Hope Chapel — Attraction in Austin

I came to Hope Chapel in college when we met at Camp Mabry's chapel - all 50 of us. Grew up with Hope (and some of their church plants) over the years. As a kid in the military, I never knew consistency in friendships. But I have friends at Hope who are "closer than a 'sibling' " as the Bible puts it from this church who never stops seeking God and praying for the good of the city.

I hate heat. I only moved to Austin because of the military. I stayed because of Hope Chapel - part of Jesus’ body - true, loving, humble, serving followers of Jesus who live out His words. Am we flawed? Yes. But we never stop asking God to change us through His Spirit to be more like Him.

We've stayed in our building for over 37 years by sending out groups of people to start new churches in other parts of Austin rather than buying land somewhere and becoming huge. Huge is fine. But God has us committed to the central part of Austin and the Brentwood neighborhood in particular. I lived in Brentwood for 9 years.

Oh, and if you like to laugh - this is the place! The wit and humor and joy that Hopites express is a delight. We don't take ourselves too seriously. Life is hard sometimes and I need some non-stuffy people to laugh with.

And sometimes we serve bacon (well, at least once! But one can hope for a repeat. But there’s always coffee). Come for the worship (singing), stay for teaching including kids' classes, and discover true family! You'll find us on the playground in the backyard after the morning service at 10AM sharing our lives - multi-generational connections that are "lost" in most communities today.

Look for me and say "hi." I'd love to meet you. And it appears that I’m not...

Deep community in Christ. When we first moved to Austin with small kiddos, we struggled with a lot of isolation and loneliness. We visited churches and found some big on pizzazz, some buttoned down tight, and some that were nice, but weren't going to challenge and support our growth.

Then we found Hope and it felt like coming home. People warmly welcomed us into community, preached the Word straight up - living and active, and helped us step out into deeper communion with Jesus' Spirit to love and serve the lost and hurting. We have been pulled more deeply into oneness with Christ and pushed outward into sacrificing for people who need to be loved.

We have had friends move cities and every time we touch base, they tell us, "you don't know what you have here. We can't find it...

What I love most about Hope Chapel is that it is a committed, loving community of friends like family. Sunday after Sunday, I come away encouraged by excellent preaching and worship. I feel like God is among us!

I started coming to Hope 30 years ago in college, moved away from Austin, and have recently come back. I'm delighted to see lots of multi-generational families still here after all those years, as well as many new folks, lots of young families with kids. My husband and I already feel at home again in Austin because Hope Chapel has embraced...