Our church began in 1986, in a hospital waiting room, as a group of friends met and interceded for the life of an 18-month-old and supported his parents. The baby boy passed, but something was birthed in the hearts of those who had been gathering. And so the gatherings continued, and they continued to grow. 

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These gatherings were not about doctrine or church establishment, but were founded on relationships, worship of Jesus and a hunger for something deeper. And the gatherings grew. One of the people in the congregation had a rent house on Gordon Lane, and so they said, “Hey, why don't we just meet there?” And so Gordon Lane Fellowship was birthed. In 1987, we began meeting at a Mormon church on Jenny Lind, and it was called Metro. In 1989, we purchased our current property from the Methodist organization, and we became known as City Christian Fellowship.  

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In 1996, Craig Smith became pastor, and about four months later, our sanctuary had a fire. So we wandered from place to place for three years. We landed in an ABF building, but for about a year and a half, we were just a group of people worshiping Sunday to Sunday from one place to another. 

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During this time, not only did we not diminish in size, we grew in size. A church without a home grew because people long for the simplicity of worship of God, authentic relationships with each other, and a hunger for something deeper. And that was the foundation. Those things were the foundation of this church: relationships with one another, a hunger for God, and worship of Him.

 

In 2012, Craig began to work with a ministry in Belize, a school in Uganda, and then El Salvador, and Village2Village (V2V) was birthed as a result of a call that God put on Craig's heart. In 2018, V2V was established, with a base on Highway 71 in Fort Smith. It was around that time that we changed our name to Hope Fellowship, to better reflect our mission. In 2025, it became apparent to Craig and the elders of Hope Fellowship that V2V had become a fulltime calling for him, so he announced his retirement as pastor of Hope Fellowship.

 

In February of 2026, after a season of churchwide prayer, we installed Zach Henshall as our Lead Pastor. We now forge ahead with the purposes of God, remembering our foundational purposes: relationships with one another, a hunger for God, and worship of Him. It has been a fascinating and fulfilling  journey thus far, and we look forward to what’s ahead for our church.