Sherri & Bill's Cookout Reception

The prayers of many were answered and many more were overjoyed to learn of the engagement and then marriage of Sherri Brunsvold to Bill Thornton earlier this year. But instead of having a big wedding and reception, they decided to go small and low key and then have the reception at a later date in the summer. Well, they just had the reception last Saturday at their place and it was a cookout! It was a great time of fellowship, food and fun. Bill had spend much time the night before preparing all types of meat; a regular meat buffet. Of course there were plenty of other great dishes too. For example, I think Sherri may have succeeded in creating the quintessential mac and cheese crock pot casserole. To check out who was there and get a taste of the fun, see the slideshow above or click here to view the photos at your leisure.

Sherri Brunsvold was a key leader in the early days of Christian Student Fellowship and a cornerstone of New Hope Christian Community.

The Closing Ceremony

Saturday afternoon, August 2, a small group of Christians gathered together for the last time to honor the memory and the passing of a small church which blessed thousands. As it sometimes goes, our former church, New Hope Christian Community, did not die with a bang, but with a whimper. The remnant of New Hope, who last year tried in vein to continue the uniqueness of our fellowship and ministry, decided it would be good to have one final, official gathering to say goodbye and bring a formal close to this church and ministry.

Photo Album of the Closing Ceremony/Reunion
Slideshow "Through the Years" by Eric Randall
Audio of the first 45 min of the Ceremony

Thanks Eric for doing an outstanding job organizing and leading the ceremony, thanks to all who helped with setup and worship, and a special thanks to all who provided and prepared all the good food.

A Time for Everything

After many years of serving the community and college campuses of Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, New Hope Christian Community has run it's course. As Solomon wrote, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."

Some of the former ministries of New Hope, such as the Connections Cafe and Angel Food Oakland, continue to exist and minster to the local community. Likewise there are many other ministries in this area in which New Hope and its members have invested. So even though New Hope no longer exists as a unique church in the Oakland area, it has sown seeds in the community which have taken root and continue to grow. A partial list follows.

Connections Cafe
Christian Student Fellowship
Angel Food Oakland
Steel City Church
CARE Ownership
The Living Ministry
Urban Fuel

If you are wondering about the previous post regarding LightHouse Church, we did meet together for the better part of 2007. It was a very good time of fellowship and I highly recommend their church for students of CMU, where they do most of their ministry and outreach.

First Meeting with LightHouse

For the summer, New Hope will be meeting with the LightHouse Church at our ministry center, Connections. Our two churches met in this new format for the first time last Sunday. Preceding the service, both congregations had a good time getting to know one another over a brunch of fruit, bagels and quiche provided by members of LightHouse. The Service included contemporary worship led by Sarah and Zack (former members of New Hope, present members of LightHouse), a sermon by Doug Cherry, and opportunities for all to share their insights and pray together. Overall the Sunday service was very similar to a typical New Hope Sunday Koinonia meeting, the only real differences being matters of style. The LightHouse Church is led by Doug and Kiki Cherry who are also campus ministers of CrossSeekers of CMU.

Click here to view an album of the rest of the photos.

Missionary Video Chat

Instead of our usual sermon last Sunday, we had a nice, long chat with two of our missionaries to Russia, Warren and Andrea Caron. But they were not here in Pittsburgh. We used one of the coolest, virtually free features of the Internet, the live video chat. We had a very enjoyable time talking with the Carons about their family life in Russia, their ministry and outreach to the Russian people, and even what kinds of food they eat (i.e., borsh), and what kind of foods they miss (i.e., Gold Fish and peanut butter). We spent over an hour getting to know them in a way that was far superior to emails and letters, and they got to know us better too. Check out the video below to get an idea of how it went.



We used Skype (a free download) for the video chat. If you would like to be added to New Hope's Skype contact list, please send your Skype name to newhopeml@gmail.com. We would be especially interested in chatting with former members of New Hope who have moved to other parts of the country or the planet to see what you have been up to.