Overview of Hope Brussels

The Why, Who, What, and How of Hope International Church

Why?

Brussels is one of the most international cities in the world and only 1% of its population identifies as evangelical. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Matt 9:38-39)! Brussels has a general need for more evangelical churches, and specifically for more international evangelical churches for English and French speakers. For this reason, we desire to plant a bible-believing, grace-based community where disciples of Christ can worship, be known, nurtured, equipped, and supported to live for Christ in all areas of life.

Also, church multiplication yields kingdom expansion. We believe that planting urban churches is key to reaching the unchurched, seeing people come to faith, connecting new city residents with Christian community, and bringing the younger generation into the body of Christ.

A 2015 Lifeway Research study found that 42 percent of church plant attendees previously weren’t part of a church. By contrast, as high as 90 percent of new members in established churches are transfers from another congregation. The bottom line: most church plants baptize more new believers and create more new disciples than already existing churches do. Being new allows church plants to be nimble and adaptable. As a result, non-practicing Christians aren’t the only group new churches excel at reaching.

Who?

You can read here about our church-planting team made up of the Bacons and the Brinks.

Julian Bacon is the pastor of Hope and has a particular focus on teaching.

Daniel Brink is handling more of the administration and logistics.

Both Julian and Daniel will be working together on discipleship, evangelism, counseling,

worship, and contextualized ministry.

But the Who also includes the core group of Hope International Church.

These are people who commit to this church-planting project, serve in ways they are gifted,

and have the intention to join the church as members.

What?

A true church is marked by the following three marks: (1) the true preaching of the Word, (2) the right administration of the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), (3) and the faithful exercise of church discipline. Under this definition of church, the following are our mission and vision.

Mission: Our mission at Hope ICB is to be a community that worships God, spreads the hope of the gospel, and grows together as disciples of Jesus.

Vision: As we stay true to our mission, we desire to see:

An international and multi-generational community that is committed to glorifying God by worshipping Him in accordance with His Word.
A church transformed by the gospel and committed to sharing this good news that more people in Brussels would come to saving faith in Jesus.
A community that experiences togetherness of the Christian life, by worshiping together, praying together, sharing meals together, and studying God’s Word together.
A people intentional about becoming more like Jesus and learning to serve him in their homes, church, schools, work, and community.

How?

Tradition/Denomination:

At Hope, we desire to follow the Presbyterian tradition, in the International Presbyterian Church (IPC). The IPC is a denomination made up of churches in Great Britain, Europe, and Korea.

Working within a denomination provides: (1) a connection to the universal church, (2) transparency in how we operate, (3) accountability, (4) support for pastors and members, (5) procedures for best practices, and (6) quality control for pastors.

The International Presbyterian Church (IPC) provides a Book of Church Order (BCO) that provides the instruction for the good order and operation of each of its churches.

Church Activity

We want to be intentional about worship, discipleship, and outreach.

A regular week will include a Sunday worship service and a discipleship opportunities including Wednesday evening community groups.

Our worship services are multigenerational, so children will worship with the rest of God’s people. The services will be gospel-shaped dialogues between God and his people. The general flow of worship will be: God invites us to worship; we praise him and confess our sins; He assures us of the forgiveness of sins; we respond in thanksgiving; we read scripture; there is an expository and applicatory sermon; we respond by partaking in communion and singing; the service closes with a charge and blessing to God’s people.

Our discipleship program will include going through books of the Bible in an inductive manner and studying relevant topics of the Christian life in a deep and caring community,

On a less regular basis, we will encourage: (1) trainings on the different areas of the Christian life (leadership, relationships, parenting, marriage, and vocation); (2) pastoral visits; and (3) service ministries with ministry partners.