About New Hope Community Church

Our Mission:

New Hope Community Church is pursuing relationships that change the world. Jesus gave clear "marching orders" to His Church and this is our way of stating our commitment to those instructions. Most Christians refer to this as "the Great Commission" and it is most clearly stated in Matthew 28:18-20. We encourage people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus by pursuing vital, growing relationships with God, with each other and with those who have not yet entrusted their lives to Christ (Matthew 22:36-40).

Our Vision:

Our vision is to become an authentic community who passionately follows Jesus Christ and prepares people to impact the world. Since its start as a small group in 1987, New Hope has valued authentic relationships with each other and helping each other mature in relationship with Christ. From the beginning the Church has desired not only that people connect with God and with each other, but also are equipped to be a part of the Lord’s purposes in this world.

Our Values:

Truth – We value the truth that God has revealed throughout history and has recorded for us in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. We affirm that these written words are inspired by God and are our only objective means of knowing His will for us. It is through the Bible that we have the opportunity to discern what God values and to embrace those values as our own. Everything we believe and do will be shaped by His message revealed to us in these writings. (John 8:31-32; 2 Timothy 3:16)

God-focus – As a church we value our need to stay in close relationship with God. We need God to fill our lives and lead us in His ways. We need Him to enable us to understand and apply His message through the Bible. We pray and seek Him and all that He offers us in Christ in order to obey that truth and accomplish His will. Apart from Him we can do nothing of significance, (John 15:5). Our emphasis will be upon God’s activity among people and being “in step” with what He is doing in and around us. He is our focus and audience in worship. We want to honor and please Him in all that we are and do.

Relationships – New Hope values our relationship not only with God, but also with each other and with those who have not yet entrusted their lives to Jesus Christ. (Mark 12:29-31) New Hope is not an event. We are a people who have covenanted to live out God’s purposes in vital connection with each other. We desire and will intentionally seek to facilitate an experience of community that is real, characterized by Christ-like love and goes “deep enough” to facilitate life transformation.

Transformation – we value not only experiencing new birth and forgiveness but also growing in Christ-likeness through-out our lives. (Romans 8:29; 12:2) We are not content to be “religious” in our devotion to Christ. We desire to be changed through a real and committed pursuit of Jesus and His way of life. We also desire that others would experience this life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

The Mission – we value being about what God is about in this world until Jesus returns. We long for others to entrust their lives to Jesus Christ and grow in relationship with Him and His Church. We will seek to lovingly and wisely be involved in making God’s message known in relationship with people here and in any place God leads us. (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 4:5-6)

Relevance – We value being “in the world”, while not belonging to it. Without compromising the principles of God’s Word, we value eliminating unnecessary barriers to people understanding, experiencing and living out a new life in Christ. In the setting of Manhattan and the surrounding area, cultural relevance will mean that we implement ministry structures, use language, express worship and live our lives in ways that “make sense” to people and are effective in accomplishing Christ’s mission. Though a person without the Spirit does not accept or understand the things that come from the Spirit of God, we should also seek to “…become all things to all [people] so that by all possible means [we] might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22)

Teamwork – we value working together as we pursue the mission of Christ. In light of the diversity of people in their gifts, temperaments, abilities, interests and experience, we value carrying out the functions of ministry in the context of relationships. We believe God has designed that diversity to connect our lives and for a more effective work than could be realized as isolated individuals and households. (Romans 12:4-5) We also desire to be in harmony with other networks of Christ-followers as we carry out God’s purposes in and through us.

Faithfulness – We value being about what the Lord has called us to be and do until He returns. We value being faithful stewards of all that He has entrusted to us. (Matthew 25:14-30) We have no desire to be an organization of activity that does not facilitate us accomplishing our mission. We are committed to being a “purpose-driven” church.

Emerging generations – we value being a forward-looking people who are not so much consumed with the efforts and victories of the past as with the possibilities and responsibilities of working towards a faithful and fruitful future. (John 15:8; 2 Timothy 2:2) We will intentionally seek to be a multi-generational expression of the Church that is on the “cutting-edge” of God’s mission, that is equipping households to pass on the heritage of faith, and who will effectively transition through the changes that will and must come over time.

Our Statement of Faith:

Follow this link to see our Statement of Faith.