OUR STAFF

Mike Speegle – Lead Pastor

Mike was born and raised in Stockton, CA. He grew up in a nonreligious family. In his early twenties, while working as a butcher, he became a follower of Jesus. That decision led to a change of direction and purpose in life.

He went back to community college (San Joaquin Delta College) for a year while continuing to work as a butcher, then attended and graduated from Pacific Union College in the beautiful Napa Valley in California. There he met his wife Lorie. He’s pastored in Las Vegas, NV; Moab, UT; Lake Tahoe, CA; Atlanta, GA; Colorado Springs, CO; the Sacramento, CA area; and in Washington state before coming to New Hope in 2013.

He has two grown sons, two fantastic daughters-in-law and three grandsons. He serves as our lead pastor, is the primary speaker for our worship services, works with our Executive and Finance Committees, and leads our staff and church to live out God’s kingdom wherever we are.

Elijah Stanley – Community Builder Pastor

Elijah is an ordained minister with over six years of pastoral experience, where he has felt called to inspire spiritual growth and build vibrant, Jesus-centered communities.

He’s a DMV ‘native’, graduating with a B.A. in Theology from Washington Adventist University and a Master of Divinity from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He’s since served locally at the First Church of Seventh-day Adventists in Washington D.C., and most recently as Associate Pastor at Capitol Hill SDA.

Elijah is spearheading the new pastoral role of Community Builder at New Hope, with emphasis in young adult and high school ministry to see growing intergenerational communities of circles throughout New Hope.

Andre Arrais – Worship & Outreach Pastor

Andre was born and raised in Brazil in a pastoral family. Upon finishing high school, he decided to study Law at the Adventist University of São Paulo. During his fifth and final year of Law School, Andre had a strong conviction that God was calling him to become a pastor and give up his future as a lawyer. After graduating with his Law degree in 2009, Andre married Natalia (his Law School classmate) and started his Theology degree (Master of Divinity) at Andrews University in 2010.

After completing his studies in 2014, he received a call from the Texico Conference to pastor in New Mexico. In 2018, he started serving as the Young Adult Director for the same conference. During his time there, Andre and Natalia were blessed with two beautiful children: Noah and Stella.

In August of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Andre accepted the call to serve at New Hope. He described the selection process as being one of the most clear manifestations of God’s providence in his life.

In his free time, Andre enjoys playing music, exercising, cooking, and being outdoors with his family. He is also a member of the duo band “Os Arrais”.

Shiphrah “Shiph” Fepulea’i – Family Ministries Pastor

Before joining New Hope in 2024, Shiphrah pastored for over 13 years in the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, where she served most of those years as an associate pastor of Campus Hill Church in Loma Linda. On August 26, 2023, she made history as the first woman of Pasifika (Pacific Islander) descent ordained to pastoral ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her father, Pastor Aleni Fepulea’i, offered the ordination prayer.

Currently a doctoral candidate of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University, Shiph is passionate about her dissertation work at the intersection of rest and burnout.

She likes lavender, soursop, and Samoan chocolate.

Kasper Haughton Jr. – Online Community & Administrative Director

Kasper calls the great state of Texas home as a first generation American. His parents immigrated from Central America in the early 80’s and settled in San Antonio where he and his brother grew up. Church was always an integral part of family life and many week nights were spent running around the worship center while parents were in choir practice or meetings. By teenage years he began to find his passion for serving behind the scenes in production and running church tech. In college, after finishing three years of pre-med psychology, he felt impressed that God was calling him in a different life direction of full time faith community service.

After graduating from Southern Adventist University with a B.S. in Religious Studies and minor in Psychology, he went on to intern as youth director at Central Coast Community Church in New South Wales, Australia. Afterwards, he completed his master’s degree at Andrews University.

Kasper has served over 12 years in varying roles as children’s pastor, youth pastor, church technical director, and church conference digital media and communication director. His passion is to leverage twenty-first century tools to more efficiently foster a more relevant experience of faith and community. He serves overseeing our digital media and administration.

Grace Nieto – Administrative Coordinator

Grace was born and raised in Laurel, MD. She attended Atholton Adventist Academy from kindergarten through 8th grade, then attended Reservoir High School. While at Atholton, she was baptized and became a very active member of the church and her church group. In her high school years, she met her husband Bentley and started attending New Hope more actively and eventually became a part of our community full time, eagerly bringing friends who had never experienced church.

In her free time, Grace enjoys listening to music, being active, creating art, doing makeup, and traveling.

Here at New Hope, Grace serves as our Administrative Coordinator managing our office and facility logistics, as well as the event coordinator for the young adult ministry.

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Address

12350 Hall Shop Rd.
Fulton MD, 20759

OFFICE HOURS

Tuesday – Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
(301) 854-1866