Jerry Ehrhart

It all began in 1988 when our founding pastor, Dr. Craig Strickland, felt the call to plant a church “out east” in the suburbs of Memphis. Along with 25 charter members, Craig began Hope in the living room of a Germantown home in September of 1988. Eli Morris came to join Craig at Hope with a heart for inner city missions. In 1992, Hope purchased our first piece of land at 8500 walnut grove Road and moved into their first permanent worship space. Over the next 20 years, Hope’s congregation and building has expanded to serve over 30 ministries, thousands from Memphis to the Bronx, to Belize. Craig and Eli’s prayers were met when Rev. Rufus Smith agreed to leavehis hometown of Houston, Texas, to join the preaching/teaching team in 2010. In November 2013, Rufus was voted in to take the position as senior Pastor. Craig moved into Founding Pastor role and Eli remains in his desiredposition, God calling position of Senior Associate Pastor. At Hope, our mission is clear: We want to engage our un-churched neighbors of every age and ethnicity to experience Jesus. "What exactly is 'un-churched?'" you might ask. Un-churched are not only those who have never been to church, but also those that may have grown cold to the idea of church. Those who feel church is nothing but shame, guilt and judgment. Reaching the un-churched has been our focus from day one. We try to be different. We try to offer a place of powerful worship and timely, relevant, life-application messages rooted in Bible truths. We don't care what you wear, we just care that you're here. We provide a safe, welcoming place for new guests checking us out, but also a gathering place for friends and small groups that want to dive deeper into God's Word. Wherever you are in your walk of faith—whether just starting or well-traveled—we invite you to come and be a part of Hope. You'll fit right in.