Our Story

Hope Summit Christian Church began as an idea in the mind of Frank Myers back in the 1950's.  Frank was the pastor of the Pleasant Grove Church of Christ in Pleasant Grove, MN.  He dreamed of starting a New Testament church in the growing city of Rochester, MN.  He noticed that there were a number of families driving out each weekend from the Rochester area to attend the worship services at the Pleasant Grove Church of Christ and their sister church, the Marion Church of Christ, in Marion, MN.  After making contacts and casting his vision for starting a new church, a group of Christian men and woman met for the first time on October 7, 1956, at the new 4-H Building on the Olmsted County Fairgrounds.  Thirty-five people were listed as charter members.

In July of 1957, Willard Hockley was called to minister at the new church.  The group decided to relocate to the Rolling Greens sub-division, a new residential area in Northwest Rochester.  They built a beautiful parsonage/chapel at 1919 33^rd Street NW.  Worship took place in the basement.  The name of the church was changed to Rolling Greens Church of Christ.  The congregation soon outgrew its building.

In January of 1960, the congregation purchased the Grace Lutheran Chapel at 11^th Avenue and 5^th Street SE.   The church\'s name was changed to the East Side Church of Christ.  A parsonage was also purchased in a nearby location at 1525 4^th Street NE.   The church enjoyed healthy growth. 

Willard Hockley resigned in 1963 and was followed by John Barry.  John served the congregation from September 1, 1963 to August 30, 1964. 

Eugene Reynolds became pastor and served from September of 1964 to June of 1969.  During these years the congregation outgrew the building.  Attendance was running 130 on some Sundays in a worship room which seated only about 110.  Two services were begun until larger facilities could be built. 

The church members began a building fund, commissioned a new building committee, and prayed a lot.  At a time when there were little financial resources and they were paying on a mortgage on both the current church building and parsonage, the members were able to purchase the acreage they needed.  Plans materialize, ground breaking occurred, and new construction proceeded.  It was a very exciting time.

On Sunday morning, August 1968, the members met for the last time at the East Side location.  They formed a caravan and traveled towards their new church home at 1315 6^th Avenue SE.  On November 8, 1968, the new Meadow Park Church of Christ was dedicated to the service of the Lord.

Eugene Reynolds closed his ministry with the congregation in June of 1969.  Aurthur Poll, Sr., served a brief interim ministry from June until August 1969.  The congregation called James McWaters as pastor.  He served from August 1969 to the Spring of 1975.

Ron Wernimont became the pastor in the Fall of 1975.  During Ron\'s tenure, the church experienced tremendous growth.  The church developed multiple ministries, eventually adding an Associate Minister of Education, a Youth Minister, and a full time secretary. 

In 1984, the new growth forced the need to expand the building site.  The result was the building of the multipurpose Family Center and the Education Wing. 

The church continued to experience steady growth through the 80\'s and 90\'s.  Global outreach has been at the heart of soul of our congregation for many years.  During this time, the Faith Promise became an exciting annual event as people pledged in faith their commitments to sponsor missionaries and their families ministering to people all over the world.  Because of this commitment, the church was able to send out one of its own youth, Tom Moen, to become a missionary in Brazil with his wife, Amy.  They recently completed 12 years on the mission field and are now serving in the States.

One of the unique and exciting events to take place in the mid-90\'s was when a group of Lahu families decided to worship with the church.  The Lahu people immigrated from Thailand and Laos after the Vietnam War.  This particular group became Christians through the influence of a missionary.  The Lahu are a delightful people, and continue to hold weekly worship services on Sunday in their native language.

Because of the continued growth and the addition of the Lahu families, the church outgrew its seating capacity, so multiple worship services were added to keep up with the space demands. 

Pastor Ron retired in 1998, leaving a 23 year legacy of spiritual and church growth along with compassionate pastoral care. 

On January 1, 2000, Aaron Wager became the Senior Pastor.   Aaron brought with him a passion to reach out to those who are not Christians.  We continued to grow and in 2001, moved into the Family Center for the weekend worship services. 

During the last few years, the church has added a full time Worship Pastor, Children\'s Pastor, Adult Ministries Pastor, Youth Pastor, Office Administrator and Custodian.  The church also added a part-time Kid\'s Hope Director (Children\'s mentoring program).

In October of 2006, the church celebrated its 50^th Anniversary and launched its vision for the next 50 years.  This vision was called The H2O Campaign.  H2O stands for "Hope 2 Offer."  The church purchased 20 acres of land on 48^th Street SW, across the street from the Willow Creek Golf Course.  The church will eventually relocate to this new property as it continues to share the hope of Christ with the community.   In order to get ready for the move to the SW property, the name was changed to Hope Summit Christian Church on September 1, 2008.

God has blessed our church through the years and is continuing to bless as it moves into the future.  We are excited about what God is doing!