Living Hope Christian Fellowship (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada)
Living Hope Christian Fellowship began services and formally organized in 1994. Lorin and Jeanette Bergen are considered the founding leaders of the group. The congregation originated through outreach by the Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia. The congregation met in the facilities of Cedar Hills Mennonite Church in Surrey, with which it eventually merged on 12 September 2004. The official merger took place on 2 January 2005. Services are in English with Mandarin and Karen translation. A Mandarin language service is held on Sunday afternoons in White Rock.
The Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia, under the church planting leadership of David Chiu and the Evangelism and Church Development Committee, was instrumental in the beginning of Living Hope Christian Fellowship of Surrey, BC. Hans and Alice Federau and Lorin and Jeanette Bergen gave initial leadership to the work that began with approximately 20 people. The congregation met in the facilities of Cedar Hills Mennonite Church in Surrey. First United Mennonite Church in Vancouver and Bethel Mennonite Church in Aldergrove blessed and commissioned some of their own to form part of the initial core group.
The core group began meeting in April 1994, seeking to be in the community and for the community with the stated motto of "Enjoying God and Sharing Him with Others." The congregation officially launched on 17 October 1994. Living Hope is a family oriented church that strives to be relevant, vibrant, informal, encouraging and joy-filled, with a passion to reach the unchurched in their community with the good news of Jesus Christ. Through Sunday morning and Saturday evening celebrations, weekly cell group meetings, exciting children’s ministry and other avenues, they try to live out their vision to become increasingly multicultural to reflect the reality that is Surrey/North Delta and Sullivan.
A Chinese speaking congregation was birthed from Living Hope in 1998 and in 2011 a second campus was begun seeking to impact the Sullivan area of Surrey called Living Hope-Sullivan. The congregation, led by Wally Nickel, met on Saturday evenings. The group met for two years until early 2013, when the Sullivan group of worshipers returned to Living Hope as a cell group. They ended their time of meeting as a separate worshiping group at the end of May 2013.
Over the years God moved the congregation from a school gym in North Delta to share the facilities of Cedar Hills Mennonite Church in Surrey and eventually to a merger with Cedar Hills on 12 September 2004 (formalized on 2 January 2005) where the two congregations became one. Lorin Bergen continued to give pastoral leadership until 2012. Other pastoral leadership over the years has been given by Jonathan Deng, Thomas Regner, Paul Ndukwe, Ian Hern, Wally Nickel and Bob Boehr
Living Hope has grown throughout the years and in 2012 had over 200 people at the Cedar Hills campus and 45 at the Sullivan location. Living Hope has developed into an international church with many different cultural groups represented in the family, especially Chinese, African and most recently a group of Karen people from Myanmar.
Bibliography
Canadian Mennonite (11 July 2011): 40.
CMC Nexus (May 1996): 12.
Mennonite Church British Columbia. 2014 Annual Meeting February 21 & 22, 2014. Abbotsford, BC: MCBC, 2014.
Mennonite Reporter (27 June 1994): 1-2; (16 October 1995): 15.
Additional Information
Cedar Hills Address: 12246 - 100th Avenue, Surrey, BC V3V 2X1
Sullivan Address: 215 - 6333 148th Steet, Surrey, BC
Phone: 604-588-8109
Web site: Living Hope Christian Fellowship
Denominational Affiliation:
Mennonite Church British Columbia
Living Hope Christian Fellowship Leading Ministers
| Minister | Years |
|---|---|
| Lorin Bergen | 1994-2012 |
| Gerry Binnema (interim) | 2012-2013 |
Living Hope Christian Fellowship Membership
| Year | Members |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 30 |
| 2000 | 30 |
| 2005 | 115 |
| 2010 | 189 |
| 2015 | 181 |
Maps
Map:Living Hope Christian Fellowship, Surrey, BC
| Author(s) | Lorin Bergen |
|---|---|
| Date Published | February 2016 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bergen, Lorin. "Living Hope Christian Fellowship (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2016. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Living_Hope_Christian_Fellowship_(Surrey,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=133457.
APA style
Bergen, Lorin. (February 2016). Living Hope Christian Fellowship (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Living_Hope_Christian_Fellowship_(Surrey,_British_Columbia,_Canada)&oldid=133457.
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