The birth of Hope Community Church occurred officially on Sunday, June 27, 2010, at 10:00 am, with a Church Dedication Service, in this case a service held to dedicate a new congregation rather than a church building. The building had been dedicated more than 40 years before as Valley Community Church. The new congregation of Hope Community Church was the result of the consolidation of two local churches.

The former Agawam Church of the Bible began as a Bible study in 1990 at the home of Roger and Joy Martin, who had recently moved to the area. By the fall of 1991 they had grown to several families and began meeting in the Agawam Junior High School Auditorium. They had considered purchasing various facilities over the years, but none worked out.

The former Valley Community Church began in 1963 under the leadership of Rev. Frank Dunn. They too spent time in a rented facility, worshipping for four years in the Meeting House at Storrowton Village, West Springfield, until they built their church on the hill at 152 South Westfield Street, Feeding Hills.

In 2009 both churches, worshipping “around the corner” from each other, found themselves without pastors, one due to retirement and the other a move to be closer to family. Having no pastor and facing the reality of an aging and dwindling congregation, 14 members of Valley Community Church met at the church on Tuesday evening, August 11th, to discuss what they hoped the church to be in five years and how those vision statements could be achieved. Among the comments shared in response to the second question was, “The pastor is leaving the church that meets at the Junior High. Could we come together as a single congregation meeting at Valley Community Church under a new pastor?”

Two members of Valley Community Church reached out to the pastor at Agawam Church of the Bible, who had not yet left, to determine if there would be any interest in discussing the idea of bringing the two churches together. In turn he discussed it with the leadership team at Agawam Church of the Bible. The outcome was the bringing together of three lay leaders from Valley Community Church meeting with two lay leaders of Agawam Church of the Bible. Through weekly meetings in the fall and early winter of 2009 and 2010, these individuals talked and prayed together. As the discussions continued, the group learned much about each other’s churches, recognizing many commonalities, and identifying a number of differences

Regarding those differences, the leaders from the two churches realized that they needed to be resolved in some way if the churches were to come together as one congregation. One member of the group described the process this way, “Issues I thought we would struggle over for months were resolved in one night. All differences worked out, constructively, caringly, with grace and compromise. In the end, we all felt in our hearts that something special was going on here. So we prayed, all of us, and shook hands and hugged and agreed that God has led us this far; it is time to share this news with our congregations.”

For a number of reasons, the discussions within the group had been kept confidential throughout the fall. But on January 6th, the group concluded that bringing the two churches together “could work!” And it was decided to inform officially the congregations of the discussions that had been taking place and the possibility of a consolidation of the two churches. On Sunday, January 10th, identical PowerPoint presentations were made to both congregations summarizing the events and discussions of the past three months and presenting the positives and negatives of what was being called consolidation.

The first step toward consolidation was a potluck supper on February 7th at Valley Community Church, an opportunity not only for fellowship but for many from Agawam Church of the Bible to see the interior of the church building for the first time. This was followed by both congregations participating in each other’s Sunday services, first at Agawam Church of the Bible on February 21st and then at Valley Community Church on March 7th. These occasions allowed opportunities to experience each other’s style of worship and participate in times of fellowship.

These gatherings also allowed each congregation to intelligently and experientially discuss, pray, and vote whether they believed God would have them come together as a single congregation to worship and serve Him in the church on the hill.

This process was described by one of the members of the group from Agawam Church of the Bible as like the dating, engagement, and marriage process, requiring each of the partners to adjust to differences in habits, traditions, likes, and dislikes. It was recognized that it would be an on-going process, at times tough, but, as many would testify through those early years, it was well worth it, leading to a fulfillment that neither congregation could find alone.

On Sunday, April 11th, each of the churches voted on "consolidation," and the votes were affirmative in both churches.

But what was the name of the church to be? It had been decided that a new name for the congregation would be important, looking ahead to a new identity for the congregation meeting in the church on the hill. So, on Sunday evening, April 25th, the new congregation held a "Names, Games, and Ice Cream Sundaes" at the church to brainstorm together what the name of the new church should be. On the following Saturday, May 1st, a committee of nine representatives from the two congregations met to choose a name for the new church based on input from the previous week’s gathering. All committee members were sworn to absolute secrecy with the decision to be announced simultaneously at both churches the next day at the conclusion of the services.

On Sunday, May 2nd, at exactly the same time, the new name was announced at both churches: Hope Community Church. The announcement at Valley Community Church produced a spontaneous standing ovation and the singing of "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow." The response was similar at Agawam Church of the Bible.

On May 5th the new name was legally registered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and on May 23rd the first service of Hope Community Church was held in its sanctuary on the hill. It was nine months from the meeting of Valley Community Church members in mid-September of the previous year, to the start of services at Hope Community Church in May—just like waiting for the birth of a baby!

One final event had to take place. On June 27th Hope Community Church held its community dedication with the mayor of Agawam and several town councilmen in attendance. Four members of the group that led the process of the consolidation each gave a mini-sermon in dedicating the consolidated congregation.

But there is one more very important detail. Throughout the late fall of 2009, two separate pastoral search committees had been formed, one composed of members of Valley Community Church, and one composed of members of Agawam Church of the Bible. The committees had begun to receive resumes and evaluate candidates. When it became apparent that the consolidation would occur, those committees came together, shared their information, and moved forward with a search for a pastor of what would become Hope Community Church. God blessed richly that process with the call of Pastor Brad Peterson on July 12th. He began his ministry as pastor of the new congregation on August 15, 2010.

At the end of it all, those involved knew that God had been at work and answered our prayers. As one member of the former Agawam Church of the Bible said, “We were praying for a church building with three to five acres and God opened a door to a church with more than 20 acres—and without a mortgage!” And a member of the former Valley Community Church said, “Remember that five-year vision we talked and prayed about? Suddenly it was a lot closer than we thought that August night.”

Please note that the historical information above comes from documents written and distributed during that almost year-long process by Mark Cancelliere, Tom Nasiatka, Eric Welch, and Bob Willey, with special recognition of the wisdom and godliness of Lyle Pearsons, a member of the leadership group, who has preceded us all into the presence of our Lord. In the tradition of Judaism, a tradition that Lyle loved, it is said of those who have passed from time into eternity, Zekher tzadik livrakha (May the memory of the righteous be a blessing). Our memory of Lyle is a great blessing.