56
PROFILE 2022
Engaging the youth Be Hope is Ironton’s newest house of worship
T
STORY & PHOTOS BY HEATH HARRISON
he City of Ironton is home to many churches, some with a long history of more than a century, and two years ago, it saw the launch of another, which aims to use a fresh approach to draw its congregation. Be Hope Church opened in June of 2020, meeting in the Ro-Na Theater, located at 310 S. Third St. in Ironton. “We had originally planned for March 2020, but COVID had other plans,” Robby Brown, founding pastor at the church said. He said they realized the pandemic was not going to be short-lived and, once health orders from the governor allowed reopenings, they decided to move forward, with mitigation factors for the virus in place to keep the congregation safe. The Ironton church is an affiliate of Be
Hope Church, located in Beaver Creek, near Dayton, Brown said. Brown was working as a manager in an outreach café there, in a ministry intern role, when he was approached by those from the church. “It isn’t a position to stay in long-term and it’s a night shift,” he said. “They asked ‘where do you see yourself going,’ and I told them I was interested in starting a new church in Ironton.” Brown, a South Point native, got his undergraduate degree at Ohio University and his masters at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in business and ministry.
