History:

During a family vacation to Miami Beach in the mid 1990’s, God spoke to Bishop Duane about His desire to start an international church in the Miami area. The Swilley family answered the call of God and A Place Called Hope was birthed.

APCH began as a small Bible study with just family and a few new friends. After a brief transition period in a rented church facility, the Lord opened the door to a warehouse facility at the crossroads of I-95 and the Palmetto Parkway. During this time, Hope exploded in growth, with hundreds of teens and young adults participating in a move of God called the Revolution, headed by Pastor Joshua Swilley. The movement grew into a 100 member youth choir that traveled the country and preached a message of restoration, non-violence and God’s love to hundreds of thousands of people of all ages. Also during this time, the Academy of Arts at Hope opened its doors to many elementary, middle and high school students, providing an excellent academic and fine arts education to hundreds of students. In 2002, an opportunity to renovate and occupy a large retail space was presented to the church and APCH moved. Within a year, the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection and the property was re-appropriated by them for their debt consolidation. A Place Called Hope then found a new home at the high tech conference facility on the campus of Florida International University. Through an outstanding discipleship program and increasing attendance, Hope outgrew this facility and moved to a temporary home with the First Methodist Church in Hollywood. While APCH appreciated the hospitality of FMC, the church was again on the move to find a facility of its own to meet the growing needs of our children’s ministry and Hope Productions. Hope Productions is a ministry of drama, dance and stage productions that was quickly becoming a strong presence in the Arts community of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. In August of 2006, Cooper City High School Auditorium became host to Hope Church and her many outreaches into the community.

Finally, in April of 2007, God opened a door for Hope Church to possess her own facility. After a 40 day period of fasting and prayer by Bishop Duane, Pastor Sunny and many other staff and church members, an area pastor who had answered a call to the mission field contacted Hope church with an offer to sell an existing building and five acres of property that could be transformed into the future campus of Hope Church.

Currently, Hope Church has made the transition into her new home with extensive renovations and repurposing of existing facilities to meet the needs of the expanding church family.

What to Expect:

You will be greeted at the door with a smile and a hug. We will treat you like family! You will experience passionate worship in a way that will make you want to jump right in. You will see an illustrated message that will be both inspiring and practical. You will be anything but bored! Hope is a friendly environment where it’s easy to meet new people and share in a community with other believers.