MOOSIC - Among the cluster of warehouses in Cee Kay's One Million Auto Parts plaza, the retrofitted industrial building where Hope Church has made its home for nearly two decades is likely the only one with a stained-glass window.
The church, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on Sunday, April 21, has a history of accommodating opposites.
Hope Church was founded by a Baptist minister and a mainline Presbyterian pastor who started the congregation as a mission of the more conservative Presbyterian Church in America, current pastor Steve Wilson said last week.
Its congregation straddles counties; its space mixes casual and formal styles; its musical worship blends traditional hymns and contemporary songs.
"We try to take the best of both," the Rev. Wilson said. "We are trying not to let the way we do things rule us."
When the church community celebrates its anniversary, pastors and members past and present will share stories of their unlikely two decades, including a foundational one: Days after signing a lease on the warehouse space, the roof collapsed under the weight of snow at the motel ballroom where they had been meeting. One of the founding pastors, Glen Riexinger, was a former contractor and guided the congregation through the renovations that would turn 6,000 square feet of empty warehouse into a house of worship.
In the partition between the glass front door and the worship hall, they installed three stained-glass panels depicting a Bible, bread and wine, and a cross. In the daytime, natural light makes the glass glow in the worship hall. At night, lights left on in the hall make the panels glow in the lobby and the parking lot outside.
The Rev. Wilson said he would be happy to see the church become two churches some day, one in Lackawanna County and one in Luzerne, to make it more accessible to people who drive great distances now.
Hope Church currently owns 11 acres near the Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport that encompasses land in both counties, which might be the site of a future church or might be sold to buy space in other towns.
"There are no other churches exactly like ours," he said, and while every Presbyterian Church in America congregation shares a common doctrine, not every one has such a blended worship style.
"If we could have two churches, I would love to see them be two different styles," he said. "I would love to see them have an option."
The anniversary celebrations will be held at the church at 4951 Birney Ave. and will begin with Sunday school at 9:25 a.m., followed by morning worship and a banquet.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com