New Hope Covenant Church

my parent’s were children of the 60’s, so when i became christian, my parents were pretty horrified. in retrospect, i think coming out of the closet would have been a more palatable decision for them at the time.
and so began my tumultuous match with christianity…
for the next near decade of my life, i constantly felt out of place. either i was criticized because of what followers of my religion had committed at some point in history, or i was a leftist heathen. i could never really win.
fast forward past many painful/​confusing/​awkward experiences to 2005ish. i had just moved back to the bay area, and was looking for a new faith community. i was in a yahoo group for asian american christians who cared about social justice issues, and i recalled that one of the list owners was from the bay area. i decided to email him and ask him about his church. surprisingly, he emailed me back soon after saying his church was having a block party that day… and within minutes, i was on the bart to the san antonio/​fruitvale area of east oakland.
i had no car at the time, so i strolled about 10 blocks from the fruitvale bart down international to where the block party was. i remember the smell of carnitas wafting from the taco trucks, and thinking that it was going to be a good day.
and it was!
that day introduced me to some of the most genuine christians i have ever known. they came from all backgrounds, and as a result, they had a true faith — one only known by living out life, not just spewing judgment and hate. these were folks that cared about issues i cared about, they loved oakland, and they knew jesus.
… and, for once in my life, i felt that i had found myself a home.
thank you, new hope, for truly reflecting the love of jesus!

Five reasons to love New Hope (one per star):
1. Two words: churro factory.
2. Depth of community. Everyone knows each other’s name, helps care for each other’s kids, feeds each other dinner, cooks for the families with new babies, and much more. I’ve never seen a church quite like it.
3. A deep and abiding concern for social justice. The group of folks that founded the church established tutoring programs in the San Antonio neighborhood and helped local tenants file a lawsuit against their slumlord. We try hard to carry on that tradition today.
4. There are these delicious croissants every Sunday morning. Mmmm.
5. Everybody pitches in. I’ve never been at a church where probably 75% of the congregation regularly volunteers in some way. It’s kinda awesome.
Come and worship!