God is the Creator and Ruler of the Universe. God is an eternal Spirit, Who is loving and just in all He does. There is one God, and this one God has existed forever in the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30)

God, in love, has not left humanity in its hopeless condition. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue people from the penalty and power of sin. Salvation is a free gift from God. People cannot earn it by self-improvement or living a good life. Salvation is given freely by God as a gift to all who believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him as their Savior and Lord. (John 1:12-13; Romans 3:21-26; Ephesians 2:8-9)

The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Son as God. The Holy Spirit convinces people of their need for forgiveness and enables them to trust in God’s love and forgiveness offered to them in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit lives within every Christian, giving instruction in spiritual truth, guidance in doing God’s will, and power for holy living and witness. (John 16:8-15)

The Bible is God’s word to all people. It was written by human authors under the guidance of God’s Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and teaching. It is a true and completely trustworthy account of God’s character and actions in human history. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, co-equal with the Father. Jesus humbled himself in love, being born a human being, living a sinless life, and offering himself as God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people, dying on a cross. He rose from the dead after three days, displaying His power over sin and death. He lives now in heaven and rules as Lord over all God’s creation. He will return again to earth to establish fully his kingdom. (John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 John 2:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

God created men and women to live in a relationship of love with Him and to rule over God’s creation. But all of humanity, from the beginning, has lived in an attitude of rebellion and disobedience to God. As a result, human beings have suffered the consequences of this choice to turn away from their loving Creator—emotional and physical suffering, social injustice, death, and separation from God. Human beings are powerless to rescue themselves from this condition. (Genesis 1:27; 2:17; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 5:12, 5:18-19)

To be a catalyst for the expansion of the Kingdom of God in the lives of individuals, our community, and the world.

HOPE Christian Fellowship is a multi-ethnic, interdenominational community church, located in San Gabriel, in Los Angeles County.  HOPE was birthed out of Sierra Madre Congregational Church in Sierra Madre in 1997.  Mayflower Congregational Church, in San Gabriel, had decided to disband and had gifted it’s building to SMCC for the purpose of planting a new church at this location.  After a period of prayer and discernment, SMCC sent out Pastor Jeff Bassette, director of the international student ministry, as founding pastor of HOPE.  HOPE held its first official service on Easter Sunday, 1998.

The founding core group at HOPE was composed of folks from a variety of distinct backgrounds and perspectives.  Many of the members of Pastor Bassette’s international student ministry served as the core group for the church plant.  This gave HOPE an international, diverse congregation.  Today, there is no one ethnic group that comprises more than 30% of the congregation.  In addition to the ethnic and philosophical diversity at HOPE, there was also a diversity of doctrinal perspectives and Christian traditions.  Even though HOPE was founded out of a Congregational church, it did not remain within that denomination, but decided to remain non-denominational.  This has allowed the leadership to differ in their perspectives on secondary matters of theology and practice, and yet still remain a unified community.

In 2010, Pastor Bassette transitioned to another ministry and David Holcomb and his family were called as Lead Pastor. In 2021 David Holcomb transitioned to another ministry.  In 2022 Donn Halla and his family were called as the Lead Pastor. Today, HOPE continues to seek to be a light in this community and a catalyst for the expansion of the Kingdom of God.

We further our mission by accomplishing these objectives:

Spiritual Formation

This is the intentional process undertaken in partnership with the Holy Spirit by which men and women are formed into the character of Christ and learn to live in abiding connection with him. Spiritual Formation transcends programs and methods, but lies at the heart of the intentions of every member of the church. This is not just an individual pursuit but something that we pursue as a community.

Evangelism

We see HOPE as a sending agency from which Christ followers go out into their everyday lives as carriers of the good news of life under the reign of God. For this we must be about sharing our faith as individuals and as a community, presenting a real life picture of what life in the kingdom of God is like.

Missional Living

Our mission to the world is to be an agent of restoration to the various forms of brokenness in people’s lives, and in society in general. So we must actively engage to meet these needs in our community and around the world. But we should not pursue these tasks in isolation from others. As members of the world-wide Church, HOPE partners with other churches and organizations around the world, in prayer, finances and service.

Community

When a person is born again they are born into a family, the family of God. We go from isolated individuals to brothers and sisters, daughters and sons; from not being a “people,” to being the people of God. HOPE is a physical reality of this truth, and through it people can experience the reality of community. Of course, community does not come naturally, and so this is something we have to learn practice, together.

Worship

Every week, we gather to celebrate God, what he has done and what he is doing to redeem the world. We gather to remind one another of the great story of God. In these gatherings the works of God are celebrated and remembered, the teachings of Christ are rehearsed and shared, we as the people of God express our love and devotion to God and he in turn speaks to and touches us.

Unified Diversity | Ephesians 2:14-22

​At HOPE, we believe that in Christ, the dividing walls that keep people apart —race, culture, age, doctrinal traditions—can really be broken down. We believe the gospel calls us to unity within diversity. In Christ, we can worship next to people with whom we disagree. We can experience community among people with whom we have little in common, and actually value and learn from one another. Therefore, we will do the hard work of seeking unity and submitting to one another as unto Christ to follow his calling on us collectively.

​Pervasive Prayer | Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

​Prayer is all about connection with God. Unceasing prayer is unceasing connection with God. Prayer goes beyond words. Learning to pray means learning to infuse every moment of every day with an awareness of the presence of God and seeing everything we do as prayer. It involves learning to will one thing —the will of God— so that every thought, every action, every word is in line with God’s will for that moment and that situation. It starts in the small things and moves to the big things. At HOPE, we will seek to grow personally and corporately in this kind of conversational, cooperative, intimate, ongoing fellowship with God.

​Authenticity and Grace | Colossians 3:9-14; 4:6; Hebrews 10:24-25

​The gospel compels us to be people of authenticity and grace in our relationships. The two go hand in hand: authenticity begs for grace, and grace invites authenticity. At HOPE we will seek to foster an environment where people can be honest and transparent with one another. We will purpose to be real in our relationships, not pretending to be something we are not, wearing a mask or hiding behind a role. We will make room for others without requiring conformity to a church culture in order to participate or be accepted. We will model God’s grace by believing the best about one another, giving each other permission to be in process and not holding other’s offenses against them.

​Growing Maturity | Ephesians 4:11-16

​At HOPE we are committed to a process of ongoing growth, continually seeking to become mature disciples of Jesus Christ, being increasingly conformed to his character and person. Evidence of growth is seen in the development of the fruits of the Spirit, in discovering and exercising the gifts of the Spirit and learning to walk in step with the Spirit, as we continually turn over more of who we are to God and His kingdom expansion purposes.

​Global Church Orientation | Matthew 28:19-20; Philippians 4:14-19; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

​At HOPE we see ourselves as part of God’s larger, worldwide family. We have a unique part to play in the expansion of God’s kingdom, but it’s not all about us and what is happening here. We recognize we are just a small part of what God is doing in the world, and stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ near and far. We will seek to come alongside, support and partner with other members of God’s family in expanding his kingdom both locally and globally.

​Everyday Living | John 17:14-18; Colossians 3:17

At HOPE we believe in the strategic importance of everyday living. The kingdom of God is lived out in our everyday lives. It is in our homes, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our schools and our daily routines that we embody the good news of God’s kingdom. The ministries of HOPE exist for the purpose of facilitating, strengthening and equipping us to live out the reality of the kingdom of God in our day to day context.