Introducing Hope Community Church of Racine – Poised to Make a Difference
Hope Community Church was founded on May 27, 2015, by the late Pastor Samuel D Jackson, his wife Luz Jackson, and a small group of interested persons. Pastor Samuel Jackson and Luz had a vision of forming a multicultural church in this area and were approved to form the church as a church plant from Grace Church in Racine, Wisconsin. He was still employed by Grace Church at that time and through the end of 2015.
The nuclear group had organizational meetings over that summer and started meeting as a church at the Youth for Christ building at 3001 Carpenter Avenue in Racine starting in September and met for bible study in various homes.
It was established as a church plant with a vision of living on a mission to share the hope of Christ with the world and living as a caring community of many cultures. We are somewhat suburban with urban reach. Our membership reflects our community. We value growing personal faith and commitment to God in Christ, gospel proclamation and witness, compassionate involvement in lives and community, unity, and diversity as God-given gifts, and our calling to embody hope–and the ministry of reconciliation. The foundational scripture verse was Jeremiah 29:11(NIV): “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Hope’s membership is comprised of people from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, and perspectives, yet all united as followers of Jesus. Hope is not bound by uniformity but rather united in faith and devoted to the Great Commandment: To love God completely in heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others with the same enthusiasm as one has for oneself.
We were able to obtain a church building in February 2016 through extraordinary circumstances. It was extremely unlikely that a new church congregation without established members and regular financial giving would be able to obtain a mortgage, but it was done. Persons interested in helping to start the church purchased certificates of deposit at Tri-City National Bank to be available as collateral for the church for three years. Those persons were the following: John and Ellen Johnson, Pastor Samuel and Luz Jackson, James and Jean Abegglen, Richard and Alberta Hempel, Lawrence and Patricia Tolson, John and Phyllis Hassenthaler, Howard Anderson, Tad Ballantyne, George Nicks, Sr., Minnie Jackson, and Derek and Ruku Young. Tad and George also put up real estate property for collateral. Jean and Alberta gave up their real estate commission to help purchase the church. The mortgage was obtained on February 7, 2016, and we had our first service at our new church on February 14, 2016, on Valentine’s Day.
We had our first Vacation Bible School (VBS) on August 14-15, 2017.
In July 2019, Calvary Baptist Church of Sedalia, MO partnered with us to provide some building improvements.
We became a vibrant growing congregation and received much support and encouragement from the Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention, Lakeland Baptist Association, Grace Church, and many individuals. God’s word was being preached and the church also became known for the warmth of its congregation and its hospitality. We offered congregational meals monthly, but it was discontinued after the COVID pandemic.
The COVID pandemic had a dramatic impact on Hope Community Church as it affected many other aspects of our community. We switched from in-house services to online services starting on March 15, 2020 and continued that until about mid-May, 2020.
Unfortunately, Pastor Sam Jackson died from a chronic illness on May 1, 2020. This unexpected event was quite a challenge for our congregation. Arne Gulbrandsen, a member of our congregation, and a retired church pastor, agreed to give the sermons for all of May and June of that year. After that, we were able to have speakers from the congregation and some community ministers.
We started our search for an interim pastor, and on December 1, 2020, Pastor Carl Griffin started his tenure as our interim pastor. He served until June 19, 2022. During his tenure, he provided leadership, preached the Word of God, helped us in the transition and grieving period, and helped us add more structure and a greater sense of who we were as a congregation. He also helped us to update our church constitution and by-laws. He was a very good fit for the one we needed at that time.
On March 6, 2023, Donald L. Bennett began working as our new Senior Pastor. We pray that God will continue to lead and guide us under new leadership by the power of the Holy Spirit.