We are praising God for the great way our New Hope family has responded to the Phase 2 expansion (Advancing the Kingdom). Presently, more than 400 families and individuals have responded to God’s lead and have generously committed funds toward the cost of expanding our Children’s wing, adding Parking spaces and increasing seating capacity in the Auditorium. The recent vote of approval (99.14%) in favor of moving forward with the Children’s wing and Parking projects is confirmation that our church is highly unified in this direction.
With our current overall growth rate of 9% annually, it is obvious that we do need more physical space to sustain this trajectory of increase in the future. Since launching as a new church in 2007, we have had many opportunities to step out in faith, trusting God to meet our needs as we responded to His clear direction. I believe the same is true with our current plans for the expansion of our facility. The Lord has brought the increase, and we are responding to what He is doing among us.
Presently, we have arrived at the point in time in which we need to make a collective decision about the expansion of the Auditorium (see new rendering images above.) Because of ever increasing building costs, we have found a need to compress the scope of the project in order to keep it within reach of our financial resources.
To date, we have received commitments for $8.4 million in cash and pledges. Additionally, the Elders have agreed to move $2 million from our General Fund reserves into the Phase 2 Fund, giving us a combined total of $10.4 million towards the goal of $11.7 million. With that in mind, we will need to obtain an additional $1.3 million to complete the project. With the Lord’s blessing and a final congregational vote of approval, our goal is to begin the physical construction process of the total project in July of this year.
Achieving this timeline will allow us to avoid an additional increase in building cost. We intend to hold a vote of the membership and regular attenders on Sunday, April 19, during both services. The purpose of the vote will be to seek approval to move forward with the designed expansion of the Auditorium as shown in the drawings above.
Please know of my personal gratitude for you and your role in the work of New Hope.
On Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, members and regular attendees of New Hope Church formally voted on two aspects of the Phase 2 expansion. Church leadership brought to the congregation the prospect of proceeding with expanding the church's parking lot and expanding the children's ministry area of the church. This decision was based on both immediate need as well as available resources in terms of Phase 2 pledges.
After tallying votes from both members and regular attendees of voting age who chose to cast a ballot, the expansion of the parking lot and the children's wing was approved with 99.19% of the vote. A breakdown of the vote is below.
With the church granting its approval to proceed with this initial aspect of Phase 2, planning will continue in terms of scheduling construction, which is likely to begin in the spring of 2026.
At New Hope, our God has shown Himself powerful and faithful as He continues to grow our “Biblical Community.” Each person added to our church is a blessing and a very important part of the work God is actively doing among us. The most recent growth of the last few years since completing “Phase 1” has seen new individuals on a weekly basis coming from all walks and stages of life.
As a collective church family, we stand together on the threshold of another stage in the Kingdom adventure God has planned for us. It’s now our opportunity to demonstrate once again that we believe our Lord will show Himself powerful as we advance the name of Jesus throughout the mid-Michigan area. With a potential expansion comes an even greater occasion to open our doors wider to our friends and neighbors near and far who also need to be given the opportunity to join God in what He is doing through New Hope.
In light of the growth we are experiencing, it is imperative that we respond according to God’s purposes. The graph here can help put things into perspective.
On behalf of our leadership team, I’m specifically asking you to join us in ongoing prayer as we seek God’s clear direction regarding our next steps as a church. It is our firm belief that the Lord will give us clarity as we seek His will for our future.
Grateful for your part in advancing the kingdom,
Year to date, New Hope is growing by 12%. This steady growth that God has blessed us with has resulted in multiple space constraints:
The clear evidence of scripture is that God is always at work around us (John 5:17). It is also clear that He has invited us to join Him in what He is doing. In Biblical language, He is the Master, we are the servants. A true servant does what the Master desires. To join Him in what He is doing requires that we watch for where He is at work and then participate. It is not enough to just watch God work, but rather to join Him.
At NH, the opportunities to “join Him” is not limited to Phase 2 financial donations. Volunteers and prayer warriors are always needed at all levels. The Phase 2 expansion is just one more way to participate in the work God is doing.
We are asking each person who calls NH their home church to consider what God is calling them to do and then act in obedience to His call. If, after taking time to pray, you believe God is leading you to participate financially in helping to expand the facility – we will ask you to follow through by making a commitment.
Based on the most recent estimates, we believe the construction cost of our Phase 2 expansion will be approximately $12,800,000. In addition to that there will be related cost which vary substantially, such as furnishings and equipment. Our intent is to raise the entire amount through pledges and cash gifts over a period of 36 months beginning in June of 2025.
One of the most significant challenges in a large church is the individual sense of feeling unnoticed or being unknown. Providing opportunities for adults and children to interact is one important aspect, but it doesn’t stop there. It’s when we serve together (inside and outside the church), and learn together, that we become most connected in community. Our current Adult, Student and Children’s ministries are doing a great job in this capacity, but Phase 2 will allow us to enhance our reach.
Expansion will provide greater opportunity through the adult class space and expanded atrium areas, but true meaningful growth within NH also means being intentional in developing our personal walk with Christ. It’s not a secret that personal growth happens when we push ourselves to do things outside our comfort zone – like perhaps plugging in to serve and learn in one of the current Women’s, Men’s, Small Groups, Young Professionals, College, Student or Children’s ministries.
Promise cards (commitment cards) will be made available for individuals to fill out in regard to what they believe they can give to the project over the course of 36 months. Of course, one-time gifts will be made as well. All funds gathered will be placed in the “Phase 2 Fund” and will be put towards the use of our expansion. The project will be funded through money up and beyond the General operating funds.
Any additional voting on Phase 2 will be conducted once we have determined the timing and amount of funds we have to work with. New Hope’s Constitution and By-laws provide that a vote be taken on matters pertaining to- “…facility expansion and/or indebtedness…” – An initial vote on the first part of construction for an expanded parking lot and children's wing was held on Nov. 9, 2025.
Any voting that takes places concerning Phase 2 will involve the entire congregation (members and regular attenders) as was done Nov. 9, 2025 and with each of our previous votes. The actual vote that is used for decision making purposes is the vote of the “official members” of the congregation. In the past we've had the entire NH family participate in voting (regular attenders & official members), using a ballot system. It is broken down into two categories: (1) The portion of the vote that is actually recorded in the “meeting minutes” of the church is that of members. (2) The results of both regular attender and member vote will be reported to the entire church. This will be fully explained in detail when the time comes to carry out a potential vote.
As of Sunday, May 4th, we have officially launched a dedicated giving option for our Phase 2 Fund, which is focused solely on our building expansion project.
If you intended your recurring gift to the Building Fund to go toward the Phase 2 expansion, you will need to log in to PushPay and personally update your giving selection to the new Phase 2 Fund. For security and privacy reasons, we are not able to make changes to any recurring gifts on your behalf, including updating the fund designation.
To clarify, all current Building Fund gifts have been used wisely and with care — including for a variety of building-related needs such as planning and preparing for Phase 2. Moving forward, however, we’ve created this new, clearly designated Phase 2 Fund to ensure that every dollar given is used specifically for expansion-related expenses.
We are deeply grateful for your ongoing support. Your generosity is making a tangible difference in our church’s future and Christ's Kingdom, and we are excited to take this next step together.
If you have any questions or need help navigating the giving system, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Director of Finance & Operations, Grace Whelan ([email protected]).
You can email us at [email protected] with any questions you may have.
As New Hope moved toward Phase 2 of our building expansion in May 2025, we asked our entire church family to join for 30 days of intentional prayer. The accompanying devotional was designed to help us seek God first—listening for His voice, aligning our hearts with His will, and preparing ourselves to respond in faith.
We’re inviting everyone who calls New Hope their church home to continue to pray with us through this process. If you didn’t get the chance to join us for those 30 days of prayer last Spring, it’s not too late to join us in prayer. Links to the Pray 30 Prayer Guide and Family Prayer Calendar are below.
