Church is re-launched

On Sunday, Oct. 27, 2002, Don and Sandee Craw opened the doors to welcome 90 worshippers to a new Mennonite Brethren church plant in Ontario, Hope Community Church. It is located in Stoney Creek, part of the new City of Hamilton.

Don and Sandee Craw

Most new churches begin with a group of people who start in a school or an auditorium and then one day graduate to their own building. In January 2002, Don and Sandee arrived at an existing church building in Stoney Creek and began the search for a group of people to fill it. Forty years ago, Mennonite Brethren had established a church here, but, due to many changes and shifts, Mountview MB Church was officially closed in November 2001. The Craws accepted the challenge of re-opening the church as a new plant, with a new name and a new approach to the future.

The initial step of the new church launch team, comprised of a few former Mountview members and some supportive friends, was to choose the name Hope Community Church. They defined the mission of the church as “Helping people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ” and described the church’s values under the acronym CARE: Create a community for encouragement; Accountability to God and others; Relevance, seeing Christ at work each day; Empowerment, discovering and making the best use of our gifts.

For the first few months, the building at 380 Highway 8 sat quietly throughout the week, only to spring to life on Saturday as volunteers from Park Bible Church in Burlington, Ont. arrived to assist in renovating the building.

The next step was to try to build connections with people in the area. Throughout the summer of 2002, the church sent teams into Stoney Creek to knock on doors and record people’s opinions. A drive-in yard sale was held Aug. 10 in the church parking lot; people in over 500 cars stopped and found some great buys and a free lunch. In August, Kamp Hope was launched as the initial step towards building a dynamic children’s ministry. The 34 children who came to Eastdale and Memorial School parks enjoyed games, singing, puppets, Bible stories and crafts. Some have already made requests to register for next year’s Kamp Hope. A sign announcing the new church was put in place, and a website was set up.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, over 100 people gathered to enjoy The Torchmen and Mended Vessels in concert, filling the renovated church with songs of praise. Regular Sunday morning services began Oct. 27, and on the afternoon of Sunday, Nov. 24, over 150 people gathered to officially celebrate the establishment of this church.

Since its inception in October, Hope Community Church’s core group has increased from 34 to its current level of 64. This is a major step towards reaching Hope’s objective of having 75 people participating in its core group by Easter. To assist the church in reaching its objectives, a Hope Hockey Clinic was held on April 12, and a sports activity night for boys in grades 6–8 was started in the gym of a local public school on Friday nights. In all of its activities, Hope is reminded that its purpose is “Bringing Hope to the Community”.