Two churches in the Fresno-Clovis area, one founded in 1965 and one in 1979, walked their separate roads for a generation. On October 18, 1992, they became one. This is the story of how the church on Nees Avenue got to today.
"New Hope is a biblical church. We're independent. We don't belong to any denomination because we believe just the truth of the Bible."Identity, in our own words
What you read below is the institutional story. The dates, the buildings, the pastors, the two congregations that became one. The human stories of what God has done through this church are over on the Stories page.
A note on the photos: these come from the New Hope archive. Where we have a photo from the year of an event, that's what's shown. Otherwise the photo illustrates the people or place being described, not always from that exact year.
1965
Rev. Lonnie Rolen plants Ashbrook Church on Millbrook Avenue in Fresno, affiliated with the National Association of Free Will Baptists. The congregation buys property at 4141 N. Millbrook and builds an educational building, then a sanctuary. The church is founded to address the needs and concerns of young families with children.
God uses Lonnie Rolen to lead Ashbrook for the next twenty-five years. To those who knew him, he is "Pops."
1979
Pastor Bob Radtke, formerly Senior Pastor of Bethany Mennonite Brethren Church in Fresno, feels a call to start a non-denominational work in the Fresno-Clovis area. The vision is simple. Offer hope to families walking through tragedy and turmoil, and trust the Bible to do that work.
A small congregation gathers. The name carries the vision. New Hope.
The sanctuary on Nees Avenue goes up, and the build is filmed.
1980
October 28
The New Hope sanctuary is dedicated on October 28, 1980. The dedication service was recorded, and it's preserved here in full.
1983
September 23
Pastor Radtke steps down. Rick Wood is called as the second Senior Pastor of New Hope. The young congregation, only four years old, has its second shepherd. Sundays continue at 4620 E. Nees.
1990
After twenty-five years at Ashbrook, Lonnie Rolen retires. The congregation calls his son, Tim McLain Rolen, as its second Senior Pastor in twenty-five years. The Free Will Baptist congregation at 4141 N. Millbrook in Fresno is now led by the son of the man who planted it.
1992
May
At a local school event, a man from each congregation strikes up a conversation. New Hope has recently lost its pastor. Ashbrook is looking for a new location.
1992
October 17
After nearly six months of prayer, combined worship and fellowship, and many board meetings, the day comes. On Saturday, October 17, 1992, around 12:30 in the afternoon, both congregations hold separate merger votes at the same hour. Each requires a 75% majority. Both clear the threshold. Two churches, in two cities, have decided in the same moment to become one.
1992
October 18
The next morning, October 18, 1992, the Ashbrook congregation joins New Hope at 4620 East Nees in Clovis. Tim McLain Rolen, who had been senior pastor of Ashbrook, becomes senior pastor of the merged church. New Hope Community Church, as it exists today, is born.
"During his tenure here as senior pastor, Tim really brought about this fabric of hospitality to the church. This idea that we should really be responsive to the community. We really wanted to make sure that the word community in New Hope Community Church actually meant something."Pastor Mark Addis, on Tim Rolen
1992to2022
From the first Sunday after the merger through December 2022, Tim McLain Rolen serves as Senior Pastor of New Hope. Three decades of teaching. A children's ministry that grows up and sends out its own families. A missions program that sends Matt and Shelley Actis, part of New Hope before the mission field, to Colombia and then Uganda.
Through Tim, God shapes a fabric of hospitality. The word community in New Hope Community Church starts to mean what it says.
Pastor Tim Rolen preaching at New Hope
2016
Mark Addis comes on staff as Associate Pastor, working alongside Tim Rolen and the rest of the pastoral team.
2021
A major expansion of the Nees Avenue campus. The Barn is built debt-free through a capital campaign. It holds the Steele Conference Room and the church offices, and it hosts events and Sunday morning overflow.
2022
October
New Hope marks thirty years since the merger with a Sunday morning anniversary service in the sanctuary and a dinner in The Barn. Over three hundred past and current members gather. Six members record "Make a Difference" video interviews for the anniversary, now on the Stories page.
30-year anniversary dinner in The Barn, October 2022
The Sunday morning anniversary service, October 2022
2022
December 26
At the close of a two-year transitional process, Mark Addis is installed as Senior Pastor on December 26, 2022. Tim Rolen moves into phased retirement and a part-time role on staff. The teaching continues. The fabric of hospitality continues. The mission continues.
Pastor Mark Addis, Senior Pastor since December 2022
"We are a family."Identity, in our own words
What you read is the institutional record. The buildings, the votes, the pastors, the merger. The people whose lives have been shaped here tell a different and louder story, in their own words, on the Stories page.
