Who We Are

Purpose

To lead people to Jesus, teach God’s Word, worship in Spirit and truth, build Christ-centered community, and reach our county and the world with His love.

Mision

To love like Jesus by knowing God through the gospel, growing in obedience to His Word, and going to make disciples who make disciples. means becoming more like Him.

Vision

To cultivate a thriving, Christ-centered community that reflects God’s kingdom and influences every sector of society, locally and around the world.

Cultural Values

We submit to God's Word as our ultimate truth, allowing it to guide every aspect of our lives. (John 1:1; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

We celebrate a life-changing relationship with Jesus, embrace God-sized vision, pray boldly, and evaluate our lives to become more like Christ. (Romans 12:2 | Hebrews 11:6 | 1 John 5:14)

We sacrifice our preferences to reach others, commit to teaching the next generation, confront and forgive in love, and give generously. (Mark 10:45 | Luke 19:10 | Matthew 18:15 | Ephesians 4:32 | 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 | Psalm 78:5-7)

We prioritize authentic relationships, cultivate spiritually healthy families, and strive for unity in the body of Christ. (Hebrews 10:25 | Colossians 3:18-21 | John 17:20-23)

Our Beliefs

Hope Community Church reflects God’s priority which He places on PEOPLE. Our passion is to provide a safe place where folks from all over Manitowoc County can come, feel accepted, and experience the rich community which exists at Hope. As a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America we hold the following to be true:

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

Leadership

Staff

Jed Manders

Lead Pastor

Jesse Eells

Executive Pastor

Bo Perkins

Care & Prayer Pastor

Lisa Honkanen

Campus Administrator

Joshua Meyer

Hope Groups Director

Sarah Powell

Worship & Media Arts Director

Kirk Pingle

First Impressions & Next Steps Director

Dawn Manders

Hope Kids & Finance Director

Elijah Wilda

Worship & Media Arts Assistant

Adler Strenn

Youth Ministries Director

Kitty Ferry & Robin Koehler

Housekeeping

Howard Gleason

Campus Assistant

Shiloh Wilda

Hope Kids Assistant

Elders

Jet Wilda

Chairman

Jed Manders

Jesse Eells

David Portmann

Vice Chairman

Rick Powell

John Ebert

Matthew Strenn