Texas megachurch to open new Houston campus

Hope City Church planned to officially open its first permanent campus in Houston, Texas, this weekend, according to a Tuesday statement. About 12,000 people attend one of the church’s three Houston-area campuses, all in temporary locations, streaming a sermon from the main “broadcast” campus. The church also broadcasts to an international campus in eastern Tanzania, Africa, and an online meeting space. The state-of-the-art facility will be Hope City’s hub for weekend services, digital content, and community projects, according to the church’s release.

Hope City spokesman Duncan Dodds told WORLD that the church first started out of Houston’s Memorial High School in 2015, before moving to another local high school. Today, about 4,000 congregants worship every weekend across the main campus’ four Sunday services, Dodds said. The new facility will provide the church with a larger platform to serve the community through its various missions and humanitarian initiatives, Dodds added.

Ministry Solutions Group identified Hope City as the fastest-growing church in America and helped raise money for the new facility. The 100,000-square-foot facility initially appraised for nearly $24 million, but Hope City bought it for just over $8 million, according to the church. The church bought the property debt-free with donations originally earmarked for constructing a building, rather than purchasing one. The permanent facility will save the church about $1 million every year, according to Ministry Solutions.

What does the new campus include? Hope City started renovating the property in September 2024 and planned to add another 40,000 square feet, an addition the size of the average grocery store. The 140,000 square feet facility sits on about 10 acres of land and will include a sanctuary with nearly 2,000 seats. The facility will also include a 7,100-square-foot lobby and cafe area, plus a children's facility just under half a football field in size. Hope City planned to add a 25,000-square-foot youth and young adult space in the future with an additional $2.5 million in funding.

The church planned to host five services over the weekend to celebrate the opening of the new campus, two on Saturday and three on Sunday. Church leaders expect more than 10,000 to attend over the weekend, Dodds said.