Church Near Hamilton Place That Has Long Been Eyed By Developers Finally Sells For $5,550,000; New Hope Presbyterian Finds Site Nearby

  • Thursday, January 30, 2020
New Hope Presbyterian
New Hope Presbyterian

A church near Hamilton Place Mall that has long been eyed by developers has finally agreed to sell.

The New Hope Presbyterian Church at 7301 Shallowford Road near the I-75 exit has been sold to a hotel group. The sale was to Ddc Hotels Inc. for $5,550,000.

Rev. Candace Worth said the decision to sell "came after a sermon I gave on buried talents. Some members of the congregation decided we had some buried talents here that we could make good use of."

Rev. Worth said the congregation also came up with a church site just down the road. A vacant church that formerly was an Assembly of God was available. It was sitting on five acres at 7608 Shallowford.

That property was bought from Drury At 2018 Llc for $1,550,000.

Rev. Worth said the congregation of about 70 members plans to initially use the church building, then build a new sanctuary at the site.

The congregation had been at the current site for over 40 years, starting before there was a huge shopping area across the road and a Lifestyle Way complex at the rear. 

Rev. Worth said in a recent pastoral report:

Happy New Year!  2020 promises to bring some exciting changes! The slow pace of progress over the last two years has suddenly picked up tremendous speed now that we have a closing date for the sale of our property.  We have been hard at work discerning God’s calling for us as we enter into this new phase of ministry in the life of New Hope.  A lot of behind the scenes cleaning, clearing, and sorting has already been done thanks to the great organizational skills of Rosie Sanislo and her dedicated team of assistants.  We have brainstormed under Tom Bagley’s leadership some ways to get to know our new neighbors and let them know who we are.  During this month we will be asked to meet in small groups in order for our architects Rardin & Carroll to plan our new structure(s) around our mission.  The property at 7608 Shallowford is a beautiful piece of land that will allow us to focus on our priorities: God, community outreach, furthering our impact as a ‘green’ congregation, and developing our discipleship.  Yes, the task before us is a huge one.  There are so many small and large decisions to be made and your input is important to the Session, the property committee and me as we move forward.  I’m not sure that anyone in the congregation has been through this kind of transition before—I know I haven’t—but we can rely on God to be with us all the way.  In January, the Christmas season ends with Epiphany—the revelation of God incarnate in Jesus Christ which was not recognized by the religious elite or Roman and Jewish leadership, but by the Magi from the east, the backwoods ragtag bunch of disciples, tax collectors and Samaritans. It was through these everyday people that Christ’s light spread into the world and Christ is using our humble congregation to spread God's light today. I'm excited!
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