Those Who Gathered First
Before New Hope had a building, it had them.
The Weight of Being First
Every church that lasts twenty-five years starts with a small group willing to bet on something unproven. In July 2001, that group gathered in the home of Bishop Richard Leaphart-Mack and Synetra Leaphart-Mack — not because New Hope had a reputation, a facility, or a track record, but because they believed the word the Bishop had received from Habakkuk 2:2 was real, and worth their Sundays.
There was no worship band, no children's ministry wing, no parking lot. There was a couch, folding chairs, and a conviction that outweighed the inconvenience. Those first members carried New Hope on their backs long before New Hope had the infrastructure to carry itself — showing up, tithing to a church with no building, and inviting friends to a ministry that existed, at that point, almost entirely on faith.
The Character of a Founding Generation
Faith Before Proof
They joined a church that had no building, no budget, and no history — only a word and a couple committed to it.
Presence Before Program
There was little programming to draw a crowd. What drew them was showing up, week after week, for each other.
Ownership Before Applause
They served, gave, and built without recognition — because the mission mattered more than the credit.
Completing the Roster
As part of our 25th Anniversary commemoration, New Hope Cathedral is compiling a complete roster of founding members — those who gathered in the Leaphart home in July 2001 and in the earliest days that followed at Chapel Hill Elementary School. This work is ongoing. Records from a church's earliest, most informal season are rarely complete, and we're treating this as an active project, not a finished list.
If you were among those first members — or if you're a family member who remembers someone who was — we want to hear from you. Every name we recover restores a piece of the full picture: who New Hope was before anyone outside that living room knew its name.
Their Story Is Still Ours
New Hope Cathedral did not arrive at an 11-acre campus by accident. It arrived because a small group of people took a founding pastor's vision seriously when it cost them something to do so. Every ministry, every building, every Sunday service that happens on the Stockbridge campus today stands on the foundation those founding members laid. Honoring them isn't nostalgia — it's an accurate account of how this church actually came to be, and a standard for what New Hope asks of every generation that follows.