From a Living Room to a Cathedral
Twenty-five years ago, two people obeyed a call in their own living room. Today that call stands on eleven acres in Stockbridge, Georgia.
Built on a Word, Not a Building
In July 2001, Bishop Richard Leaphart-Mack and his wife, Synetra Leaphart-Mack, opened their home and started a church. There was no sanctuary, no staff, no budget — just a conviction that wouldn't let go. Bishop Leaphart-Mack had come to believe he was called to carry a message the world needed: New Hope. He anchored that call in Habakkuk 2:2 — write the vision, make it plain, so the one who reads it can run with it. That verse became the blueprint for everything New Hope Cathedral would become.
What started as a handful of chairs in a living room grew fast enough to force a decision. By January 2002, the young congregation moved into Chapel Hill Elementary School, meeting in a cafeteria and classrooms because the message mattered more than the address.
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A Church That Kept Building
Growth without accountability is a liability, not a blessing. In December 2002, New Hope came under the spiritual covering of Bishop Eddie L. Long and The Father's House Ministry, and Bishop Leaphart-Mack served as an Ambassador within that relationship until Bishop Long's death — years of mentorship that shaped how New Hope leads today.
The church backed its faith with action. In December 2003, New Hope purchased its first property at 2999 Flat Shoals Road in Decatur — and paid off the mortgage in roughly six years. No shortcuts, no gimmicks. Just discipline and a congregation that gave sacrificially toward a future they believed in.
Eleven Acres, Fully Owned
On Sunday, April 24, 2011, New Hope Cathedral moved into its current home: an eleven-acre, 55,000-square-foot campus at 1738 Fairview Road in Stockbridge. The church owns this property outright — no landlord, no lease, no outside board dictating direction. That ownership is why New Hope controls its own budget, sets its own membership standards, and makes its own business decisions without compromise.
The name has changed over the years — from New Hope Church of God, to New Hope Christian Ministries, to New Hope Cathedral — but the mission hasn't moved an inch since that first living room in 2001.