History of New Hope Christian Church

          In 1993 the Southwest Church Planters started praying and working to establish a vibrant congregation in the greater Venice area. Christian Churches in Sarasota County, Manatee County, Charlotte County,  Collier County, and Lee County raised $65,000 to plant a new church. New Hope Christian Church met for the first time on March 23, 1997. In 1997 the population of Venice was 17,000. In 2018 it was 23,000. Sarasota County had a population of 293,000 in 1997 and in 2018 had a population of 450,000. According to the Venice Gondolier, 5,000 new home dwellings will be built within five miles of the church building by the early years of 2020. 40,000 new home dwellings in northern Charlotte County and Sarasota County in the near future. God has provided white fields for harvesting all around New Hope.

          From the beginning New Hope was built on a cell church model featuring small groups and a modern worship celebration. New Hope was never designed to be patterned after churches from the north. The first small group was called, “Here We Are, But Not Yet.” The church was designed to have a Florida free-style plan to introduce people to Christ. The choosing of a church name came from a survey of the community. The church first met in the home of Ellery and Beverly Girard. It then moved to what is now known as Bentley’s Hotel (formerly the Ramada Inn) in Osprey. The church then moved to the Palm Square Shopping Center where it stayed for several years. In 2010 the church purchased property at 2241 Kilpatrick Road.

          In 1996 Andy Simkins was chosen as the church planter and the first minister of New Hope leading the congregation to grow. Andy and Nancy served the church for 16 years. Attendance in the winter reached over 200 and 100 in the summer. The next minister was Rick Messer. Rick and Kathlene Messer served the church for 2 years.

         Guthrie and Barbara Veech came to New Hope for the first time on May 29, 2016. They brought with them 44 years of ministry experience. On their first Sunday, there were 21 in attendance. They were two of them. Guthrie lost his voice on that first Sunday and could hardly preach the trial sermon. Phyllis Cunningham, one of the church members said after the service, that she had prayed and the Holy Spirit had acted that morning by sending the Veech family to New Hope.” It was a humbling day seeing God work when the preacher could hardly talk. Guthrie and Barbara agreed and moved along with Otis on July 1, 2016. In December 2016, a Capital Campaign raised money to pay off the church mortgage. Also, new windows were installed in the church building. In 2019 attendance surpassed 90 in the winter and 50 in the summer. In June 2016, church membership was 23. In 2019, membership had grown to 59.

          In 2016, the church radically remodeled the church parsonage as a beautiful home for the minister and his wife. A 14 foot by 31-foot lanai was built on the back of the parsonage. The home which originally served as office space now serves as the minister’s residence and a place for many church activities.

          In 2018, the church began a major remodeling of the church building. It had reached a state of disrepair through the years and Hurricane Irma, 2017, caused major damage on the church roofs, interior, and exterior of the church. A Capital Campaign, “Raise The Roof”, was started to raise $90,000 for the remodel. Over $125,000 was raised for the project. The campaign began as a group of women who were sitting around a coffee table in the fellowship hall one Sunday morning. One of them simply stated, “we have to do something.” They asked the question, “what can we do?” They emptied their purses that morning, giving every penny they had, and raised $12 as a widow’s mite offering to start this campaign. IDES, (International Disaster Emergency Service gave over $60,000 to help with this project. Matching gifts came from church members, churches, CDF (Christian Development Fund), and Christian Financial Resources. By 2019, the church was totally remodeled into a beautiful building. Since 2016, the church’s mission program has grown to support 3 missions. They are STADIA church planting. New Hope has helped establish new church plants in Pittsburgh, PA (2017); San Francisco (2018);  City Church - Griffin, GA (2019); City Church - Griffin, GA (2020); City Center Church - Berkeley, CA (2021)

         The church also supports Pioneer Bible Translators missionary, Jeff Jackson. Jeff was a student when Guthrie was a youth minister at Christ’s Church at Georgetown in Ft. Wayne.  The church also supports IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service).