Hurray for Higher Hope!

Last weekend, Judi and I were vacationing in beautiful Wellsboro, Pennsylvania; the home of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. This happened to be the weekend that Pastor Mike Schooley had his "launch" service for Higher Hope Church of God, a brand new church plant for the Churches of God outside of Elmira, NY (about an hour north of Wellsboro). Judi and I attended this service on Sunday and it was a blessing indeed. The church is meeting at an auditorium at "Wings of Eagles" Museum in Horseheads, NY (an Elmira suburb). It is an aeronautical museum and serves as a great place to meet considering location, parking, good facilities, and a place that meshes well with the theme of "Higher Hope."

Mike had about 122 people out for the service. I believe that this is truly a miracle. There's a guy here in town from New York state and he told me that when he moved to central Pennsylvania, he couldn't believe how many people attend church around in this area. He said that church attendance in much of New York state is "tame."

Higher Hope emphasizes ministry to families; particularly those with very young children. There is a heavy emphasis on building relatsionships and getting to know God more intimately. Mike's message was VERY biblically-based and covered "Christianity 101" type basics. The message was relevant to mature Christians, new Christians, and non-Christians; that's not an easy kind of message to prepare. The worship team was great and so was the participation on behalf of the people considering this was a brand new church.

How does this relate to the emerging church? Mike had two large wooden crosses in the front of the auditorium. At one point in the service, he invited people who wanted to pray to get to know God better or give over some kind of burden to feel free to kneel at the foot of the cross (there were kneeling pads available). It was certainly different than a traditional altar call. It was probably kind of "ancient future" in some ways. I felt that this, along with the emphasis on relastionships and growing to know God more as a community may be what gives this church elements of the emerging church. Perhaps those of you better versed in the emerging church would know more about this. Anyway, please pray for Mike, Jeanna and their family and for Higher Hope Church.