OUR STORY

A Heart For The Lord

Pastor Philip and Rachel have been best friends since they were 15 and 13 respectively, (marrying at 21 and 19), and have always felt the strong call of God on their lives to share Christ with people. Their longing has always been to see people experience the same reality of God that they experienced, and to really know the Word of God in all its life-giving richness.

Philip worked as a British lawyer for many years, and Rachel in finance, before both moving into full time ministry for a number of years. They became burned out, learning some hard and vital lessons on priorities, grace and humility in the process, and, for the next 11 years went back into corporate life, until the call of God (which had never died) became so strong that Living Hope Church was birthed in Kelowna, BC, Canada.

God’s Call

One evening in 2015, Philip began to pray, ending up praying and weeping before God most of the night, as God showed him a vision of people crying out for someone to come and help them. He knew God was calling him to something new outside the business world, but had no thought of being a pastor or of being in Canada. Through a series of incredible confirmations, they knew that God was calling them to Canada, so they sold or gave away most of their possessions, packed 2 suitcases each and one sea can with office files, photos, bikes and a mattress, and left the UK in March 2018, not knowing anyone, having no jobs, no home and no credit history.

The Church That God Started

God immediately began to bless them with provision, jobs, friendship and ministry opportunities. In November 2018 they started a young adult’s bible study in their home (including a sit down meal each week), with one young lady, and as people of all ages began to show up, it began to resemble a church family. They have always had an unshakable faith in the power of the full gospel, without the need for gimmicks, entertainment, or human pragmatism, and through a combination of verse by verse expositional and topical preaching, they have watched God doing exactly what He promised to do.

By the end of 2020, with numbers exceeding the practical capacity of their living room, it had become undeniable that God had called Philip to step up into the accountability and responsibility of pastoring this group of saints. Thus, Living Hope Church was born in November 2020. It was difficult to find a place to meet on a Sunday, so they began meeting on a Monday evening in a room at the Bridge Church, Kelowna, BC. 

On Father’s Day, June 2020, Rachel was up praying most of the night and God spoke to her about the direction of the church and pressing forward into what God had for this body of believers.  God confirmed that He had called her and Philip to Kelowna, BC because the fields were ready for the harvest. God also confirmed that if they sought first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all that they needed would be added to them. The Lord confirmed that He would provide and that that provision would be there for whenever Philip, who was still working as CEO of a business software company, went full-time in the ministry. Philip began to pastor full time from January 2022.

Thus, they like to call Living Hope Church a church ‘start’ as God truly started this from nothing, with no finances, and no backing.

The Lord’s Leading And Provision For Growth

Midweek men’s and women’s groups also naturally sprang out of the miraculous work God was doing, and these have become a wonderful, safe place for people to share, pray, develop spiritual gifts, and take a deep dive into the Word of God. The Sunday afternoon prayer meeting and the systematic theology course, taught by Philip and Rachel’s son, Gideon, are also highlights of each week.

God continues to draw by His Spirit, those He is calling, both Christians and non-Christians, and they continue to see profound miracles in lives, as they earnestly seek God for genuine revival in this city and across Canada.

Our desire as a church is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ working as it did in the book of Acts. We worship, pray, teach and preach with all their hearts, and long for people to come and taste and see that the Lord is good. We have never gathered for the purpose of creating community because that is not God’s order. He calls churches to gather around Christ and His Spirit-enlivened Word as the focal point and purpose of everything, and then the love of God birthed in people’s lives automatically leads to the kind of Christ-centred community that Jesus prayed for in John 17; powerful, encouraging, protective, corrective, and profoundly loving.

God is birthing people into life and we truly feel His tangible presence amongst us. We are growing disciples who are strong in their faith, able to stand firm in every circumstance life throws at them, increasingly sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and equipped to use their gifts to build up the body of Christ, and introduce dead souls to the Prince of Life. We are a group of Christians who just love God with all our hearts and are continually growing, rooted and grounded in Christ and the scriptures, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

An Invitation

If you have never met the living Jesus, come and meet Him!  If you have met Him, but feel that your fire has become gradually reduced over time, come and taste and see again that the Lord is good and He has glorious plans for you. He can meet you whatever your circumstances and He delights to do so.  The Word of God preached in the power of the Holy Spirit truly changes, heals, delivers, and emancipates people.

All glory to God.