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Intercultural Worshipping Community
Our vision for HHC
The Bible envisages God’s desire for his creation as an assembly where people of all tribes and nations join together in joyous praise (Rev. 7:9-10) and as a banquet at which the same people meet together in fellowship and peace (Isa. 25:6-8). The gospel writers use the term Kingdom of God to describe this state, a realm of peace and justice initiated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Hope Hamilton Church believes that it is called to live out this vision: All ages, all cultures, living together in Jesus. Working towards becoming an Intercultural Worshipping Community is central to the church’s vision.
What is an IWC?
An IWC is a church community where people from different cultural and ethnic heritages deliberately interact with one another in order to deepen their understanding and experience of God and of each other. The idea is to learn and grow together to build communities which are transformed, shaped, and moulded from each other’s different experiences. In becoming an IWC the aim is to create greater understanding, equality and opportunity for people from different ages and cultures within the church. Different voices should be heard.
Where we are now
Compared with many churches in the diocese we already have many members whose origins are in the Majority World, i.e. they or their parents or grandparents originated from outside these islands. To hear some of their stories, click here.
Our Church Council (PCC) is quite diverse, but there is still scope for more people to become involved in church leadership as we go forward. In the longer term it would be great to develop new vocations from within our congregation.
A small group within the church – currently Wai, Eyerusalem, Suzanne, Richard and Ed – meet regularly to guide the development of the IWC and also meet with colleagues from the other IWC churches in the diocese.
The IWC and our Values
CENTRED ON JESUS
We are working to make our worship more inclusive through those who contribute to leading, praying, teaching and reading. We aim to include music and images which expresses both the cultures of our congregation and the community in which we minister.
GENEROUS WELCOME
We aim to create spaces of welcome, not only in our normal Sunday worship, but also through our form of Forest Church Wander and Wonder, in our small groups and at Hope Café. From time to time we organise opportunities for seekers to learn more about the Christian faith, for example, through the Alpha Course. We welcome, in particular, those in our community who are asylum seekers and refugees.
SENT OUT
We work closely with Hope Hamilton Primary School which is, itself, a multicultural and multifaith community. We share our faith through assemblies and through our participation in the school’s governance. We work to bring community and school together through shared activities.
SERVICE
We try to care for those in our community who are struggling. Care for our environment and God’s creation are expressed through such activities as community litter picking.