A B O U T

Our Story

In 1979, Redeemer Lutheran Church in Merritt Island, FL began exploration of starting a mission congregation in the Melbourne, FL area. At that time, Redeemer was the only WELS church in all of Brevard County, and many members of Redeemer were making the 40-minute drive from the Melbourne area to worship there. 

Worship services in Melbourne were first conducted on April 30th, 1980, at the Adventist Hall. New Hope’s Charter Sunday was December 14th, 1980, with 41 communicant members signing as charter members. The congregation met in the Melbourne Municipal Band Building until the Worship Enhancement Facilities were constructed in 1984. New Hope’s current sanctuary, which has space for approximately 200, was constructed in 1995.

In 2005 New Hope began and built an academy. With blessings from the Lord, we continued our growth with a school expansion project in 2015. We were joined by our current pastor, Jon Hartmann and school principal, Steve Haag in 2019. We started a VPK program in 2025.

As we look forward to 2027, we continue to grow and plan for new facilities to teach more children from infancy to 8th grade.