group. About 70 people have been worshipping at New Hope each Sunday at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamestown, and Cherney had an office in the Park Plaza Shopping Center.

A few changes are on the way for the new New Hope, which is a congregation of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations.

“The big thing is, we want to make it handicap accessible. People can get in here with handicaps, but it’s not easy,” Cherney said.

That means adding a chair lift to the lobby now and a ramp to the other side of the building in the spring. The chair lift will cost about $5,000.

Other updates are planned as well. Some of the classrooms in the church haven’t been used for a long time, and will eventually get a facelift, and at least one storage room will likely be remade into another classroom — New Hope has many small children.

The parsonage adjoining the church will be used for ministry fellowship, Sunday school rooms and youth gatherings and will include the nursery.

If the congregation gets a parish worker, part of the parsonage will be used as the worker’s living quarters.

“I’d never been in this church until we were looking at buying it. I’m super impressed by how neat it is and how clean,” Glinz said.

One addition to the sanctuary itself will be a screen of some sort for projecting the congregation’s music. Cherney hopes to get new hymnals for the church as well.

“We don’t care if we worship in a barn — (but) this is not a barn,” said Cherney with a smile, noting how excited the congregation is that God has provided such an excellent worship location.

“We just want to serve people, that’s what we want. We want to give people an opportunity to serve too,” Cherney said. “We want to help bring new hope through the Gospel.”

The first service in the new building will begin at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 27, with Christian education starting at 9 a.m. for children and adults alike.

All are invited to attend.

A dedication service for the building will be scheduled for a Sunday afternoon in March.

That way, people from the many other churches who have helped New Hope by lending its people space, preachers and many other resources can attend as well, Cherney said.

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453

or by email at

klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags: life, religion