September is always a good time to reflect, the start of a new school year, the transition from Summer to Autumn. Also important in the light of the death of our queen after 70 years on the throne and on a day that is for ever imprinted on our memories, 9/11. There are events that stay in the memory of everyone alive at the time, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news of the airplanes crashing into the world trade building. I will always remember where I was when I heard the news that the queen had died. Monumental times.
We should therefore not forget that this September represents 20 years since we started as a church, another significant event even if not in the same league as 9/11 or the death of the queen.
Prior to the start of the church a group of people moved with Anne and me to Luton with the declared aim to start the church. We were quickly joined by many already living in the town. These were the original people of Hope. Some are still here; others are serving God is other places in the UK and around the world. Many, many others have been part of the people of Hope since then. It has been an incredible 20 years and we will be having a number of activities over the course of the next 12 months to both acknowledge the journey God has taken us on and to look forward to the future.
Prior to the launch the team spent time seeking God about what we should be called. There was in awareness of the significance of a churches name, we didn’t take it lightly. There was a unanimous sense that we should be called Hope Church because hope is the antidote to despair. We felt despair was what we needed to combat.
Since then, we have learnt so much but the calling to bring hope in the midst of despair remains central to who we are as a church. We bring a message of Hope for now as well as hope for the future. Hope to those who have hidden despair and hope for those who have open despair.
In the first chapter of John’s gospel Philip invites his friend Nathanael to meet Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael replies, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come and see says Philip. We felt that there were similar sentiments about Luton, can anything good come out of Luton? people ask. Yes, we want to say, come, and see. We wanted to build a come and see church!
These were early themes that are still true today. Recognising that the UK is going to become more like Luton than Luton like the rest of the UK. We need to keep seeking God about what his church looks like in a multi-cultural town like Luton with a very high Muslim population. With people coming from all corners of the world, coming with high expectations which are rarely realised. With white British people a minority, with many key figures in the town living outside and commuting in.
We want to build something to the glory of God in Luton, to which we can say to others, come and see what God can do. What we and others are building in Luton needs to be something that serves others, that brings hope for now as well as hope for the future. That is another of the things we have learnt, we need to work with others to serve the town. No one church or Christian organisation has all the answers, we have to work together not in competition. We need to have an attitude of humility, we need to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…… he humbled himself. Like Jesus we are in humility to consider others better than ourselves.
A massive change in the nature of the church was our purchase of Hope Church Centre in 2009, when we were just 7 or 8 years old as a church. It was a major faith event, raising money for a deposit, getting a mortgage, and then embarking on a year’s adventure refurbishing the premises. Prior to that we had met in different schools on a Sunday and had office facilities in Leagrave for a time. We had received words from God of our need for a building and some words describing the type of building He wanted us to have. Something that didn’t look like a church but had lots of rooms, something more like a community centre.
That is what we now have. A building that enables us to serve the community of Luton, which we do in so many ways. Things we run ourselves but also enabling others to serve the town.
We know so much more than 20 years ago; we have come along way, but we have much more to learn.
So many people have contributed to the church being what it is now. People who gave up weeks to refurbish the building, some not even members of the church. Others serving in different ways, including senior leadership and staff positions. We have been truly blessed by God and those he has gathered here. Something worth acknowledging and celebrating which we will be doing this year.
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