Photos by Laura Sikes
JACKSONVILLE–Pastor Alex Thorpe and his wife, Sonya, prayed for three years every Tuesday on their date nights in the parking lot of the former Cedar Hills Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
That was before Thorpe was even considered to serve as pastor at Hope Church at Cedar Hills, the recent replant church of Cedar Hills Baptist Church.
The Thorpes, who have been married 31 years, say they don’t do anything without praying first.
“Lord, if this is something You’re doing, we want to be involved with it,” Alex Thorpe prayed.
“We wanted to make sure we were in God’s perfect will; we wanted to be where He wanted us to be,” said Sonya Thorpe.
Today those prayers are being answered. Thorpe is serving as pastor of Hope Church at Cedar Hills. People are being reached with the gospel.
Sending people ‘where the gospel is calling’
The story for the Thorpes and their involvement in replanting Cedar Hills Baptist Church began in 2022 when they learned that the church was without a pastor. Thorpe was serving as missions leader and an elder at Refuge Church, about five miles away from Cedar Hills Baptist Church. In transition, Cedar Hills Baptist Church reached out for guidance from Refuge Church, which is part of the Send Network, the church planting arm of the North American Mission Board.
Lord, if this is something You’re doing, we want to be involved with it.
Already, Thorpe was familiar with the community because he worked as a barber for five years one mile away from Cedar Hills Baptist Church. While living on the westside of Jacksonville for 15 years, he had built relationships and developed a heart for the area.
“The Lord gave Alex a desire and helped him see the lostness (in the area) even before the Hope Church plant,” said Josh Glymph, pastor of Refuge Church.
As the vision for a church replant became to take shape, Refuge Church became the sending church of Hope Church at Cedar Hills.
“We send people where the gospel need is and where the gospel calling is, and we had that with Alex,” he added.
Preparing the church for transition
In June 2023, interim pastor Patrick Martin started serving for about two years at Cedar Hills Baptist Church. The church was in transition, and attendance and finances were low. Martin came to offer help and hope.
Since 1958, Cedar Hills Baptist Church had shared the gospel and served the community of about 6,500 people. In 1972, the church opened Cedar Hills Baptist Christian School on its campus. The school has more than 200 students.
“God is drawing people. He’s building His church right before my eyes,” he said. “We want to be a New Testament church planting church.”
The pastor search committee unanimously voted to call Thorpe as pastor and to replant Cedar Hills Baptist Church into Hope Church at Cedar Hills.
“My goal was to go in and preach God’s Word and to help prepare the church emotionally for whatever God had planned,” Martin said.
The church started growing and gained momentum. People became excited to see new faces coming in, he said. Multiple professions of faith were made, resulting in 34 baptisms in one year. During that time, Martin had invited Thorpe as a guest preacher.
That one Sunday began to set the future for Hope Church of Cedar Hills.
On Feb. 9, 2025, Pastor Thorpe was unanimously affirmed by Cedar Hills Baptist Church to replant the church into Hope Church of Cedar Hills.
‘God’s hand is in it’
Longtime member Warren Pierson was on the pastor search committee, who unanimously voted to call Thorpe.
“The first time I heard (Thorpe) preach, I liked him because you could feel the passion that he has for the Word,” Pierson said.
Pierson, who serves as Sunday School director, is also chairman of the church’s weekday education committee which oversees the church’s school. He is looking forward to the coming school year. By then the school will have its new name of Hope School at Cedar Hills, he said.
Pierson is thankful that the church has managed the replant process so well.
“I know that God’s hand is in it because our doors are still open,” he said.
On Feb. 23, the church held a legacy service for Cedar Hills Baptist to honor the church’s 67 years of sharing the gospel in the community. The following Sunday on March 2, Thorpe preached his first sermon as pastor of Hope Church at Cedar Hills.
JimBo Stewart, associate director with the replant team at the North American Mission Board and also church strengthening champion at First Coast Churches Association, is pleased with how the church replant went.
“Cedar Hills Baptist did an excellent job of pursuing godly wisdom and sacrificially following Jesus and becoming a replant,” said Stewart.
“We need more stories like this because in Southern Baptist life, we see 900 to 1,000 or more churches close their doors every year, and that does not have to be the reality,” he added.
God is ‘building His church’
We pray and we pray, and it’s like we’re standing under God’s waterfall,
Being pastor for about three months, Thorpe is happy to see more and more people attending the church on a weekly basis. Attendance averages between 70 and 80 on Sundays and about 30 people attend Sunday School. He is excited about seeing God work in people’s lives.
“(God) is drawing people. He’s building His church right before my eyes,” he said.
Thorpe wants community residents to know they can come to the church for help with multiple needs they may have.
On Saturday, June 21, the church hosted an outreach event that offered resources from healthcare and various government agencies.
Member Chester Washington enjoys welcoming new people to the church. He has lived in the community for 40 years and has been a member of the church for 25 years. He hopes the church will continue “to shine and be a lighthouse.”
“The feeling that Hope Church (at Cedar Hills) wants to leave with people is that we care about everyone,” he said.
“I fell in love with the church because they made me feel at home, and I stuck through the changes over the years, and God has led me to stay here,” he added.
Jean Ann Taylor also likes to reach out to the community. Taylor, a 20-year member, works with the youth and has served 27 years as the librarian with the church’s school. Recently, she joined other members on a walk through the neighborhood with the Duval County Sheriff. Members met with residents and gave them invitations to the church’s Easter service. She has prayed for many years for all that is God is doing.
“We pray and we pray, and it’s like we’re standing under God’s waterfall,” she said.
On Easter Sunday, Thorpe preached on the official launch of Hope Church at Cedar Hills. The day was made even more special with the baptism of new member Liberty Shepard who lives near the church.
The 61-year-old says she is so thankful for the church and she considers them family.
“The people are so nice and seem like family. They are so adorable,” she said.
“I’m a different person. Jesus is in my heart.”
With all that has happened over the past three years, Thorpe and his wife are still praying, and he has asked the congregation to join him in praying to God to send saved people, lost people and Christian leaders to the church.
“I see people showing up, and I believe it’s because of our prayers,” said Thorpe.
Great story Laura.