New Hope Christian Church in Rockland County, NY

Welcome

New Hope is one of Rockland County’s historic Christian churches. We have been worshiping God, preaching the gospel, and ministering to people throughout Rockland and north Jersey since 1824.

Adults and children of all ages and backgrounds call New Hope their home church. Perhaps you will too.

Come to church on Sunday
at 11. You’ll be glad you did.

Phillip Dennis and his wife, Blake

By God's grace, for his glory, and in his power

Our mission is to proclaim the message urgently and effectively in Rockland and Bergen Counties that

Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Lord

and to work to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples within our community, so that people will mature as servants of the triune God, worship God in spirit and truth, and have a reforming influence in society.

Find out about weather cancellations

Weather Cancellations

Check back here for weather-related service updates. You can also get updates through Twitter , our Facebook page, by calling the church office at (845) 356-2031, or by e-mail.

Children and Families at New Hope

Kids love to play, sing, and learn about Jesus in a fun, clean, safe place.

Nursery and Child Care
We have a clean, safe, staffed nursery for newborns through elementary school age children. Lots of new toys, plenty of space, and all kinds of materials for coloring and art.


Cry Room
If you want a little more space or privacy with your baby but still want to be part of the service, just step into our comfortable private cry room at the back of the sanctuary. There you can relax in an armchair, feed your baby, change a diaper, or let your baby play in the pack and play while you continue to watch and listen to everything happening in the service.

Children's Church
About 20 minutes into the service, kids age 4 to 10 are dismissed to Children's Church. Children's Church is a fun time where kids learn about God in the Bible, worship him in song, and begin to grow their own personal relationship with Jesus Christ and each other.


Rachel Mapes is the lead teacher of our Children's Church. We use The Jesus Storybook Bible as our curriculum.


Older Kids
As our church grows, our ministry to older kids will grow too. Kids age 11 and older stay in the worship service with the adults where they sing, pray, and grow up to spiritual maturity by hearing the preaching of God's word and learning to model themselves on the older men and women they see around them.

Families are welcome here—and so are seniors, singles, and single parents!


Our story

New Hope is one of Rockland County’s historic churches.


The story of our church in Monsey goes back to the early 1800s when a fierce controversy over the five points of Calvinism and church governance arose in the Dutch Reformed Church in America. As a result, in 1822 a group of people seceded from that denomination and established a new one called the True Reformed Dutch Church. The Monsey church would soon be born out of that movement of secession.


On June 11, 1824, the Monsey church was established when 68 people seceded from the Dutch Reformed Church of West New Hempstead, which most people today know as the Brick Church. The seceders were led by the Rev. James D. Demarest, who had been the pastor of the Brick Church, and they established themselves in Monsey as a new congregation called the True Reformed Dutch Church of West New Hempstead. Our first building was adjacent to our cemetery on Maple Avenue and Saddle River Road. Our second and current building on Main Street in Monsey was dedicated on August 19, 1869.


By the late 1940s, the congregation had diminished to a very small number. But thanks to the work of the Rev. Dick L. Van Halsema beginning in 1949, it once again became vital, especially with the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the building of the New York State Thruway in Rockland County. The Monsey Christian Reformed Church was formally organized in 1952. The name New Hope Christian Church was adopted in 2000. In 2007 the church affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

Our future

As we look to the future, we see many important ways we can serve as ambassadors for Christ in Rockland County and north Jersey:


  • Reformed identity
    There is a need for Reformed churches in our area that model themselves closely on the theology and worship of the Protestant Reformation. Biblical expository preaching, the doctrines of grace, and the singing of Psalms, catechizing, and promoting home worship by families and households will characterize our church as we seek to maintain our distinctly Reformed identity among the other churches of Rockland County.
  • Parish ministry
    There are many churches in Rockland and north Jersey, but no others in the immediate vicinity of Monsey or anywhere within about a 1.5 mile radius of our church. As the only Christian church in this area, we want to make it easy for our neighbors in this parish to call upon us for spiritual help. We also help reduce litter in the area through the state's adopt-a-highway program for Route 306 (Main Street).
  • Financial education
    The Bible is a treasure trove of practical wisdom, and one of the areas it talks most about is money. Many people today are in a real financial mess. Financial education through courses such as Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University is a way for us to reach people who are in need outside the church and to minister to them in practical ways.
  • Private Christian education
    Many parents are concerned about the quality of education in our local school districts. Some would like to home school their children but don’t feel qualified or can’t afford the time. Although there are other good private Christian schools in the area, we are working toward opening our own school to offer an affordable classical and Reformed Christian education for primary school children.
  • Outreach to Jews
    Christians and Jews have not always gotten along well or understood each other correctly throughout history. Slanders and falsehoods have been uttered by members of both groups against each other. Our location gives us a unique opportunity to help clear up misunderstandings and to show how Christianity is connected to the faith of the patriarchs and ancient Israel. We’re happy to enjoy friendly relations with our Jewish neighbors in our parish, and in terms of moral values, we find that we have much more in common with the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities than with secular culture generally.
  • Plant small churches
    Our sanctuary only has room for about 120 people comfortably, so we will always be a small church. But that means it’s easier for the elders to oversee and offer pastoral care to the members. It’s easier for newcomers to fit in and get involved in the church. Rather than add additional Sunday services as we grow, our plan is to plant new churches in the area. We would especially like to see a new Spanish-language Reformed church in Rockland.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to
a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
—1 Peter 1:3

Contact Us

Click here to send a quick message or find out how to reach us.

Our officers and staff

  • Phillip Dennis

    Phillip Dennis is a preacher licensed by both the Metro New York Presbytery of the PCA and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC). He is from Thousand Oaks, California, and earned the M.A. in exegetical theology at Covenant Seminary and the M.Phil. in biblical theology from Fordham University. He is writing a dissertation for a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from the University of Pretoria. His wife, Blake, has lived all over the place, most notably Brussels, Belgium, which is how she comes to speak fluent French. She also loves to run, knit, and bake, and works in design and I.T. at a medical publishing company in Manhattan. They have a daughter, Pippa, born in 2010.

  • Hank Bakker

    Hank Bakker is an elder at the church, a position of trust and responsibility earned through many years of church leadership and service in ministry beginning when he was a teenager. He first started attending here as a young child enrolled in Sunday school. He is available—enthusiastically and joyfully—to encourage anyone who wants to enjoy the wonder of a fulfilling and meaningful relationship with God. Hank has three business degrees and works as a senior manager of an area business. He is blessed to be married to his wife, Eileen, and to be the father of three sons, two enrolled at Nyack College and the youngest soon to finish high school. Eileen is from the Albany area and is a graduate of Elim Bible College and Nyack College. In addition to raising her family and ministering to the church through her music, she teaches at a home school co-op in New Jersey.

  • Glen Mapes

    Glen Mapes is an elder in the church and a home improvement contractor based in Spring Valley. After a lengthy time of service as a deacon, he was elected and ordained as an elder. Glen's wife, Ruth, is originally from the Philippines. She works as a neonatal intensive care nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. Glen and Ruth have two sons, one in southern California and the other upstate New York, a daughter, who serves in the church's children's ministry, and several grandchildren.

  • KateLynne Hahn, Worship Leader at New Hope Christian Church

    KateLynne Hahn is the worship leader and a full time student at the local Christian and Missionary Alliance School, Nyack College. She is studying nursing with a focus in intercultural studies, while working part-time for the Nursing Admissions Department. Raised in church ministry, she values involvement in the local church and has been in attendance at New Hope since 2010. Her main goal is to “bring a contemporary sound to the worship of New Hope in a way that not only accommodates the present state of the congregation, but also presses towards the future goals of growth and deeper discipleship.”

  • Rachel Mapes, Children's Church Leader at New Hope Christian Church

    Rachel Mapes is the lead teacher of our Children's Church. She grew up in the church, so she remembers what it's like to be a kid in Sunday school and a teenager in the youth group. Rachel has a degree in biology and is now pursuing a career in nursing after returning to Rockland from teaching English to primary school children in South Korea for almost two years. "I hope to instill a strong love of Christ in the children of the church by making it real and not just a story. I enjoy challenges and love kids. My favorite color is blue although I like wearing purple. I enjoy drawing and like to think I'm fairly good at it."

Our beliefs

The Bible is our rule of faith. It is the word of God written, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and without error in the original manuscripts. As the revelation of God's truth, it is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and life. A few highlights of what we understand the Bible to teach are these:

  • We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  • We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God's displeasure, except by his mercy.
  • We believe that salvation is by God alone, as he sovereignly chooses those he will save. We believe his choice is based on his grace, not on any human individual merit or foreseen faith.
  • We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through his perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in him alone for salvation.
  • We believe that God is gracious and faithful to his people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to his covenant promises.
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God's people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow him.
  • We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive his people unto himself.
  • We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

What we understand the Bible to teach is more fully summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith and larger and shorter catechisms.

Come to church on Sunday at 11.
You'll be glad you did.