Exhausted, But Blessed!

I won't lie.  It has been a sprint the past two weeks to work the Back to School Bash for Menifee County.  But we sure have been richly rewarded with meeting a lot of new friends, seeing a lot of smiling faces, and being able to serve the community.

I don't know if we can adequately convey how amazed we are at the reception we receive from the people of Menifee County.  Y'all have welcomed us right in, and we are selfishly pleased that the Lord has called us and allowed us to plant a new church in such a wonderfully beautiful community with such amazing people!

We look forward to being a church that is in, for and by the people of Menifee County.

The vision of New Hope United Methodist Church was dropped onto Pastor Mike Friday night at Botts Elementary.  He said he felt God calling us to be the heart of Menifee County.  Not just right in the middle of Menifee County, but also serving with that servant's heart.  Amen to that.

Botts Elementary Back To School Bash

Pastor Mike Adams (left) sharing the Gospel

What a great night at Botts Elementary School!  The Ashland District United Methodist Churches helped put together a bunch of school supplies, food, drinks and fun for the Back to School Bash.

We always have a great time ministering to the people of Menifee County!  Pastor Mike and his team made some great contacts in the community.  One of the things we do is to ask people who don't go to church, "if you had a chance to start a church from the ground up, to do it right, what would it be like?"

We have asked countless people this question, and here are the two answers we get, almost unanimously:

1. There needs to be something for children to do, and to teach them about the Lord
2. The church needs to be a place where you can dress however you want and no one looks down on you.

Have we got a church for you!

New Hope United Methodist will be back out at the Menifee County Elementary and Middle School Back to School Bash Tuesday evening.  We are truly blessed to be called to serve in Menifee County!

Getting Back At It

So we are in the thick of it now.  A little more than a year until New Hope United Methodist Church begins its weekly services!  The launch date is Sep 7, 2014!

First Things First: We want to introduce Mike Adams as the pastor of New Hope United Methodist Church!  Mike is the youth pastor at Morehead United Methodist Church.  He is from Bath County and is very excited to be the founding pastor of New Hope!

Starting now, we will be much more visible in the community than we have been these past few months, since the Easter Egg Hunt!  Tonight, we have the first Back to School Bash for Botts Elementary.  On Tuesday, we have the Back to School Bash for Menifee County Elementary and Middle School.

The second annual New Hope Festival will be coming up soon!

We will be doing weekly children's ministry in the Fall, and we are really looking forward to the family events we have planned!

See you soon, somewhere in Menifee County!

A team process has been at the heart of New Hope United Methodist Church. From the start, Pastor Scott and Pastor Aaron knew they would have to work together-- each was already pastor of his own large church. And then, all the planning of the events and pulling them off came from the work of many other pastors, lay people, and churches. It has been quite inspiring to be a part of.

 Our Bishop, our Superintendent, our New Church Development Director, all had roles in encouraging, supporting, and financing the work. Lay people have prayed, cooked, and volunteered for every aspect of the work.

This is being a Methodist at its best. We describe ourselves as “connectional,” meaning that each congregation is connected to every other church. We pool our resources of money and people to have a bigger impact. But we don’t always see it as directly and long-term as we have in Menifee County. From disaster relief to Easter egg hunts, all the time doing the work, and all the time in between, our brother and sister Methodists have been hard at work.

 Maybe we can start New Hope United Methodist Church with this plan in place: from the get-go, we will put our prayers and support behind the next church we will plant, wherever it will be! We pray for a revival across Kentucky that starts in Menifee County!

What Start a New Church in Menifee County?

Aren't there enough churches in Menifee County? No, there aren't. We don't know of a place in America where there are enough churches. We are not coming to Menifee County to start a Methodist church just so we can have a Methodist church. Our goal from the beginning has been to start a new church for people who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and who do not already have a church they go to. Anywhere where people do not know Jesus is where we want to start a new church. So we don't want churches in Menifee County to be afraid that we are coming to take their members away. We won't. We are coming to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our intention from the moment that Pastor Scott and Pastor Aaron felt called to start New Hope United Methodist Church has been to be a church for people who don't have a church. Our goal is to love and serve the people of Menifee County! Our prayer is that if you don't know Jesus that you make your way here to this website and know that hope is coming! Hope has always been found in Jesus! If you want to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, or if you just want to know more about Jesus and our new church, please contact us at menifeenewhope@yahoo.com

New Hope Easter Egg Hunt

Wow! We had 350+ kids at the first New Hope Easter Egg Hunt! 5,525 eggs and countless smiles! We really love being with the people of Menifee County! We look forward to doing it again next year! But in the meantime... you'll see us again at Mountain Memories, Relay for Life, Back to School Bash and New Hope Festival 2013. Stay tuned for information on Vacation Bible School this summer. Thank you Menifee County for welcoming us into your community!

Welcome!

If you've found your way here, it may be because we ran into you at the New Hope Festival in Frenchburg! The New Hope United Methodist Church does not have a building...yet. Has not held a worship service... yet. Doesn't have a congregation... yet. New Hope was born in the hearts of two pastors, Scott Wilson of the Mount Sterling United Methodist Church and Aaron Mansfield of the Morehead United Methodist Church. They knew they were called to plant a new church in Frenchburg, where there is no United Methodist Church. Out goal is no to take anyone from a church they go to now, but rather to reach out to the people who do not go to church anywhere. Scott and Aaron did a lot of praying, but realized that they had not moved as quickly as the Holy Spirit wanted them to: the tornado hit, and The Morehead and Mount Sterling churches sprang into action, sending volunteers and supplies in those first critical days. But Methodists are in recovery for the long haul. We're the first to get there and we won't leave until the work is done. So we have also given lots of time, money and people to Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes. We intend to be in Menifee County for a long time-- not as a disaster recovery team, but as a church in the community and for the community. Our great hope is that we rebuild on a spiritual foundation: Jesus! So after the Festival, what will we be doing? Following up on people who gave their lives to Jesus at the Festival. Having events for children, youth and families. Bible study and small group ministry. Working to strengthen the spiritual lives and well-being of the families in Menifee County! I hope we'll see you soon!