John Christian Hope was a Lutheran

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

 scholar, priest, secretary and president of the South Carolina Lutheran Seminary, Representative, and Senator in his native state of South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

.

J.C. Hope was born in Newberry

Newberry

Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury .- People :* Claude Newberry , South African cricketer* George Newberry , British track cyclist* Hazel Newberry, British dancer* Janet Newberry , American tennis player...

 District, South Carolina to Johann Christian Haupt and Christina Fellers. Johann Haupt was the son of a Hessian American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 veteran.
J.C. Hope and Louisa Eichleberger had three children, James Cornelius (August 23, 1834 - July 17, 1909), Mary Ann Catherine (February 14, 1835 - August 22, 1874) and John Julius (September 26, 1840 - December 20, 1852).

Lutheran studies

J.C. Hope rode on horseback to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...

 during the late 1820s or early 1830s.He enrolled as a student at the Gettysburg Seminary. He was encouraged to attend by John Bachman

John Bachman

The Rev. John Bachman was an American Lutheran minister, social activist and naturalist who collaborated with J.J. Audubon to produce Viviparous Quadrapeds of North America and whose writings, particularly Unity of the Human Race, were influential in the development of the theory of evolution. He...

. There he studied under Dr. Ernest Lewis Hazelius. About Hazelius he wrote in a letter to Rev. Bachman:

Humility is a striking attribute of his, yes, when spirits, far less noble, would traverse the highest summits, his is moving in the lowest valley. And, though he can soar to the highest summits of the intellectual world, yet, he delights to move in th most inferior vales of wit.

Church service

John Christian Hope graduated from the Seminary in 1831. He was ordained in 1832. He served the following churches.

• St. Stephen's, Lexington, 1831-1834
• St Michaels's, Columbia, 1834
• Ebenezer, Columbia
• Sandy Run, Swansea, 1832-1833
• Colony, Newberry, 1850-1851
• St. Luke's, Prosperity
• St. Matherw's, Pomaria, 1838-1843
• St. John's, Pomaria, 1843-1850
• Bethlehem, Pomaria, 1832-1837
• St. Paul's, Pomaria, 1834-1838
• St. Peter's, Piney Woods
• St. Johns, Lexington