Pastor Eric and Valerie attended Alive Wesleyan Church in 2014, when they had a conversation with Pastor Buddy Rampey, the District Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church at the time, about checking out Walhalla Wesleyan Church and seeing if they thought it might be a place God would call them to.

They first visited the church on June 1st, 2014. The church and Pastor Eric accepted a six-month trial period in September 2014. They saw potential in the building and the location. But the church had been without a pastor for a while and was averaging around 14 in attendance. After a few months, it was clear there needed to be significant changes.

Following a conversation with Pastor Buddy, a church consultation with Dr. Paul Border was scheduled for February 27th through March 1st, 2015. Dr. Border established strengths, weaknesses, and a prescription on how to move forward, which the church approved.

Most notable was the prescription to close Walhalla Wesleyan Church and restart a new church with a new name. The new church was chosen to be Hope Church. The last Sunday for Walhalla Wesleyan Church was June 28th, 2015, with Hope Church set to launch September 20th, 2015.

The remodeling of the current facilities began on June 28th and continued well past the launch date of September 20th. No description would do the transformation justice, so we encourage you to check out the pictures on Facebook.

It has been a challenging start for Hope Church since it was a replant, born without the traditional funding and core groups of people sent from other churches. Hope was born with little more than a dream and a handful of people. But God has blessed Hope Church over the years. We have seen people become committed followers of Christ. We have seen people take next steps through water baptism and we have seen people commit to serving in ministry. The church continues to grow, and we believe the best is yet to come for Hope Church.

Going forward, we will continue to reach out to the people of Oconee County with the message of Hope in Jesus Christ. Our focus will be on reaching the unchurched and discipling those we reach. We invite you to join us on this incredible journey as we seek to make disciples who make disciples.

#HOPE4OC #HOPEISRISING

What does this mean for you? Most importantly, you are always welcome at Hope Church. We are saving a seat for you. Wherever you are in your faith journey, you will always be welcome as part of the Hope family.

Beyond that, if you're ready to plan your first visit click here. Or if you'd like to contact us directly, click the Contact Us button below.

We believe Jesus' teachings should be lived out, not just heard. Our focus is on teaching these truths in a way that is understandable and applicable to our everyday lives.

Everything that we teach should not be just for inspiration but also for application. Therefore, application is an important part of our Sunday service, our Life Groups, and all our ministries.

Our mission is to make disciples who make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus invited people into relationships with Himself, He loved them, and, in the process, showed them how to follow God.

The best way to do that is through connecting with others in a discipleship relationship. These caring relationships will equip and encourage us to become more like Christ.

We believe every person should be accepted and welcomed at Hope Church and loved just as they are. We also believe that since the unchurched matter to God, they should matter to us. Therefore, we should include the unchurched in our thinking when planning ministry and our weekly service.

We also believe the church should be the friendliest place on the planet. Therefore, we focus on being genuinely friendly to everyone regardless of race, culture, social status, or physical appearance.

We believe that Jesus Christ's message and His church's ministry are more effective when they are communicated and accomplished in simple ways.

As churches grow, they usually become more complex. To keep things simple, we should constantly ask if this is the best and simplest way to accomplish our goals.

The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the only written revelation from God to man. The Bible is infallible and the authoritative rule of faith and conduct for mankind. In it, we have everything we need for life and godliness.

2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21

God is called by many different names because of the different dimensions of His personality, but God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is super-dimensional and eternally self-existent (Jn. 8:54-59). God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1; Luke 1:31; Luke 1:35

Jesus Christ is at the center of everything. We believe that Jesus is the only one who can reconcile us to God. He lived a sinless and exemplary life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again to prove His victory and empower us for life. We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back again as He promised.

Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God. The Scripture declares:

His virgin birth,

Matthew 1:18-23

His sinless life,

Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22

His miracles,

Acts 2:22; Acts 10:38

His substitutionary death on the cross,

1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21

His bodily resurrection from the dead,

Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4

His exaltation to the right hand of God.

Acts 1:9; Acts 1:11; Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3

Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 2:26). However, by a voluntary act of the will, Adam and Eve disobeyed God (Genesis 3:6). That first sin had several repercussions. Man was excommunicated from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23), a curse was pronounced (Genesis 3:14-19), the process of physical death began (Genesis 2:17), and man died spiritually (Romans 5:12-19). Sin separated humankind from God (Ephesians 2:11-18) and left man in a fallen or sinful condition (Romans 3:23).

Genesis 1:26,27; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12-19

The only means of salvation is Jesus Christ

Acts 4:12 John 3:3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5-7

The Evidence of Salvation. The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit.

Romans 8:16

The outward evidence is the fruit of the spirit. We become a new creation and are transformed into the image of Christ.

Galatians 5:22, 23; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18

The nine fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) are the by-product of a Spirit-filled life and evidence of spiritual maturity. The nine gifts of the Spirit are different manifestations of the Spirit to build up the body (I Cor. 12:1-11). We are instructed to diligently seek the gifts (I Cor. 12:31, 14:1), but they must be exercised in an orderly way (I Cor. 14:26-33) and in the context of love. (I Cor. 13:1-13).

Baptism in Water

The Scripture teaches that all who repent and believe in Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized by immersion. Baptism is a public profession of faith in Christ. It is symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is a declaration to the world that we have died to sin and have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life.

Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47,48; Romans 6:4

Communion

The Lord's Supper consists of two elements --bread and the cup. Those elements are symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. Communion is a memorial of Christ's sufferings on the cross and a celebration of our salvation. It is an opportunity for a believer to examine himself and experience forgiveness.

1 Corinthians 11:26

The Church is the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) and has four main purposes.

Hope Church's priority reason for being as part of the Church is to lead people to pursue:

Fellowship with God. Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15,16

Community with others. 1 Corinthians 12:13

Service in ministry. Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 14:12

Influence with those outside the faith. Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15,16

There will be a final judgment in which the dead will be resurrected and judged according to their works. Everyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life, along with the devil and his angels, will be sentenced to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be resurrected and stand at the judgment seat of Christ to be rewarded for their good deeds.

Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8

If you're curious about the Bible, or unsure about something we believe at Hope Church, please get in touch with a person on our lead team directly by clicking the button below.