Appointment Announcement
This announcement was originally made by HOPE’s Staff Parish Relations Committee on January 19, 2025 at both 9AM and 10:30AM worship services.
As you have heard Pastor Jeff share over the past few months, he is retiring later in 2025 after more than 35 years as a pastor and HOPE’s Founding and Lead Pastor.
To that end, It is our joy to share with you today that Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi has assigned Rev. James Lee as the new Lead Pastor of our congregation. Pastor Lee will begin his new responsibilities on July 1st of this year.
HOPE's Lead Team has met with the district superintendent to identify our congregation’s needs and the needed skills in a pastor. They have also met with Pastor James to better get to know him and to ask questions and quickly felt at ease and know God has answered countless prayers to provide HOPE with a pastor of authentic faith and humility. The HOPE Lead Team has been focused on this transition for nearly two years and truly are excited to finally share this news with you all.
Pastor James will be working closely with Pastor Jeff, HOPE staff, and the Lead Team as he comes on board, and throughout the transition period there will be opportunities for all HOPE members to get acquainted with him.
Get to Know Pastor James Lee!
James is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a Master of Divinity from Drew Theological School.
He is passionate about igniting the divine spark in people through creative worship, Christ-centered discipleship, and compelling visual storytelling. James brings the gifts of preaching, teaching, staff leadership, technological knowledge, and creative entrepreneurship that will further make disciples of Jesus Christ.
An Elder in Full Connection in The United Methodist Church, James has served in a variety of ministry roles over the past 12 years, including as associate pastor at Calvary Korean UMC in East Brunswick, lead pastor at Conklin UMC South River and Wesley UMC South Plainfield. Most recently, he has held the role of Director of Communications for the Eastern Pennsylvania & Greater New Jersey Conferences of the United Methodist Church.
He and his wife Julie, married since 2012, are proud parents of three amazing kids: Amy, Adam, and Renee.
In his free time, James enjoys filmmaking, playing his guitar in worship, and experimenting with AI models.
James has been worshiping with the HOPE Church community since last June and is excited to begin serving as its lead pastor on July 1.
Let’s Pray
Let's join together in celebrating and praying for this transition season! This is an exciting time for this church and we ask that you join us in praying for HOPE and the Lees, not only today, but over the next 6 months - as we experience this transition together.
We thank you, God, for leading this church for nearly 3.5 decades. Thank you for the faithful leadership of Pastor Jeff and Marilyn over those years. And for Jeff’s continued leadership, vision, and wisdom moving forward. Thank you for the faithful leadership of HOPE's Lead Team, and for those involved in this appointment process. We are grateful for our Bishop and District Superintendent and those in leadership in the United Methodist Church.
We look ahead and while we can't see the whole future, we can see this next part and we trust you to see further where we can’t see. And so we place Pastor James and Julie and family into your hands as they work through this transition. We ask you to prepare Pastor James for this next journey of leadership.
We’re also asking you to prepare each of us, as members of this community of faith - on our own faith-filled journey and what next steps you have for us, as individuals, as families, and as this community called HOPE.
Amen.