WHERE WE WORSHIP
Group gets creative with Gospel

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Faith Editor

Name of church: New Hope Windward Christian Fellowship

Our denomination: International Church of the Four-square Gospel

Where we are: The church meets at 9 a.m. Sundays at the Ronald Bright Theatre on Castle High campus. Their office is at 43 Oneawa St., Suite 203, Kailua.

Our numbers: 500

Our senior pastor: Dave Barr

What we believe: There's an emphasis on sola scriptura, or relying solely on the Bible as God's own words.

The Christian evangelical group puts its focus on "a relationship with God and helping people to understand God's plan for their lives," Barr said.

Their vision statement is: to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that turns non-Christians into converts, converts into disciples, and disciples into mature, fruitful leaders, who will in turn go into the world and reach others for Christ.

Our history: Founded in January 2000 by Dale Vallejo-Sanderson, who 10 months later became leader of Wellspring Church in 'Aiea, it was a church plant out of New Hope-O'ahu, led by Wayne Cordiero.

What's special about us: Using two large screens, they show Biblical message videos every six weeks, from Cordiero and other speakers.

They also use hula, sign dancing and hip-hop dance.

"We use this to present the Gospel in creative ways," Barr said.

The teaching is kept simple, as is its application to life, he said.

What we're excited about: They've started a six-week series of Sunday sermons on the topic "Moving from Burnout to Balance."

They're also planning to again undergo a Spiritual Growth Campaign, the first of which was held last October. Partnering with 1,500 churches in 10 countries, New Hope Windward members each week learned new scripture passages and answered the question, "Why did God put me here on earth?"

Small group discussions and daily devotional readings were also part of the campaign, as was the distribution of $4,500 worth of books by Rick Warren.

"What happened is that our church grew by 100 in the first week," Barr said. "And we've kept that."

Contact: 261-5975, www.newhope-windward.org

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