New Hope Academy (NHA) was founded in 1996 in Franklin, Tennessee as a Christ-centered school. We educate children of diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds by establishing a biblical worldview and preparing each child to flourish academically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. New Hope Academy carries out its mission through its faithful partnership with our missional community, including Fellowship Bible Church. Fellowship families have been involved at NHA as students, faculty and staff, and members of the Board of Trustees, but our relationship deepened in 2020 when NHA was named a Local Partner. Since that time, church members have given their time, talents, and resources to help in classrooms, serve as field trip chaperones, and provide and serve meals during lunch to faculty and students. We don’t take these acts of service lightly and want to thank Fellowship for walking alongside us as we teach students how to glorify God in all they do.
Parker Page, our Director of Development, says it best:
Fellowship Bible Church has been the most amazing partner to the students and teachers of NHA over the past three years. Not only has the church provided substantial financial resources—scholarships for our low-income families, funds to help build a dining hall to improve our food services, and a bus for transportation on our field trips—but they have also given us the fullest possible partnership through their hearts, prayers, and time. The students and teachers of NHA (especially our low-income students) are so much better off because of the gospel generosity of Fellowship.
Fellowship and NHA have been collaborative partners to provide Christian summer camp opportunities for both Fellowship and NHA students. Recently, NHA has served Fellowship by hosting Pine Cove Camp in the City on our campus. At Pine Cove “campers jump high, dance silly, adventure big and learn all about Jesus Christ.” Pine Cove’s mission aligns perfectly with the missions of NHA and Fellowship, creating an awesome opportunity for our organizations to serve the Franklin community in a powerful way that supports the Gospel.
Just as NHA’s facility has provided a space for Fellowship kids to experience Pine Cove camp, Fellowship’s financial resources have provided scholarships for NHA students to attend summer camp at Pine Cove and Barefoot Republic. These summer camp experiences are opportunities for our students to hear the Gospel, make lifelong memories, and interact with more of the congregation of Fellowship and the Franklin community.
Fellowship’s financial support has been both practical and emotionally stirring. Immediately following the tragic Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Fellowship provided counseling to any member of the faculty and staff at NHA free of charge. This relational support showed Fellowship’s desire for unity in Christ and readiness to serve his people. Most recently, Fellowship’s financial gift for our new Dining Hall enabled us to complete the first addition NHA has made to its campus in 20 years. The space allows lunch service to move out of our hallways so our entire student body can share meals each day. It’s easy to imagine unity flourishing over table fellowship. Approximately 20% of NHA students experience food insecurity, so it’s exciting to serve them in an environment that will create positive associations with food.
The Dining Hall is not just for lunch; it serves as a multipurpose space. This 6,000 square foot space will host performing arts shows, music performances, and events that are central to school life such as graduation, Saturday school devotions, and more. Gone are the days when we need to rent space to hold some major events for our community as our new space can accommodate our entire school community. NHA values a connected community, and the hope is for the Dining Hall to be the place where God forges that connectedness. The Dining Hall represents the importance of God’s providential care of his people. Not only will it facilitate breaking bread together as a family, it will usher in more communal fellowship.
From transportation to summer camps, to personal counseling, to new facilities, Fellowship has embraced the meaning of the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit with the NHA community. As we close this year, our heart and prayer for our gracious friends of Fellowship is:
May the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
