Columbia City Church of Hope
Columbia City Church of Hope is a progressive faith community rooted in God’s grace and acceptance where we work together toward justice, love, and wholeness.
We are a progressive new church in the Lutheran tradition (ELCA) forming in the Columbia City neighborhood of southeast Seattle. Committed to justice and the inclusivity of God's love, we are a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) congregation affirming our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. Grounded in the hope of living in a world infused by God, we seek to reach out to connect with our neighbors and take part in God’s life-giving work in our community.
We honor the image of God’s divine sparkle in everyone by embracing people of all ages, races, economic circumstances, abilities, citizenships, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions. We commit to centering the lived experiences and following the leadership of Black, brown, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ people, who have historically been hurt by the church. We are called to work toward racial justice individually and structurally, knowing that we need each other to be God’s Beloved Community. Come as you are!
In the fall of 2010 we began gathering in a church building near the heart of Columbia City, which was previously home to Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Bethlehem closed in the summer of 2010, giving their blessing to the new church start and their property to Compass Housing Alliance, with the hope that the site will one day provide apartments for limited-income seniors and veterans, plus space for a new sanctuary. Church of Hope began meeting weekly on Easter Sunday in April 2011, and continues to meet every Sunday morning at 10:30am.
On All Saint’s Day, November 5, 2017, we officially organized as a congregation, adopting this charter to guide our life together:
As the Body of Christ, called to embody God’s love in action in our community of practice, we commit to:
Practicing spirituality that matters:
valuing honest questions, doubts, and diversity of beliefs and experiences
recognizing that all people are created in God’s image, and that God is present throughout creation
trusting in God’s love, Christ’s mercy, and the transformational power of the Holy Spirit
experimenting with new ways of encountering God including worship, music, arts, service, advocacy, study, and prayer
Supporting this community:
turning to each other and showing up for each other when we are hurting
giving of ourselves through volunteering and/or financial resources
challenging each other to open our lives to greater self-knowledge, generosity, courage, and joy
Extending radical hospitality:
reaching out to invite new people and opening our community to change
engaging in courageous self-reflection, conversation, and action on racial justice
honoring the diversity of God’s creation by embracing people of all ages, races, economic circumstances, citizenship, gender identities and sexualities
Columbia City Church of Hope is a member of the ELCA. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with about 4 million members in nearly 10,000 congregations across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. You can learn more about the ELCA on their website.