Mission Calgary booming

New church in Southwest Calgary

New Hope Community Church in Calgary held its Grand Opening on Sunday, January 19. In attendance were 173 people. This included some who came to lend their support to the fledgling congregation. The majority in attendance were people who will be making this their home church and those who had been invited to see what the church was all about. Government and civic officials were also on hand, including MLA Cindy Ady and Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart. Representatives for the MB Conference included Jake Balzer, Leo Siemens and Willy Reimer.

The Grand Opening featured a time of worship, a formal introduction to the church, a personal faith story, and an animated video clip highlighting how the church is perceived by some people. Pastor Kevin Carruthers spoke on the “Essentials of Life”, which addressed the mission statement of New Hope Community Church: “to share the hope of Jesus with our world”. A lunch followed the service.

New Hope Community Church is a church plant under Mission Calgary, the joint church planting initiative of the Alberta MB Conference and the Canadian MB Conference Board of Evangelism.

Kevin and Teresa Carruthers began serving as church planters with Mission Calgary November 15, 2001. Previously, he was youth pastor for four years, then was senior associate pastor for two years at Bethany Chapel in Calgary, was senior high youth pastor for six years at Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C., and was minister of youth and college and career for 16 months at Tenth Avenue Alliance Church in Vancouver, B.C.

Both Kevin and Teresa are graduates of Canadian Bible College in Regina. Kevin has a Bachelor of Religious Studies degree and Teresa has a Bachelor of Biblical Studies degree.

The Carruthers have three children: Blake, 13, Melissa, 11, and Mariah, 9 years old.

—Peter Woelk, for Mission Calgary