Living Hope Family Church began as a Bible study group taught by Mike and Jane Petzer in the summer of 1995. The first official church service, attended by over 40 people, was held on October 1, 1995 in a carpet warehouse near the airport rotary in Hyannis. Mike, a South African Bible school teacher and church planter, saw great growth in the initial years of the ministry, and moved the fellowship to the current location at 46 Mitchell’s Way in June of 1996. By 1998 he called Darryl and Janine Mather-Pike (former colleagues from Zimbabwe) to join him in the work.
In 2001, having served Living Hope Hyannis faithfully and with their whole hearts, Mike and Jane were called to establish a Living Hope church plant in Tucson, Arizona. Darryl and Janine look the lead pastoral role in Hyannis, establishing a team of elders, and ultimately calling Erik and Tami Eskelund to join them on the pastoral team in the spring of 2003.
Three years later, after a wonderfully fruitful season of ministry on Cape Cod, Darryl and his family transitioned to become directors of the Emoyeni mission, a public charity working with vulnerable children in South Africa. Erik was ordained as the lead pastor at Living Hope in January 2006, and he and Tami have been serving faithfully in that role ever since.
As the ministry continued to grow and our influence in the community increased, Erik and the elders of Living Hope began to sense the need to bring on more pastoral help. After fasting and prayer, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and the elders to call Emelio Gassibe to relocate from Cape Town, South Africa, and to join the team as youth director and associate pastor.
Emelio and his family arrived in January 2015, and continue to lead our youth with energy, vision and maturity.
Living Hope has enjoyed the favor of the Lord in both the evangelical church and the broader Cape Cod community for nearly 25 years. We are pleased to participate in the Glory of God prayer fellowship, the Evangelical Ministers’ Fellowship, the Thrive church community and the Cape Cod Council of Churches, as well as being active in Trinity Christian Academy and in partnership with many local churches.