Church History

The church was organized in 1934 as one of the first Church of God of Prophecy congregations in the Piedmont Triad following a home prayer meeting in the Pomona area of Greensboro. In 1966 Pastor Paul Carlyle moved the congregation to Opal Drive in 1966 where it became known as the “Hillsdale Church of God of Prophecy” (depicting its geographic location in the city). That year they built a parsonage on the Hillsdale property and in 1989 Pastor Elton Parker built a Family Life Center on the campus. The Hillsdale congregation stayed at that property for 37 years.


In 1999 Pastor George McLaughlin was appointed the senior pastor of the Hillsdale Church. Soon after his arrival he began to cast a vision for the church to grow and build a facility that would better facilitate outreach and discipleship. In 2003, Pastor Mclaughlin led the church in purchasing 11 acres of land on Short Farm Road. In 2005, the Opal Drive property was sold (church building and gym, with the church retaining ownership of the parsonage), and moved to a temporary location in the Pomona Business Park while preparations were made to build on the Short Farm Road property. 


In November 2009 the church changed their name to Bridge of Hope Church and moved to its new 15,000 square foot worship facility at 4104 Short Farm Rd. In that same year the church birthed the Hispanic Church (Iglesia de Dios de La Profecia Amor,Fe y Esperanza en Greensboro). This Hispanic congregation grew and continued to share the Short Farm campus for 9 years until they purchased their first building in 2017 on Elm-Eugene Street in Greensboro.  


In February 2011, Bridge of Hope was powerfully impacted by the merging of the New Beginnings Church of God of Prophecy. New Beginnings was a predominantly African-American congregation with a rich Gospel heritage that felt led to be part of Bridge of Hope. This merger further imprinted upon the DNA of Bridge of Hope the value of diversity through the Gospel for the glory of God.


In 2015 Pastors Trevor Reid became the church’s 27th pastor. Under his leadership 5 additional acres were purchased as the building on the 11-acre property was pushed to its capacities. In 2017 the Bridge to a Better Tomorrow capital campaign was launched to expand the facility to accommodate the mission of Making, Maturing, and Multiplying disciples of Jesus Christ. 


In addition to growing locally, the missions opportunities expanded the national and global reach of the church. Short-term team opportunities gave Bridge of Hope church first hand involvement with church planting, church construction, evangelism, school construction and scripture distribution in Haiti, Sierra Leone, Paraguay, India, and Ukraine. In 2016, the Bridge of Hope Church helped plant the Hub Church in Jersey City, New Jersey. 


What started with a handful of people in a home prayer meeting has become a strong local church with a global vision of making disciples. Bridge of Hope Church, in affiliation with the Church of God of Prophecy, is part of a movement connecting more than 1,500,000 believers around the world. With the vision of Better Lives, Better Relationships and Better Communities through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Bridge of Hope Church feels like the work of the Gospel in the Piedmont Triad has only just begun.