vision and ministry benefits

As we plan to get the anchor out of the water, by paying down debt, Hope Community Church is already dreaming about ministry launches and expansions we can do when we have the ability. They paint a picture, we believe God has given us of where we are called to go in this coming season.


First, when we talk Hope Again, a lot of our language is about rediscovering our drive and commitment to be a church for our community. We want to identify needs in our city and work towards solutions to solve them. We want to resource local ministries who are doing great work with not just dollars, but partnerships of time and talents as well. We want the people of Hope not just to represent checks, but to represent boots on the ground. Yet, often even creating those opportunities costs some dollars.


We have great local partnerships, but our monthly support checks usually are diminished by as much as 30% because the dollars are not available. Additionally, our missions team has had a dream of reserving missions and outreach dollars each year that are flexible. The kinds of dollars that can be used to respond to an emergency like a natural disaster, or could be saved up at the end of a year to launch a ministry, or provide an extra blessing.


We can see Hope partnering with other churches and community leaders to launch businesses or services. Imagine if churches became the instigators of growth and flourishing in our city.


When we learn to Hope Again, I believe the first thing that will happen is that we can love and serve our community in amazing new ways as the Spirit Leads.


Next, a lot of our conversations have been about the incredible growth and maturation of Hope Kids and Hope Teens. Each of these ministries has seen God move in incredible ways in the last few years and they are the growth edge of our church. Part of the push behind Hope Again is that we want to empower, support, and resource these incredible ministries. Below you can read what we are dreaming about in Hope Kids and Hope Teens.

HopeKids Plan

Over the last 3 years, Hope Kids attendance has more than doubled. We are so grateful for the growth and momentum building in Hope Kids!


By paying down the debt, there are 5 main areas we would like to put our focus: family resources, local school support, programming, volunteers and our physical space.


Family Resources: Average attendance at church is now 2 Sundays a month. That means our kids ministry has approximately 26 hours a year to help teach and lead our kids in how to follow Jesus.

That’s why we would like to offer resources to better equip parents to be the main disciplers of their kids.

Local School Support: We recognize there is a huge need in our community and would love to partner more with local schools and to provide schools and students with needed materials as they have various needs throughout the year.


Programming: With increased funds we could continue to grow our Mega Kids Camp program in the summer, elevate our Sunday morning programming, or offer scholarships for summer camps where kids could continue to learn to follow Jesus!


Volunteers: We would love to better equip volunteers through training at conferences, as well as show more volunteer appreciation for the incredible work they do every week.


Physical Space: We would love to update our classroom materials, and update our spaces with new classroom technology, as well as continue to decorate our spaces in a way that reflects our church’s formation plan.


This capital campaign provides an opportunity for us to “Hope Again.” It would give us margin to help kids become followers of Jesus as we learn to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

HopeTeens Plan

For Student Ministry here at Hope Teens, with a successful Hope Again Campaign we would choose to invest it into 4 different categories: Thursday nights, volunteers, outreach, and special events.


Thursday Nights: We have students that come from different walks of life, and we would like to be able to provide them with quality food each week. We want to also invest in our space, allowing our students to feel like they have “Their Space.”


Volunteers: Our volunteers are the backbone of our ministry. We want to be able to invest in them by providing them with weekly training along with opportunities to attend leadership conferences annually.


Outreach: At HopeTeens we desire to invest in and serve our local community. From helping with our schools to give those in need the supplies they need to succeed, to helping with Spero House in town and making bags for those to grab-and-go, and so much more.


Special Events: Right now, after food, we don’t have a lot in our budget currently for much else. I want to invest in our special events that we do like our Christmas Party, and even events that bring the whole family together when we partner with Hope Kids.

OUR VISION

At Hope Community Church we are committed to becoming followers of Jesus by Practicing the Way of Jesus. We believe that this next season of Hope will be defined by Practicing the Way.


For us that means to:

  • BE WITH JESUS

    John 15:5

    “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.


    Jesus sets up this idea that if we are to be his followers if we are to be his disciples we are to remain in him. To remember that apart from him we can do nothing.

    Dallas Willard says, “The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds, this is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls.” For us, this is why we remember the Spiritual Disciplines, prayer, scripture, fasting, silence and solitude, sabbath. These are the tools that help us direct and redirect our minds to God.

  • BECOME LIKE JESUS

    In our church tradition, the Church of God, we have a rich history of this idea we call Sanctification. What this means is when you make Jesus Lord of your life, the power of the Holy Spirit makes its home in you, or sanctifies you, so you may put on the Righteousness of Christ.


    Today we might think of this more as spiritual formation. It’s a process of letting the Spirit of Jesus take over more and more of who you are as you walk with him.

  • DO WHAT JESUS DID

    Our goal is not just to know scripture, not just to know ABOUT Jesus, but to do what he did.


    Being a disciple is not just about becoming a Christian, Jesus actually isn’t looking for converts to Christianity. He is looking for Disciples, Apprentices, or Talmadim who will seek to follow the example He has set and model their lives after His.


    Everything we do at Hope Community Church is defined on these terms. We are deeply committed to following Jesus through Practicing the Way, and we believe Hope’s mission in the community will be expanded as we follow Jesus more and more closely.