Hope Collective Church firmly believes that the Good News of the love of Jesus is for every person. One of our Core Values is:
“Inclusion – We invite everyone to participate fully in our ministries regardless of the false walls that tend to separate us, including sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, economics, politics, or race.”

We realize that people naturally have questions about us, especially in light of exclusionary policies so many have encountered in their church experience. We believe it is good to address some of the more common questions. If you have specific unanswered inclusion questions please submit them by e-mailing us at hcc@hopecollectivechurch.org

Blessings,
Addison Webb

Your questions answered!

Women

Women are created by God to be just as valuable, gifted, talented, and capable as men. We repudiate and rebuke the patriarchal system embraced by many church groups in order to help those in control to be able to continue to grip the reins, and state unequivocally that the idea that men must be in control in the church and in the home has been used for far too long to stomp women down and deny them a seat at the table. Women are valued and participate fully in Hope Collective Church leadership and ministry opportunities.

Race and Ethnicity

While walking this Earth, Jesus was Middle Eastern. He was NOT white, and He certainly wasn’t the blue-eyed blond depicted in so many paintings. We repudiate and rebuke the hatred, racial bigotry, and institutionalized attitude of racism that has pervaded church groups, and proclaim with joy that in Christ, ALL hold value, and as scripture says, there is neither Jew nor Greek. Bluntly, the level of melanin in someone’s skin, or any other ethnically driven differences in physical characteristics only serves to speak to God’s wondrous creativity. People of color are valued and participate fully in Hope Collective Church.

LGBTQIA+ People

God’s wondrous creation includes people of vast variety. ALL people have equal value, and matter equally to God. So many LGBTQIA+ people have been wrongly targeted and marginalized by those who claim to love people in Jesus’ name. We repudiate and rebuke the hatred, fear, bigotry and campaign of misinformation that has been the primary guiding principles and/or building blocks of so many church groups, and proclaim with love that Jesus loves you JUST AS YOU ARE!. LGBTQIA+ people are valued and participate fully in Hope Collective Church.

Restroom Policy

Hope Collective Church meets in a public space that we neither own, nor make policy for. That space, conforming to building codes, has gendered restroom facilities. Thankfully, that space also shares our commitment to tearing down walls. Hope Collective Church strongly supports a person’s right to use the restroom that best fits their gender identity and comfort level. So, though we use restrooms with gender markings, please use the restroom that best fits who you are as a person.

Conversion Therapy

Conversion Therapy is a horrible practice that has disrupted and destroyed countless lives in the name of the false god of heteronormativity. Gay, lesbian, transgender people and others do not need to be “converted to straight”, as they already are exactly who God made them to be! Countless lives have needlessly been lost to this church sponsored bigotry, and we repudiate and rebuke the pervasive, gatekeeping “holier than thou” attitude that lives at the heart of this evil practice.

Body Autonomy

Some people have piercings. Some people have tattoos. Some people wear jeans and t-shirts. Some people dress up. Some women have children, and some don’t. Some people have gender affirming surgeries, and some don’t. At Hope Collective Church, your body is your body, and you don’t have to explain anything you don’t wish to talk about. We believe God is much more interested in where your heart is.

Real Talk

Another of our Core Values says in part: “We are who we say we are”. Our leadership and ministry teams are representative of the community that surrounds us, including women, men, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people. Some of us are dorks. Some of us have piercings and tattoos (gasp!). We come from all walks of life. We all love Jesus.

We also love you. Even if you believe differently than we do. Even if you stand against the things we stand for. We know that you have inside you the image of God as well, and we honor that image.

John Chapter 1 says that through Christ everything was made, and that nothing (and thus, no one) was made without Him. Each of us was beautifully and wonderfully made. You’ve got His fingerprints all over you. Whatever your marital status, whatever your racial or ethnic makeup, whatever your economic situation, whatever your gender, whoever it is that you love, and no matter what your political position, you are valued as a person and a child of God at Hope Collective Church! We really are who we say we are.

You. Are. Loved! Come join us!