OVER 155 YEARS OF POINTING PEOPLE TO JESUS IN BOISE
True Hope Church was born from the desire to see the work of the Gospel multiplied into new horizons, and this has been its DNA for over 155 years.
1864
In 1864 Idaho City had a population of over 25,000, while Boise was just a stop on the trail with a population of 500, mostly miners and mule drivers. In April 1864, Reverend H. Hamilton, seeing the need for a church in this tiny community, started services in the courthouse. 1st Baptist Church, our name as a church back then, continued to see more and more people transformed with the gospel, and grew into the hundreds. As Boise grew, and as the congregation continued to grow, the church broke ground on our current building in 1947.
From the begining True Hope has had multiplication as an essential part of its DNA. Wanting to see the gospel influence other communities outside its own zip-code, True Hope has reproduced itself in church plants around the Treasure Valley. In 1955 it planted 2nd Baptist Church, now known as The Summit. In 1994, True Hope assisted with the birth of Eastwind Community Church, and in 2006 also supported what’s now New Life Bible Fellowship in Caldwell, in 2014 started Dry Creek Community Church in Hidden Springs, and in 2017 we parterned with local church planter to launch Redemption Hill.
2017
In October of 2017, the leadership at Collister Community Church reached out and asked Pastor Bruce, Senior Pastor of First Baptist to be an advisor to them. Collister was facing serious challenges with declining attendance and an aging congregation. They have a desire to be an intergenerational, revitalized community. Collister Community Church was started back in 1918.
Recently, in March of 2018 True Hope (First Baptist) had the privilege of starting a new campus by sending 60 of its members and replanting Collister Community Church, as True Hope Church Collister. God has been gracious and good, and all of these congregations are still actively spreading the gospel in their communities.
2018
In October of 2018 First Baptist Church and Collister Community Church became the True Hope Family of Churches.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, we began streaming all services online and increased our audience beyond our local gatherings. When we continued in-person gatherings later that year, we continued our online ministry at both of our churches.
2020
In 2021 we partnered with New Direction in Nampa to rebirth a church as True Hope Nampa, sending Downtown Family Pastor Sasha Rasmussen as the lead pastor of this new exciting work.
2021
There is a tendency in churches our age to stagnate, get bound up in tradition, and sometimes, sadly, to die. Thankfully True Hope is very much alive through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we are praying that God would continue to open up new opportunities for us to expand the reach of the Gospel even further and deeper into Boise, and the surrounding areas. For this reason, we along with a group of pastors in 2017 launched the The City Network. A network of churches of all stripes which exists to grow and multiply healthy churches to reach our cities. It is our desire to plant 15 new churches in the next 10 years, so that even more people can know and experience the True Hope that exists in knowing Jesus Christ.