Church History

History of Our Church

At New Hope we strive to provide a sanctuary for prayerful worship within a respectful and welcoming environment and to meet the spiritual needs of our congregation and community, using Christian ideas and values.

 

We are living demonstrations of what miracles Jesus can work among His people. In 1999, two congregations combined, worked out details for getting along, and now stand on the rock of Christ growing larger! On Sundays, we gather to worship, praise and grow together in faith through the infusion of scripture, the instruction of our pastor, and the uplifting of Holy Communion.Renewed, our members work throughout El Paso and southern New Mexico bringing the Holy Spirit to our jobs, our errands, and to our homes.

 

We believe that all of us are called to be witnesses to the loving kindness we have experienced through Jesus. We know that our very lives depend on Him, and we seek to share the Good News with all we meet.

 

Saved by grace, we are a family of faith called to seek God's spirit through worship and God's word to be New Hope for the community.The Christian life is not simply one on which certain rules are kept. The Christian life is one in which we have learned how to be for each other, and in so being to live full as ourselves.

 

 

History of the ELCA

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was formed over 20 years ago. This new church was formed from three separate and well-established North American church bodies

• The American Lutheran Church
• The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and
• The Lutheran Church in America.

Beginning January 1, 1988, these churches, with shared beliefs and missions, officially formed the ELCA. Two decades later, this energized church is composed of 4.8 million members and nearly 10,500 congregations across the U.S. and Caribbean. Today, the ELCA reflects the rich and diverse heritage of the people it serves.

 

But to understand our heritage fully, one must trace our roots back through the mid-17th century, when early Lutherans came to America from Europe, settling in the Virgin Islands and the area that is now known as New York. Even before that, Martin Luther sought reform for the church in the 16th century, laying the framework for our beliefs.

Read about Lutheran Roots in America on the ELCA website >>

 

Go to our own What is the ELCA page >>