By Jacob Tellers

Fulfilling its call to bring hope to the hopeless, the aptly named Hope Church will open its doors this fall in downtown Albert Lea.

Hope Church will be an offshoot from Crossroads Church, according to Kaleb Hurley, Crossroads Church associate pastor, who will be leaving along with 50 to 75 other members to start the new church.

James Petersen, Crossroads Church senior pastor, said it was “vision, not division” that lead to his and Hurley’s decision to go forward with plans for the new church last September.

“The reason behind it is to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Hurley said.

Because of his own past, Hurley said he felt called to begin this new ministry.

“God has delivered me from a past of addiction,” Hurley said. “He’s delivered me from drugs and alcohol. I was just a messed-up, drugged up teenager looking for God in all the wrong places.”

Hurley’s experiences have helped him discern what he wants the specific focus of his church to be.

“I believe that I am called to be a voice to people who are struggling with the things I’ve struggled with in my life and that God’s set me free from,” Hurley said. “We will have a special focus on reaching out to people who are brokenhearted and in need of real lasting hope that is only found in Jesus.”

After five years as an associate pastor at Crossroads Church, Hurley is ready for the challenge of leading a congregation of his own as he will be stepping into the senior pastor role for Hope Church.

“As much as we will miss Kaleb, we know it is the right thing,” Petersen said.

The churches will operate as two distinct organizations, but that doesn’t mean that the ties between them won’t remain close.

“I will continue to serve as senior mentor, someone he can seek counsel from,” Petersen said. “That relationship will continue.”

One concern the two pastors both shared was that the Hope Church offshoot might be misconstrued as being caused by divisions or animosity inside Crossroads Church.

“We’re going to be committed to working together,” Hurley said.

According to Petersen, everyone at Crossroads Church is excited to see how the plans to form the new church have been moving along.

Evan Getchell, a six-year member of Crossroads Church, is one of the Crossroads Church attendees who have decided so far to join Hurley in starting Hope Church.

Getchell said the decision to join Hope Church was immediate when the opportunity was first given to him.

“I’m looking forward to starting something new in Albert Lea and reaching people for Jesus,” Getchell said.

Hope Church will initially be holding its services in the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center, but Hurley said the church plans to purchase a building of its own in the next one to two years.

The launch team — the group who will be moving to Hope Church — are all committed to staying long-term, Hurley said.

The first Sunday service at Hope Church will be 10 a.m. Sept. 14.

Hurley said services will initially be at 10 a.m. every Sunday morning, with concurrent childrens’ programs in the rooms below the theater.

With seating for 240 in the main auditorium, the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center has more than enough room for Hurley’s initial congregation.

“We think it is a place we could grow into, but we certainly don’t have enough people to fill the theater yet,” Hurley said.

The new building presents its own challenges. Hurley and the rest of his staff will need to have offices in another building in downtown Albert Lea, and any equipment they want to use for a service will have to be brought in early each Sunday morning.

Part of Hope Church’s initial outreach was their participation in Albert Lea’s Third of July Parade. They will also be hosting a “party in the park” at 4 p.m. next Saturday at Memorial Park with music, games, contests and free food.

Hurley said Hope Church’s goal is to build relationships with people in the community.

“We’re going out of our way to look for people not connected to God,” Hurley said.

Crossroads Church will host a send-off service Sept. 7 one week before Hope Church opens.

According to its website, Crossroads began in Albert Lea 1995 as an offshoot of Faith Church in Austin and moved to its current facility in 2004.