Hope City Church Beginnings
‘Aussie Church Starting’. That was the announcement of the arrival of ‘The Hope of Sheffield Christian Church’ in a newspaper ad way back in 1991.
The church was launched at Easter after Dave and Jenny Gilpin watched coverage of the Sheffield Hillsborough disaster on Australian television. For Dave it meant coming back home, as he was born in Birkenhead but for Jenny, it meant leaving her native Australia and launching into the unknown.
The church kicked off in Sheffield at the John Barnett Centre in Mosborough before moving to the Carter Lodge School in Hackenthorpe. After a short stay it was off to the University Halls on the outskirts of Sheffield and then to Granville College in 1993. Ponds Forge International Sports Centre then became home to the church until it moved to a more permanent address in 1994, right in the heart of the city (Matilda Street).
Always looking to grow and be an influence in the city as well as serving the local community, the church, took over an old derelict tool factory right in the heart of the city, that had been left empty for around eight years and in 1998 ‘The Megacentre’ was born and the church became ‘Hope City Church’.
Where we are now
The Megacentre is home to the Sheffield congregation of Hope City Church and is also home to one of Sheffield’s largest indoor play centres for children, Megakids. The Megacentre comprises of everything from a Meganursery, Conferencing facilities, Megalearn – English speaking classes for people whose first language is not English, Megabites café, Storehouse Emergency Food Hampers, The Leadership Academy Training College and the City Hearts offices which oversees the running of several houses dedicated to helping broken women overcome life controlliong issues.
Hope City Church also has great congregations in Liverpool and Leeds and Newcastle. We have over 1000 people attending across the congregations each weekend.