HOPE Church renovations will benefit Grand Forks community at large, lead pastor says
HOPE Church's recently announced "Dare to Wonder" project is nearly two years in the making, and has received strong financial support, Pastor Paul Knight told the Herald.
The project is expected to be a costly endeavor, falling between $7 million and $8 million, he said.
"We're about halfway to ($8 million)," Knight said. "Close to that. And it's all donations from people in the church."
It is exciting to be growing and serving the community, and the church is "all in" on that mission, he said.
A project brochure outlines four facets: youth ministry spaces, exterior updates, staff offices and hospitality ministry spaces.
The existing youth group space will be expanded and reconfigured to better accommodate the 150 or so middle and high school students who meet there weekly to participate in worship, games and other activities.
"We have an amazing bunch of youth, so it's pretty fun," Knight said.
HOPEkidz, the space for younger children's activities like Sunday School and Wednesday night ministries, will expand to accommodate for its rising attendance.
This expansion will take over existing staff office space, which will be relocated elsewhere in the Grand Cities Mall, allowing all staff offices to be housed in the same area.
HOPE Church's exterior has received little attention since the church relocated from East Grand Forks. One of its congregants said when he first brought his family to the space, they said it felt like walking into a penitentiary, Knight said.
"It's the ugliest church in the city," he said.
Though appearances aren't what's most important, he hopes a "facelift" of the outside will make the church appear more welcoming to passersby.
Perhaps, then, they might feel compelled to join the approximately 1,300 people who currently attend various HOPE Church services each Sunday.
The church has grown exponentially since Knight joined it in 1991 — when there were closer to 50 people in attendance each Sunday. He attributes this growth "to a commitment to love people, and care for people."
"We actually believe what we're teaching," Knight said. "So (we have) a commitment to what the Bible teaches, and just an excitement about what God's doing."
They are also committed to helping the community, and hope to turn an empty area upstairs into a community space that can be rented by the public, though it depends on how much money is raised, Knight said.
Other community ministry efforts will include an indoor playground and coffee shop.
"People talk all the time about how there's no place for kids to go in the winter, so we're going to make a place for kids to go in the winter," Knight said.
He envisions mothers of young children drinking coffee together, watching their kids play.
There are few spaces for people to spend time together, and even fewer that don't require money to be spent, he said.
"... People need a place to hang out, and just relax," he said.
In the decade since the church created an LLC to purchase the entire Grand Cities Mall — a time when it was rumored a potential buyer may demolish the building — a significant amount of work has been done to revitalize the space, Knight said.
"We're in the geographical center of the community," he said. "We want to be the heartbeat of the community, help care for the community, and love the community and do all kinds of things to help."
The hope is to begin work on renovations in October, but at this time there isn't a set date, Knight said. The church is still in the process of raising funds, doing what Knight called a stewardship campaign, "inviting people to donate to the project to help for the future of the kids."
It's exciting, he said.
Plans are being drawn by Churches by Daniels, a company based in Oklahoma.
"We'll use all local contractors when we bid it out," Knight said. "(Churches by Daniels) is going to help us do that."
Construction is anticipated to last approximately a year, Knight said. Though it may be messy, with such a large space to work with, no services should be interrupted.
The church's current features include a worship center, fellowship hall, nursery, child care center, commercial kitchen, care center with a food pantry and clothing donations, as well as support groups for grief, addiction, divorce and more.
The majority of these programs, which the church refers to as ministries, are open to the public regardless of whether they attend HOPE Church services or are affiliated with religion at all.
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