A new place to worship in Madison
When the membership at Hope Community Church in Huntsville reached 900, the pastors there decided the church should branch out. Johnnie Wilson and his wife Delores were handed the large task of finding a place and opening a new branch of Hope Church.
The Wilsons originally chose their home town of Harvest for the new church, but the location didn't work out.
After praying on the subject of location, an opportunity presented itself in an unlikely place and a location came available in a building on Commerce Drive in Madison.
"We fell in love with it," Johnnie said.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Hope Community Church Madison has been hosting services since November, and has been steadily growing each week. Originally only eight members came over from the mother church, and now twenty attend the Madison branch.
Hope Church is an independent, non-denominational Christian church that believes in the principles of the Bible, Johnnie said. They believe in praise and worship of God, music, dancing, laying on of hands, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
"We are a church where we are like a family and we minister to one another," Johnnie said.
He said the church has two goals-its inside goal is to minister to the people that go to the church and equip them to go out and spread the word. The outside goal is just that-going out, spreading God's word and helping the lost. On the fourth Sunday of each month, they minister to the homeless.
"We're a church that makes a difference, one soul at a time," Delores said. "God has commissioned us to speak to the lost."
Although Hope Church's congregation is primarily African-American, the Wilsons want to make sure everyone knows they are welcome there.
"Our eyes see no color. We make everyone feel welcome and loved," Johnnie said.
Right now the Hope Community Church in Madison only hosts two service each week, at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings and 7 p.m. Wednesday evenings, but they have big plans for Sunday schools, women's, men's and children's groups, as well as outreach programs.
"Everything's still in the planning stages," Johnnie said.
The pastors and members of Hope Community Church invite everyone in the community to attend their Easter service March 23 at 10 a.m., featuring music, dancing and Communion.
