THE HISTORY OF FREEDOM HOPE CHURCH
Freedom Hope Church, known until 2022 as New Covenant Community Church (N3C), was birthed in 1979, in Bellmawr, NJ. For several years, we had our Sunday morning worship service in various rented auditoriums. In 1986, after a time of prayer and patience, we were able to purchase our current church facility. As the church grew, we felt a need to affiliate with an organization larger than just our local body. In 1986, we joined with Elim Fellowship, with offices in Lima, NY. Elim is a non-denominational fellowship of churches and ministries.
​John Megaw served as the first pastor, with a tenure of 17 years. Pastor Megaw laid a solid foundation upon which those who followed in his footsteps were able to build upon. From 1998 to 2004, Tony Martorana served as the senior pastor until Pastor Tom Brazell took the position in August 2004. He served until the fall of 2008, when he became Director of International Ministries at the Elim Fellowship headquarters. At that time, John Megaw returned as interim pastor until the position was filled by John Young in February 2009.
Pastor John moved to Audubon from Spring Hill, TN, but he was born and raised in South Jersey and was already accustomed to the cultures and nuances of the area. Pastor John's strong background in missions, youth, young adult, and music ministries, made him the perfect candidate for leading N3C towards growth. Pastor John retired to North Carolina at the end of 2021. The church was privileged to have Pastor John serve as Lead Pastor for over 12 years.
​Anthony Palandro stepped up from Associate to Lead Pastor and was officially installed January 9, 2022. He resigned in August 2023, but served with passion and energy. His brief tenure saw the building updated and it was he who proposed the name change to Freedom Hope Church to make our mission more easily understood by the unchurched world.
​Until a new pastor is chosen, our day-to-day activities and ministries are being overseen by our board of elders and the church staff.
God has always been faithful to His Word and to His people throughout the years. Freedom Hope Church continues to be a body of believers known for our love for each other and committed to growing in our relationship with the Lord as well as relationship with others. Freedom Hope Church will always be a community church that not only proclaims the Gospel, but seeks to live as God's witnesses from Audubon to the uttermost parts of the world.