A People-Loving, Bible-Believing Church on Brunswick Road
Hope United Methodist Church sits at the corner of State Route 2 and Garfield Road in Eagle Mills, a quiet hamlet five miles east of downtown Troy, New York. Set back from Brunswick Road with the steeple visible to passing traffic, the brick-and-clapboard sanctuary is the gathering place for a congregation that describes itself in plain words: a people-loving, Bible-believing, Jesus-following church in the tradition of John and Charles Wesley. The members do not claim to be perfect, but they are eager to say that, by the grace of God, they are alive in Jesus Christ and that he is changing them from the inside out.
The church's vision is "Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world," and its mission statement gathers the whole life of the congregation into three short phrases: Seeking God, Sharing Jesus, Showing Love. That mission shows up not only in Sunday worship but also in a packed weekly rhythm of prayer, Bible study, choir rehearsal and a long-running nursery school that introduces three- and four-year-olds to the same community that gathers for worship each Sunday morning.
Sunday Mornings at 10:30
Worship is the heart of the week at Hope UMC. Every Sunday morning at 10:30, the congregation gathers in the sanctuary for a service that has a traditional feel, with organ music and hymns. Albert Yasus serves as organist, and the choir under the direction of Christine Hadsell leads the singing from the loft. The 10:30 service is the place where the church's identity as a Wesleyan, Bible-believing community is most visible: the Word is read, preached and embodied, and the congregation responds in song, prayer and the celebration of the sacraments.
Children are not on the sidelines at Hope. After a brief children's time with the adults at the start of the service, young worshipers are dismissed to Sunday School, where classes are offered for preschoolers through sixth grade and nursery care is provided for infants. Every teacher is background checked, and the program is built around a Safe Sanctuary that gives parents confidence that their children are being nurtured in a Christian environment. Visitors are welcome, and parents are encouraged to stay with young children until they feel comfortable.
A wheelchair lift is available at the rear entrance of the church for those who need it. The parking lot wraps around the building, and the office phone (518-279-1403) is answered during the week for anyone who wants to call ahead with questions about accessibility, Sunday School placement, or directions.
Sunday Afternoon Prayer Gathering
At 4:00 each Sunday afternoon, the sanctuary fills again - not for a full service but for prayer. The Sunday Afternoon Prayer Gathering is a quieter, smaller meeting where the people of Hope pray and praise God together. It is one of the clearest expressions of the church's conviction that the Christian life is sustained by sustained conversation with God, and it complements the larger morning service with space for a more intimate kind of worship.
Small World Nursery School
Hope UMC is also home to Small World Nursery School, a ministry of the church that has served young families in the Eagle Mills area for years. Director Kathy Prather leads a program for three- and four-year-olds that meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 to 11:30, with an additional class of three-year-olds meeting Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 to 11:30. Children must be of appropriate age by December 1 of the school year, and registration includes filling out a form and paying a non-refundable fee.
Small World is more than a daycare. It is a daily place where the rhythms of the church's life extend into the lives of the youngest families in the community, and where many parents who later join Hope for Sunday worship first encounter the congregation. Families can reach the school at 518-279-0085 or by email at sm.world566@gmail.com.
Early Morning Prayer in the Sanctuary
Six mornings a week, the people of Hope meet in the sanctuary at 6:00 AM for Early Morning Prayer. The gathering runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, with a break on Friday and Sunday. The hour includes Bible study, prayer and fellowship, and finishes promptly at 7:00 so that those who need to get to work or school can do so.
Early Morning Prayer is one of the most distinctive rhythms at Hope. The pastor has described prayer as the engine of everything else the church does - the place where vision is renewed, relationships are deepened and the congregation is shaped for the work of making disciples. For visitors who are curious about the prayer life of the church, dropping in to the sanctuary at 6:00 AM on a weekday morning is the most direct way to see what sustains the congregation through the week.
Monday Bible Study at The Eddy
On Monday mornings at 10:00, the pastor leads a Bible study at The Eddy, a senior living community located at 2256 Burdett Avenue in Troy. Residents of The Eddy and members of Hope work through books of the Bible together, and the study is known for its lively discussion and prayer. The partnership between Hope and The Eddy is one of the quiet but important ways the church stays connected to neighbors beyond its own walls, and it gives retired members of the broader Troy community a regular, weekly encounter with the congregation.
Wednesday Night Choir Rehearsal
Wednesday evenings belong to the choir. At 6:30 PM, the singers gather in the sanctuary to rehearse the music for Sunday morning worship. Christine Hadsell directs the choir, and Albert Yasus accompanies on the organ. New singers are welcome; anyone interested is invited to call the church office for more information.
Journeying Through Scripture Together
One of the most visible expressions of Hope's identity as a disciple-making church is the congregation's commitment to reading the Bible together. Over several winters, the people of Hope have worked through two guided reading programs developed by Scripture Union USA.
The first, the Essential 100 (E100), guides readers through fifty Old Testament and fifty New Testament passages - one hundred readings in total - over roughly twenty weeks. Each day's study follows a five-step format: pray, read, reflect, apply, pray. The book also includes questions for group discussion, and the congregation organized multiple weekly discussion groups that met in homes, at the church, at The Eddy, and even online to talk about what they were reading. About two thirds of the worshiping congregation joined the first E100 campaign, along with a handful of friends from outside the church.
After finishing the E100, Hope launched the Essential Jesus, a companion program that walks through twenty-five Old Testament passages and seventy-five New Testament passages, all focused on who Jesus is, why he is significant and how he transforms lives. As with the E100, the Essential Jesus program combined daily personal study with weekly small-group discussion and Sunday worship services that focused on the week's readings. Seven different discussion group options were offered - morning, evening, weekday and weekend, including an online group and a phone group - so that every interested person could find a time and place that worked.
Members who completed the E100 described what the experience gave them: the freedom to talk openly without judgment, the chance to deepen friendships, a new outlook on faith, and a hunger to keep growing. The Bible Reading Challenges have become a defining mark of the congregation's spiritual life, and they continue to shape both the small-group calendar and the themes of Sunday worship.
A Disciple-Making Church, Not Just a Church of Attenders
Hope's leaders talk openly about the difference between a church that makes members and a church that makes disciples. In his writing, the pastor has pointed back to John and Charles Wesley and the system they built in eighteenth-century England: United Societies for gospel preaching and powerful worship, Class Meetings for newly converted believers learning to walk in faith, and Bands for maturing believers learning to serve. The pattern moved people forward through stages of growth, and the result was changed lives.
That conviction shapes the church's weekly calendar. The early morning prayer meeting, the Monday Bible study at The Eddy, the small-group discussion times around the E100 and Essential Jesus, the choir rehearsal, the children's Sunday School, and the Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon services are all part of one intentional process: helping people seek God, share Jesus and show love in their daily lives. The church's Alpha courses, held in homes around the area, are another piece of that process - an evangelistic entry point designed to introduce people to the basics of the Christian faith in a friendly, low-pressure setting.
The church has also been honest about its own struggles. In a series of public letters, the pastor described a season of denominational tension as the United Methodist Church worked through questions of biblical authority and human sexuality. He asked the congregation to pray, to stay rooted in Scripture, and to remember that, no matter how the wider denomination's questions were resolved, the gospel call to make disciples of Jesus Christ does not change. Hope's leadership has consistently returned to that call, and the Bible Reading Challenges, the Alpha courses and the small-group network are the practical outworking of it.
Leadership at Hope UMC
Hope UMC is pastored by the Rev. Dr. Sung Jun Park. The church's musical leadership is shared by Christine Hadsell, who directs the choir, and Albert Yasus, who serves as organist. Kathy Prather directs Small World Nursery School and is closely involved with the children's Sunday School program. Additional staff and ministry leaders support Sunday School classes, Bible discussion groups and the Small World program, and a Worship Planning Team of congregation members works together each season to shape the order of Sunday services.
What to Expect When You Visit
Hope United Methodist Church is a good place to visit on a Sunday morning. The sanctuary has a traditional feel, with organ music and hymns, and the people are welcoming. Sunday morning worship begins at 10:30 and is followed by a Sunday afternoon prayer gathering at 4:00. Children are invited to begin in the sanctuary with their parents for a brief children's time, after which they are dismissed to age-appropriate Sunday School classes; nursery care is available for infants. A wheelchair lift is available at the rear entrance for those who need it.
Visitors who want to go deeper can join one of the church's many small group opportunities - weekday morning Bible discussion groups, evening groups, the Monday Bible study at The Eddy, or the early morning prayer gathering in the sanctuary at 6:00 AM on weekdays (excluding Friday and Sunday). For more information about any of these opportunities, call the church office at 518-279-1403 or send a note to hopeumctroy@gmail.com.
Giving is available online through the church's secure giving page. Sermons and other media are occasionally shared on the church's Facebook page. The church office can also help arrange weddings and funerals for members and their families.
Hope United Methodist Church is, in its own words, a place where "Everybody needs Jesus, and there's a place for you here." On Brunswick Road, that welcome has been lived out week by week for years - in traditional worship on Sunday mornings, in prayer on Sunday afternoons, in early morning Bible study six days a week, in a choir loft full of volunteers, in classrooms full of children, and in a nursery school where the youngest families of Eagle Mills meet the church for the first time.