Published: Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008 / Updated: Monday, Sep. 08, 2008 07:35 AM

'Little country church' turns 200 in the city

Hopewell Presbyterian recalls its roots in log cabin schoolhouse

Two centuries have passed since a small crowd first gathered to worship in a log cabin schoolhouse off a dirt road south of Rock Hill.

The group was mostly Scotch-Irish immigrants who brought their Presbyterian faith with them. The congregation grew to become Hopewell Presbyterian Church, which now claims about 130 members.

"As Rock Hill began to grow ... a little country church found itself with a lot of people all of a sudden," said the Rev. Michael Bolus, the church's pastor since 2000.

Sunday, the church will celebrate its 200th anniversary with a special service. After a 9 a.m. prayer meeting, Bolus will host a breakfast. Afterward, several former Hopewell pastors will speak in a sermon titled "On Holy Ground."

It's not clear exactly when Hopewell was organized. Early records were lost in a 1903 fire, but church elders estimate the founding date to be 1808. They believe lightning later destroyed the schoolhouse and forced the congregation in 1897 to move to a building off what is now Lesslie Highway.

That building became the church's day-care center when, in 1973, the 40-member congregation moved to its current home off Anderson Road. That same year, Hopewell split from the Presbyterian Church in the United States to join the new Presbyterian Church in America.

The PCA branch felt the other denomination had become too liberal, Bolus said. Rock Hill has two PCA-member churches -- Hopewell and Westminster Presbyterian off India Hook Road.

"We're considered the old-time denomination," Bolus said. "The old-time Protestant denomination."

John Bailey, a Hopewell elder for four years, said he finds the church welcoming. "One thing we found at Hopewell," he said, "is that they really do see themselves as a family.

"When I first started attending ... one member's daughter, a teenager, got pregnant out of wedlock. The church never turned its back on her," he said.

"She knew what she did was wrong ... But the church cared for that young lady and her baby. That's not always the case," Bailey said. "A lot of churches would've thrown her out the door or snubbed her. I saw the church really trying to apply the love of Christ to a person struggling with a problem."

Bolus, who has been preaching for nearly 50 years, said Hopewell's style differs from that of many churches. He practices "expository preaching," which means he'll spend several Sundays teaching one book of the Bible.

Many pastors today, he said, practice "topical preaching" -- they spend several Sundays on a topic, skipping around the Bible for related verses.

"We stick to the Bible," he said. "People don't come to church to hear about politics. They come to hear about God."

Hopewell still adheres to strict guidelines. "We will not receive anyone who is a practicing lesbian or homosexual," Bolus said. "Unless they're willing to confess it as a sin."

Hopewell's congregation has remained relatively small, but its message reaches beyond Rock Hill. Six families are missionaries who travel the world. One family just returned from Belize.

Bolus's sermons are carried on local cable TV channel CN2 at 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Members estimate a viewership of more than 1,000.

Some might say Hopewell has accomplished far more than the small group of founders ever imagined. Others may say it hasn't changed all that much.

While the school that cabin members once called home is long gone, a stone from its foundation remains at Hopewell as proof of its 200 years of resilience.

That's what the church will celebrate.

"(Sunday is) an opportunity," Bolus said, "to thank God for his faithfulness to us as a little church."