Where Do You Gather?
After a little over a year of meeting as a home church, Hudson’s Hope Chapel was invited to share space with House of Hope Community Church at 9702 Beattie Drive in Hudson’s Hope. This arrangement allows us to use their church building for our services in the morning, while they meet in the afternoon, as well as working together to reach the community throughout the week, both with our own events, and shared community outreach. We work hard to schedule time wisely, and fairly, acknowledging that the building is not our own, and we are grateful guests who have been given the opportunity to share their space. For this reason, we also aim to host events outside of House of Hope, including in homes, in other community spaces, and even out in public.
Are you affiliated with any denomination or organization?
We are an independent chapel, and are not yet formally affiliated with any other denomination, association, or organization. In the most literal sense, you may call us “non-denominational”. However, it would be disingenuous to imply that this means we don’t have a clear identity within the christian family tree.
We are evangelical, and protestant, and our faith and practice are informed by baptist, congregational, and reformed traditions.
By “evangelical”, we mean this in the historic theological sense. As defined by Don Carson “An evangelical, at his best, is a person who believes the good news found in the New Testament, that God has sent his Son to die on the cross and rise from the dead, ascend to glory, seated at the right hand of God, coming at the end of the age to redeem his image-bearers from their sin, their condemnation, pouring upon them his Spirit to justify them, sanctify them, and one day glorify them in perfection. It’s all the good news of what God has done, and this demands a response of obedience, repentance, faith.” Evangelical is not a statement of political affiliation or a single way of doing church, but rather, a statement of our conviction that the power of the Gospel, the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, and his glorious resurrection is is the only hope for salvation.
By “protestant” and “reformed” we mean — in simplest terms — we are a product of the re-formation of God’s church, founded upon the 5 Solas of the protestant reformation, who separated from Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, and rejection of many of the erroneous dogmas and practices of the Roman church. We hold that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and that God alone is worthy of our praise.
By “Baptist” we simply mean that we hold as biblical and normative a number of distinctive features of the christian faith, the most significant being that we believe in only two ordinances — baptism and the Lords supper — and only two offices — that of elder and deacon.
By “congregational” we mean that we are led “bottom up” from within our local congregation. We believe it is the job of the local church, not denominations, bishops, or advisory councils to call their own elders and deacons, and that every member of the church has a role to play in helping to fulfil God’s kingdom work.
We are evangelical, and protestant, and our faith and practice are informed by baptist, congregational, and reformed traditions.
By “evangelical”, we mean this in the historic theological sense. As defined by Don Carson “An evangelical, at his best, is a person who believes the good news found in the New Testament, that God has sent his Son to die on the cross and rise from the dead, ascend to glory, seated at the right hand of God, coming at the end of the age to redeem his image-bearers from their sin, their condemnation, pouring upon them his Spirit to justify them, sanctify them, and one day glorify them in perfection. It’s all the good news of what God has done, and this demands a response of obedience, repentance, faith.” Evangelical is not a statement of political affiliation or a single way of doing church, but rather, a statement of our conviction that the power of the Gospel, the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, and his glorious resurrection is is the only hope for salvation.
By “protestant” and “reformed” we mean — in simplest terms — we are a product of the re-formation of God’s church, founded upon the 5 Solas of the protestant reformation, who separated from Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, and rejection of many of the erroneous dogmas and practices of the Roman church. We hold that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and that God alone is worthy of our praise.
By “Baptist” we simply mean that we hold as biblical and normative a number of distinctive features of the christian faith, the most significant being that we believe in only two ordinances — baptism and the Lords supper — and only two offices — that of elder and deacon.
By “congregational” we mean that we are led “bottom up” from within our local congregation. We believe it is the job of the local church, not denominations, bishops, or advisory councils to call their own elders and deacons, and that every member of the church has a role to play in helping to fulfil God’s kingdom work.
What is your membership structure? Can I become a member?
At present, we operate as an “Unincorporated Association”. We are pursuing incorporation as a society under the BC Societies Act, but want to ensure we do this right, and establish the proper structure, and get the details right before we jump in. In practical terms this means our membership, and our church are inseparable — our members are our church, and our church is its members. However, during this period we are governed by two key documents, our Articles of Association, and our Statement of Faith. Therefore, while all who attend have a very real say in how our church functions, we also offer a path to official voting membership, for those who agree with these documents.
How is Giving Managed? Can I get a Tax Receipt if you are not a charity/society?
At present, we operate as an “Unincorporated Association”. We are pursuing incorporation as a society under the BC Societies Act, but want to ensure we do this right, and establish the proper structure, and get the details right before we jump in.
This means, while the Chapel has its own bank account, and manage our finances centrally, we cannot currently issue tax receipts for donations made directly to Hudson’s Hope Chapel.
However, a significant amount of our ministry is provided by Luke Hughes-Bunger, a chaplain with Fellowship Chaplains. Both our pastors salary, and key ministry expenses are funded via designated donations made to The Fellowship. If you give via The Fellowship, your giving is fully tax deductible, and a tax receipt will be available. For more information on how to give, please visit our giving page.
This means, while the Chapel has its own bank account, and manage our finances centrally, we cannot currently issue tax receipts for donations made directly to Hudson’s Hope Chapel.
However, a significant amount of our ministry is provided by Luke Hughes-Bunger, a chaplain with Fellowship Chaplains. Both our pastors salary, and key ministry expenses are funded via designated donations made to The Fellowship. If you give via The Fellowship, your giving is fully tax deductible, and a tax receipt will be available. For more information on how to give, please visit our giving page.