Who we are
Hope Church Harlow is a Christian Church which meets in Hare Street Community School.
We are part of the Catalyst family of churches who in turn part of the Newfrontiers global family of churches originally established by Terry Virgo originating in Brighton on the South Coast of England.
Within the Catalyst Network we are supported by the Bedford Hub lead by Phil Whilthew who is based at The Kings Arms Church in Bedford and the North London Hub lead by Duncan Hanton from Trinity Church, Colindale.
For us – it’s all about Jesus
We have Hope in Jesus and
We have Hope because of Jesus
Our Story
Clare and Ben have lived in Harlow since they married in 2004 and have a heart to see Jesus glorified in our town. They have been part of Newfrontiers since 2004 and been in church leadership in various settings including two previous church plants / start up churches. Marcus and Irene have similarly been in church leadership for many years and have started churches in different places.
In 2023, whilst evaluating relocating from Harlow, Ben and Clare connected with Catalyst Network where they had many friends. God was at work as conversation after conversation, along with prophecy after prophecy the topic of again gathering and sharing the good news of Jesus to complement the existing great churches in our town of Harlow kept coming up!
Over Christmas 2023 five of us decided to meet together every week to pray and seek God’s heart for our town and our part in making Him better known within it. In Spring 2024 friends from Kings Church Upminster, The Well Church Basildon & Islington and Trinity Church Colindale, in Catalyst, came and spent time prayer walking, seeking God and enjoying coffee and cake with us.
There was an overwhelming sense that God was forming something new, so we continued to pray, fast and put out feelers. We started meeting in homes to worship, encourage, study the Bible and generally ‘do life’ together towards the end of 2024.
These have and continue to be superb times of doing life together with Jesus at the centre and we know God has so much more for us as we follow him obediently.
During this period God was speaking about the HOPE we have because of Jesus and Him wanting to use us to spread this HOPE to our town of Harlow because every single person both in Harlow and on the planet matters to Him.
We believe God has asked us to shine His Love, Hope, Acceptance (and much more!) to those in Harlow and beyond. This is where our name ‘Hope Church Harlow’ comes from along with the logo of a lighthouse.
Around Easter 2025 we were able to start using Hare Street Community Primary School for initially our Monday meetings and then from September Sunday Gatherings at 3:30pm. If you are reading this we would love for you to join us at one of our Gatherings as we believe & trust God to keep adding to our gospel community as we keep Him central!
Our belief is there is a God ordained future ahead and we are pressing into Him for all He has for us.
Where we believe we are heading
In faith we believe we will be a fantastic diverse bunch of passionate Jesus followers of all ages, meeting both in homes and other locations, mid-week as well as having regular Sunday Gatherings.
We believe these will be times when we sing and worship Jesus; hear the word of God preached straight from of the Bible; our children and youth make beautiful craft, hear stories about Jesus and play games together. We will eat and drink together, we will welcome Holy Spirit and listen to the voice of God, we will pray and support one another as we do life together.
You were born for adventure, you were born for purpose, you were born to do something purposeful and of eternal significance – and as Christians we believe that is to live a God First life!
Paul, persecutor turned Apostle, in the first Century, wrote in his letter to the Philippian Church – Chapter 3 verses 13 & 14 - But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
We Need You
If you have just moved to Harlow, are considering moving to Harlow, know someone moving to or living here and are not connected to a local church in Harlow we would love to connect and explore journeying together to see Jesus more glorified.
In particular we are trusting God to give us new connections with people of all ages some of whom are musicians, and/or have a passion for hospitality/entertainment, and/or have a desire to communicate the bible both in word and actions as well as those who have a heart for children and young people.
We can be MORE together and we can make MUCH of Jesus together.
What do we believe?
We believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe Jesus died to pay for our sins and was raised again, defying death. Through faith in Him we are adopted by grace as sons and daughters of our amazing Father God.
He fills us with His Holy Spirit to go and share His good news throughout the world. It’s all about Jesus!