About Mt. Hope Church

The west side of the building, facing the Fellowship Hall

Our History and Facilities

Founded in 1889 in the Mt. Hope area of Detroit, Mt. Hope Congregational Church has seen its share of moves, going from downtown to neighboring Livonia in 1964. Since then, the church has expanded in size, ministry scope and attendance. Over the years, Mt. Hope has always been a family-centered, neighborhood church, seeking to minister to people in the community in which it resides. Our members come from every walk of life and from every church background imaginable. Visitors and Christ-seekers are always welcome in our doors.

God has blessed us with a wonderful building to worship Him in. Our sanctuary, which seats up to 250 people, boasts large windows, a "clean" look, a modern sound system, piano, organ and air conditioning. The church also hosts an independent pre-school (Academic Pathways), a large kitchen, cozy libary, and offices. In the mid-90's, the church raised funds to build a modern Fellowship Hall to host our many gatherings and events. Lately, we have remodeled several children's classrooms to make them into attractive, fun "theme rooms".

Our current building project is a large activity center — the MAC — which includes a gym/basketball court, a stage and a youth group room. The MAC is scheduled to open to the church and community this fall.

Location

Mt. Hope Church is located on 30330 Schoolcraft Road in Livonia, Michigan, between Merriman and Middlebelt, and right off of I-96.

Mt. Hope's Staff

Pastor Steven Schafer: Steve has been the minister at Mt. Hope since 1982, and is married with two daughters. He graduated from Gordon-Conwell Seminary, and attained his doctorate from Trinity Theological Seminary. Steve is tasked with developing and maintaining the vision of the church, as well as ministering to the sick and hurting in the congregation. In addition to his pastoral duties, Steve enjoys woodworking and travel.

Steve's e-mail is sbschafer@gmail.com.

Youth Pastor Justin Olivetti: Justin has been with Mt. Hope since 2000 as the youth minister. He is currently attending Michigan Theological Seminary. In his spare time, he enjoys writing, video games, shaving cream whiffleball and tormenting Steve.

Justin's e-mail is standfirminfaith@gmail.com.

Administrative Assistant Noreen: Noreen has been with Mt. Hope since 2006 as the nerve (nervy?) center of Mt. Hope's daily office tasks. She is married with five full-grown kids, and enjoys using music in ministry. She comes to us with over seven years of experience in church administration.

Noreen's e-mail is nrp1957@hotmail.com.

Choir Director Shari Haverty: Our intrepid choir director, Shari leads the beautiful voices at Mt. Hope with the adult choir, youth choir and other musical events. She has a bachelor of music degree from Adrian College, and has been involved in music ministry and teaching since 1982. In her spare time, Shari enjoys reading, crafts and piano.

Shari's e-mail is sharihaverty@gmail.com.

Accompanist Sharon Boylan: We are blessed to have an expert pianist and organist in Sharon. She has a bachelor degree in piano from Michigan State, and graduate degrees in Music Theory from Indiana University. Sharon has kept our services filled with lively music since 2002. She has three kids and no spare time.

Sharon's e-mail is smboylan@yahoo.com.

The Mayflower

Congregationalism

In 1620 the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and brought with them the idea that a congregation of believers ought to be able to rule themselves. That was the beginning of the Congregational Way. For almost four hundred years, Congregationalists have held to the ideal of local congregations seeking the guidance of God themselves, without the dictates and oversight of magistrates or bishops.

Congregationalists are a covenant people, having no defined doctrinal statement other than the Bible itself. We believe that the Word of God is living and active and constantly ready to meet the needs of people every day. We have resisted the temptation to "boil down" the whole counsel of God into a few statements of dogma. Congregationalists are thus required to think about their own faith individually and to construct their own belief system and to respect the belief systems of others.

Each member of a Congregational Church is a minister along with all the other members. It is our desire to reach out to one another and to the world in the name of Christ with love, acceptance and support.

Our Hymn