History

In February of 1992, Pastor David and Rebecca Beidel began New Hope Community Church in the living room of their New Brighton home. From its inception, New Hope sought to be “A house of hope in a world of pain.” During this time, crack cocaine had ravaged the North Shore of Staten Island. New Hope sought to be a healing balm in the midst of this crisis. The young fellowship brought stability and comfort to many troubled homes, as well as safety and salvation to the many families and psychological orphans in the neighborhood. Rebecca created a warm and welcoming environment in their home, and for many of the neighborhood children, the Beidel home was literally a “house of hope” and a safe haven where love and joy were always guaranteed.

In the winter of 1999, after several years of renting different facilities, New Hope purchased a permanent home on 77 Alaska St. in West Brighton. In many ways, this was a fascinating piece of a prophetic puzzle that God allowed the church to observe little by little over the years. Some 30 years earlier, God had spoken clearly to Pastor Dave’s parents, Don and Susie Beidel, to leave Alaska and move to NYC. The prophetic statement was: “It will be a long, dark tunnel, but Jesus will be at the end of the tunnel.” So, in 1973 they left a very comfortable existence in Alaska, including a lucrative career, a lovely lakefront house, and a boat. They packed up their two young children (Sophia and David) and left for New York City. All they knew about New York came from a book with a terrifying view of violent gangs in the inner city called, “The Cross and the Switchblade.” Many years later, in a coincidence only God could orchestrate, the church pastored by Don and Susie’s son purchased a permanent ministry home on “Alaska Street.”

At the time the church moved in, the blocks surrounding the building on Alaska St. were experiencing a horrible spree of violence. West Brighton was known as “Bloody Brighton” or “Wild, Wild West Brighton,” and the neighborhood was infamous for having the second highest murder rate in NYC. God, however, called our body to fast and pray against the “spirit of murderous rage” in West Brighton. During a week of fasting and prayer, the congregation stood together and declared: “No more murders in West Brighton.” Amazingly, the murder rate in our neighborhood plummeted almost overnight from 17 murders a year to zero for more than two years. To this day, we continue to experience the smallest fraction of violence that was once the identity of this community. One of the most consistent promises that God has spoken over us is: “The wilderness will blossom like a rose.” (Isa. 35:1) We rejoice to see God continually fulfill His promise to bring salvation, hope, and joy to the wilderness that was West Brighton and to wildernesses everywhere.

Pastor John joined the staff of New Hope in June 2009 as Executive Pastor working alongside Pastor David Beidel. In April 2018 Pastor Dave stepped down from the role of senior pastor of New Hope to focus exclusively on Urban Hope Inc., a non-profit organization committed to building up cities and communities. Pastor John was installed as the senior pastor of New Hope Community Church in November 2019.