This article appeared in the International Ministerial Fellowships-Gathering on March , 2003

A City’s Heart Turns
The Story of Hope Community Church

by Julie Saffrin

In 1995, Gordon Peterson, the pastor of Calvary Worship Temple in Minneapolis, Minnesota, asked Brian Lother to design a course on church planting. While teaching the class, both Brian and his wife Jacque felt God tug at their hearts to lead a church plant themselves and in March of 1997, the church commissioned the Lothers. Seventy-five percent of Brian’s class formed the nucleus that became Hope Community Church.

That spring, the Lothers began prayer drives. When they passed the rural city of Corcoran, 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis, both of them were drawn to the open country setting. During this time, Brian raised $15,000 from people across the country and in May of 1997, on behalf of Hope, signed a purchase agreement for ten acres of land in Corcoran. “The bank approved a loan for a church that had never taken an offering,” Brian recalls. In their temporary facility at an elementary school two and a half miles away, the non-denominational church held its first service with 125 in attendance and closed on the property that December.

But building a church on the land was not to be. In the summer of 1999, neighbors decried Hope’s Site Plan, citing opposition to size (seating for 200), and a steeple. Angry letters were written to Corcoran’s City Council. “Most people when they have disagreements with the City threaten to sue,” Brian said. “But how could we sue the very city we were called to minister to?” The City stuck their heels in the sand, and in July voted 4-1 against the church.

In August, Hope’s leadership met to pray. “And God said the one word we all hate to hear,” Brian says, “Wait.” September, October, November, passed. Brian prayed in December, “I don’t believe You called us out here to do nothing. We’ve been in a temporary facility for two years. Why are You telling us to wait?”

But, how the ways of God often unfold, more twists and turns were on the way.

In January 2000 Brian went again to God. This time he heard something. “Make an appointment with John Bucher (Corcoran City Council member who voted the project down). Present your case, get direction from him, and do what he says.”

“We will never let you build a church for more than 200 people,” Bucher said at lunch. Brian asked him what Hope should do. Bucher opened up a city map and pointed to a 75-acre corner parcel across the county road from the land Hope owned. “If you buy that property,” Bucher said, “we’ll let you build whatever you want.” Brian says now, “In my mind, I wanted to argue, ‘we’re right across the street from it! What’s the difference?’ but I didn’t. I just kept my mouth shut.’ Brian asked details about the farmland, but Bucher knew nothing.

Brian stopped at City Hall and asked about the property. “Why do you want to know?” the receptionist asked. He told her his conversation with Bucher. “This must be God,” she said. “Clarence Oswald, who owns the property that’s been in his family for 150 years, just walked in here twenty minutes ago. For the first time in his 88 years he wants to sell it.”

Brian met Mike Brady, a Hope member who is also in commercial real estate, at the Oswald homestead. “We were at the city meetings and felt it was a terrible thing they denied you building your church,” Donna Oswald said. “And for them not to let you have a steeple.”

Brian learned a developer had made an offer on the land. “The Oswalds are wonderful Christian Lutheran people,” Brian says. “One of the first things Donna asked me was, ‘Does your church believe in tithing?’ She knew if we embraced that concept God’s blessing would be upon our church and the purchase of their property would be fine.”

Hope offered a thousand dollars an acre more than the developer’s offer. Five weeks later, Hope had a signed purchase agreement to buy the land. Now they needed to come up with the money by the September 2000 closing.

During this time Hope learned that a four-lane highway was scheduled to be built alongside Hope’s acreage, creating the potential for commercial land use and church growth.

Hope sold off some of the new acreage to a homebuilder, and most of the old, including a 28-acre parcel they had also acquired. “We still needed another $1.25 million but the Lord gave us a business strategy,” Brian says. The remainder was divided up, with 15 acres designated for professional/medical development near the four-way intersection, with another 50 acres reserved for the church property, including a plan to construct a 200-person seniors housing development.

Corcoran Investments LLC was formed, (Hope’s ownership being 30%), and sold investment “units” to church members and outside investors. Corcoran Investments paid the church $1.2 million for the commercial property, enabling Hope to purchase 50 acres back for an unheard of $50,000.

The original closing date of September 2000 was cancelled as the bank could not commit to the money. After a two-month search to find another bank, Hope finally closed on the land in November.

This time when Hope went before the City, they did not go to the expense of a site plan, in case it was rejected, but rather, Hope unveiled a sketch plan Both the council and planning commission were unanimous in their approval.

Later, one of the most publicly opposed neighbors to the prior site plan told Brian, “I just want to apologize to you for the things I’ve said. I’m running for city council and I’m going to be one of the biggest champions you have.” Another councilman suggested Hope use an architect on the planning commission who a year ago had taken a public stand against the church, to develop the Master Plan. “He would be very excited to work with you on your project,” the councilman said.

“God turned the hearts of everyone out here,” Brian says. “Both the planning commission and city council said Hope’s new plan was the best they’d seen in the last ten years. They’re telling other developers to talk to us and see what we did. That’s the favor God’s given us.”

Financing the church mortgage was the next step, and once again, not without its hurdles. The 20,000 square foot church design (large enough to accommodate 350 members) was approved and the figures came in. The bank, pleased with Hope’s million dollars in land equity, scheduled closing for the following week.

At seven A.M. on a Thursday the bank called. “Our bank isn’t large enough to finance the whole loan so we had to get a partner bank,” the vice president of the bank said.“They backed out last night.” The bank officer told Brian, who was leaving that day with Jacque to lead a 3-day worship retreat for the weekend in Rochester, a hundred miles away, that Hope needed to come up with $200,000 in one week.

While down in Rochester, a fellow pastor called Brian and asked how the building was going. Brian explained that the bank had pulled the plug on financing a portion of the project. The pastor donated a thousand dollars. Brian took it as a sign of seed money from God.

Sunday morning Brian told the situation to his congregation and an additional offering was taken. $10,000 came in. That same day a parishioner, who had just sold his house, offered to borrow the church $100,000. So far $111,000 had come in in three days.

On Monday morning Brian was on his riding lawn mower and “something came over me,” he says. “I heard God say, ‘Don’t call anybody. Let Me bring them to you.’”

Suddenly a pickup stopped alongside the road and the driver got out. “How’s the church going?” Brian explained the situation with the bank. The man pulled out his checkbook and donated $25,000 and borrowed Hope another $50,000 interest-free. $186,000 and counting.

The remainder came in rapid succession. A church member received an unexpected bonus check of $2,500. A businessman offered to match anything the church received up to $10,000. The widow of a former member, who had passed away several months ago, called to say she needed to make a $10,000 tithe on the insurance policy, confirming Brian’s positive answer to Mrs. Oswald’s tithing question. All told the church received $205,000 in five days and was able to close in July 2002.

Because the commercial property will be rental property, it will generate up to a half million dollars a year to Hope. The money is already earmarked, with half designated to foreign missions and the other half for future church plants.

When asked how the Lothers keep their heads in all the things that have come to pass under their leadership, Brian refers to the story of Jacob found in Genesis 32. “We all walk with a limp, just like Jacob did after he wrestled with God and became known as Israel. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life. You can’t take credit for it.”

Brian sent a letter to the city council and planning commission. “What was a disappointment to us in 1999 was actually the hand of God guiding us to something that was much better. I thanked them for not bowing to our pressure.” The church has even had interest from the Mayo Clinic over the medical facility potential.

With the church, complete with steeple, nearing completion (Brian hopes to celebrate Easter in their new facility), Brian has learned two things. “Trust. God is in charge. He has a plan and we need to surrender our plans to His plan and trust that He is at work, bringing to pass His will.”

“Secondly, even though steps take you down paths that are not what you perceive at the time even to be God’s will, we can rest in the fact that if we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, where He’s guiding us is for our own good.”

Julie Saffrin is a freelance writer in Excelsior, Minnesota.

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