Here at New Hope, we are decidedly “non-traditional,” but we don’t disdain tradition. The way we worship, the music we sing, the way we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…these are traditions that have developed for us over the years, but we are constantly trying new things and varying the way we do things in order to remind ourselves that the “how” is never going to be more important than the “why” for us. But for many churches, these traditions are things that divide – rather than unite. We, as a body, are united on the core elements of the faith but are flexible and generous with each other when it comes to the secondary issues of our faith. In order to let you get to know us a little better, we’ve collected some thoughts below to try to describe to you some of the traditions and culture of New Hope Chapel.

Baptism:

Our church has 1-2 baptisms each year, and we’ve been blessed by God to have had nearly 100 people baptised over our short history as a church! Trying to follow the examples from Scripture, we baptize by immersion any adults and children who profess a faith in Jesus Christ. Our annual summer baptism is held at the pool of one of our oldest members in the church and is a pot-luck lunch and fellowship time followed by the baptisms in the pool. We have practiced infant baptism for a few parents who have desired it, allowing the use of water to be a symbolic part of an infant’s dedication while always clearly teaching that the water is not bringing salvation to the child at that point but is merely a tradition that has developed over the years.

Communion:

Our church holds to the “reformed” position on communion, that it is a deeply spiritual tradition in which God is powerfully at work but in which Jesus is not physically present in the bread or juice. We believe that communion is meant to be taken by people who believe Jesus Christ is the living son of God, and that we celebrate his death and resurrection as he commanded his disciples to do…in remembrance of Him. Anyone who is a believer in Christ is welcome to join us in taking communion, whether young or old, as we celebrate it on the first Sunday of every month.

Church Membership:

While the Bible doesn’t teach that church membership is a requirement, it does teach that the church family is supposed to operate as a body, unified and committed to each other – similar to a marriage. When we bring people into membership in our church, we enter into a covenant with them…the new members promise to support, encourage, and serve the others in the church…and the others in the church promise to support, encourage and serve those new members. Having a membership ceremony is a way for us to show our committment to each other and become an important part of what happens at New Hope, rather than just being a casual observer. There are certain positions that we would restrict to being held by church members, and obviously membership gives the right to vote on all church issues.

Sunday Worship:

Corporate worship is something the Bible shows is very important. God’s people have always gathered to praise Him, bring their needs before Him, give Him sacrifices (in our case: time, money, energy, praise, etc.), and exalt Him as the one true God, Yahweh. In our worship services we sing together (led by an amazingly talented band: piano, keyboard, flute, drums, bass, and vocals), we pray together, we read the Bible together, we study the Bible together, we share our joys and sorrows with each other, and we serve each other. We believe that God wants us to worship Him “just as we are” so we encourage people not to just come to church for certain holidays, or only if they “feel good,” or only in their best clothes, or only if its convenient. What you wear, how you’re feeling, or who you are should never be things that prevent us from worshiping God. We encourage you to come join us as we experience being in God’s presence!

Posted under Uncategorized