“Cleveland Hope exists to spread the hope of Jesus Christ by networking pastors, churches, and resources in an effort to reduce the church-to-population ratio.”
History:
Since the 1950s, Great Commission Baptist (also known as Southern Baptist) churches in greater Cleveland have partnered in evangelism, missions, church planting, stewardship, Christian education, and benevolence.
Our Mission:
Demonstrate our love for God by partnering to offer the people of Greater Cleveland hope through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus and genuine spiritual community through our churches.
“N.E.T.S.” Priorities:
Jesus’ statement to His fishermen disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10) in the context of boats and nets can mean only one thing:
My mission to save people will require working together just like you have to work together to bring in a net full of fish.
Just as every local church needs a clear process for growing disciples of Jesus in community, an association of like-minded churches needs a clear strategy for moving congregations towards greater gospel impact--together! The Greater Cleveland Baptist Association (known as Cleveland Hope) exists to bring the hope of Christ to Cleveland and the world by pursuing these strategic priorities:
Networking Churches & Resources
No church stands alone! Cleveland Hope seeks to model church-to-church partnering through: joint local outreach & evangelism, short-term mission trips, pulpit-supply/team-preaching, people- & resource-sharing, collective equipping opportunities, etc. Visit our Events and Resources pages for more information.
Encouraging Pastors
Newly-deployed church planter or seasoned local church shepherd, those caring for Christ’s flock need care too! Cleveland Hope does this by fostering pastor-to-pastor partnering, providing fellowship & refreshment opportunities for pastors, pastor spouses, and pastor families, etc.
Training Leaders
From theological education to coaching to the sharpening of specific ministry skills, Cleveland Hope provides (and partners with outside institutions & agencies to provide) church leaders with needed training for Kingdom impact as disciple-multipliers by for example: on-boarding pastors & key leaders to the SEND Multiplication Pipeline (NAMB), scholarships/tuition assistance to Emmaus Theological Seminary & other accredited seminaries, conference assistance, etc.
Sending Teams
Apart from seeing souls harvested for Christ, nothing calls for greater celebration amongst a family of churches than partnering to send out teams with that goal in mind through mercy ministries (disaster/hunger relief, etc.), planting/re-planting churches in Cleveland & beyond, and engaging unreached peoples around the world.
Partners:
Cleveland Hope (known formally as The Greater Cleveland Baptist Association) is in friendly cooperation with the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio and the Southern Baptist Convention.
UNiting with cleveland Hope:
Churches may formally affiliate with the Greater Cleveland Baptist Association which are Baptist in doctrine (see our denomination’s statement of faith: The Baptist Faith and Message 2000) and agree to contribute financially at least once annually. An interested church must sign a letter of covenant and be approved by an associational vote. Email Darin Avery for more information: davery@clevelandhope.com.