Get To Know Us!

Our Heart Song: 

We Are Changing The World One Life At A Time.

Our Mission Statement:

Journey of Hope Community Church will include and unite all people in living, proclaiming and instilling the message, Spirit and transforming power of Jesus Christ by both being and making Christ followers with a faith that is alive, growing and active.

 

Our Vision:

Journey of Hope Community Church (JOHCC) will be widely known as a place where all people are invited, welcomed, accepted and loved, a place where a body of people are united in love and in efforts to include others in the exciting journey of following Christ.  With a 24/7 ministry, we will have a positive image in the community and in the Southern Michigan Conference.  We will be financially sound.  Our focus will always be on the transforming power of Jesus Christ.  Innovative methods of outreach and growth relevant to the culture will be successful in bringing individuals to Christ.  High tech and high touch will combine to inspire positive response: “This is a great place to be!”

We will collaborate and cooperate with people, organizations and projects that promote making and being disciples of Jesus.  We will invest time and resources in meeting the needs of the community and the world.  Being Holy Spirit led, we will be unified and inclusive as we grow people physically, spiritually, mentally and relationally through programs and ministries that create environments conducive to transforming lives through Jesus.  There will be a healthy balance among the core facets of evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship and ministry.  Diversity in our people will reflect that of heaven, and on-lookers will know that we are disciples of Jesus by our love for one another.

Our Belief Statements

1. We believe there is one true and living triune God, the maker and preserver of all things, and that in the unity of this Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

2. We believe Jesus of Nazareth was God in flesh, truly God and truly human.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  He came to save us and we believe in him as Lord and Savior, in his deity, his Lordship, his plan for salvation, his miraculous birth, exemplary life, death on the cross, resurrection and ascension, as well as his future return to judge the world when every knee will bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   Jesus is our one and only hope of eternal life.

3. The Bible is God’s written Word, a revelation of himself and his Kingdom. God, through the Holy Spirit, inspired man to write his Word and the Holy Spirit illuminates this written word to speak with authority to all cultures and generations, teaching the truth about God, his creation, his people, his one and only son and destiny of humankind, as well as the way of salvation and the life of faith.

4. We believe every person has sinned and no one is worthy of God’s love, grace, forgiveness and acceptance, but that every person is worthwhile, valued and loved by God, and can be saved from eternal damnation to eternal life, through repentance of sin and by assuredly believing and proclaiming that Jesus is Savior and Lord.  There is no satisfaction for sin other than Christ’s sacrifice, and no other can atone.

5. We believe that life is a journey and as individuals believe and proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior we instantly become new creations. We are saved, and a transformation journey begins to change us into Christ-likeness. This is why we say, “We are changing the world one life at a time.” It begins with our life and as our life changes, because of Christ, our worldview and our world changes.

6.  We believe in the two great commandments of Christ, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.”  And the Second great command is, “To love our neighbors as ourselves.”

7.  We believe the great commission that Jesus gave to his disciples and has been passed down through the ages, “As you are going, make disciples.”

8. We believe the Church is the Body of Christ. Christ is the head and we are to work together doing what we can individually so that collectively Christ and his Kingdom grow in numbers and health.

9. We believe that it is normal and healthy for a Christ follower to do good works as evidence of his/her salvation and relationship with God through Jesus.  We also believe that there are individual benefits to doing good works while beautifully displaying the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Galatians 5:22-23

10. Water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the sacraments of the church commanded by Christ.

11. We believe that in God’s great orchestration, that he has placed us here, in this place, at this time, to share the light of Jesus in our community and beyond. We believe this is our time and this is our purpose.

 

Our Seven Basic Purposes

 

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES – To be a praying people that practice spiritual disciplines

EVANGELISM – To be a serving people helping others in their journey toward transforming decisions to follow Christ (Process Evangelism)

FELLOWSHIP – To be a uniting people living in enjoyable and encouraging relationship with each other

DISCIPLESHIP – To be a people seeking maturity in Christ, increasing in wisdom, stature and relationship

MINISTRY – To be a people helping meet the needs of others less fortunate, disenfranchised, and needy

WORSHIP – To be a people who seek, serve and worship the true and living God

INTEGRITY – To be a people honoring Christ in doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reason, all the time.

Everything we do at Journey of Hope Community Church is geared toward making disciples of Jesus Christ. The purposes shown above reflect principles that we believe are manifested by those whose lives are being transformed into Christ-likeness.

 

Our Goals

     1. Unite God’s people around a common purpose of building                    God’s Kingdom.

    2. Develop and provide opportunities that include growing numbers        of people in the activities of the church.

    3. Live lives exemplifying the transforming Spirit and power of Jesus           Christ as “living testimonies.” 

    4. Unite organizations and individuals in meeting community needs.

    5. Boldly proclaim the message, Spirit and transforming power of                 Jesus Christ. 

     6. Instill the message, Spirit and transforming power of Jesus Christ.

     7. Ensure financial health.

 

STEPS TO WHAT GOD WANTS

Step Up: To Leadership

Step Out: Into Ministry

Step On: Towards Maturity

Step In: Baptism & Membership

The GREATEST Step: Becoming a Christian

The Questioning Step: Exploring the Gospel

The Discovery Step: Getting to Know the Gospel

On the Step: Getting to Know Christians

OUR LEADERSHIP

Leadership Team:

Our leadership team is made up of our Official Board, Church Staff and Age Level Directors. Devoted to pray and serve in their leadership capacities our Leadership Team sets the Spiritual Direction of our Church. There is plenty of room for others to step into the leadership arena. One of our greatest ministries is training and equipping people to become leaders.

Pastor Bill & Dottie, Senior Pastors

As the lead teaching pastor, Pastor Bill has a passion for carefully unpacking the truths of Scripture in a relevant way. Pastor has ministered in six foreign countries, has been an adjunct professor at the prestigious Spring Arbor University, and delights in the opportunity to share and teach leadership to young aspiring ministers. He has served at  Taylor for nearly fifteen years. He and his wife, Dottie have two grown children and 4 grandchildren. Pastor Bill and Dottie often use their delightful hobbies of puppetry, illusion, ventriloquism, art, comedy and drama in the ministry as they have a passion for the arts. They have been married for over forty years and remain very fun loving and fun at heart.

Pastor Hank Sower, Youth & Missions Pastor

Pastor Hank’s main responsibility is teaching the youth and leading our Missions program. Hank and his lovely wife Patti have been members of Journey of Hope for almost fifteen years. He is passionate about teaching and empowering the youth and has been on several missions trips ministering in various countries and States. Pastor Hank has a love for sports and has been inducted into the Taylor Sports Hall of Fame. He has played on many championship softball teams and remains very active even today. Hank & Patti have two grown children and three grandchildren.

We are part of an Association of Churches: 

We are part of the Southern Michigan Conference of the Free Methodist Church of the USA. A denomination with a strong holiness belief in our God and a passionate desire to introduce God to everyone possible. The Free Methodist church is obviously a proponent for freedom and the abolition of slavery and bondage. Reaching those who are impoverished, struggling, lost, imprisoned, disenfranchised, hurting, without hope, burdened and lonely our Association of Churches is about proclaiming Christ Jesus as the answer to these problems for the entire world. Superintendent Ramundo and his lovely wife Noni, lead that charge for Southern Michigan and our Bishop, David Kendall shown with former bishops to the left lead us nationally. Bishop Kendall is top left in the picture. Both David Kendall and Thomas Ramundo have spoken at Journey of Hope and are proven Godly Leaders. Together with churches throughout Southern Michigan and the world, Journey of Hope and the Free Methodist Church is making a difference.