Main Street Baptist is a Church that Responds to Poverty

Hope Mission is where people go to “get their Jesus on,” according to John and Kalina.  John and Kalina get their Jesus on at Hope Mission along with their daughter Madyson.  The young family loves Hope Mission.  It is their church in their neighbourhood.  It gives them a chance to meet with friends, share a meal, and worship God.

Worshipping is important to the community of Hope Mission. Ernest Day calls the music, prayer, and praise “uplifting.”  Ernest knows the loving informality of Hope Mission.  It took him a year to walk through the doors.  In 2001, someone invited him in but he kept walking.  Then he felt a prompting, a voice urging him to turn around.  He did and has been a part of Hope Mission ever since.  Ernest was baptized in 2004.  

Ron Wheaton tells a similar story.  One day he was cold and someone invited him in for a coffee.  He found the coffee, but he also found friends and family.  “Come in, have a nice coffee,” says Ron, “and you never know who you are going to meet.”  Talking to and getting to know people is fun, but for Ron Hope Mission is primarily about worship.  Ron worships God because God changed Ron’s life.  Ron says that Hope Mission is a place to come if you are hurting.  Someone will help. 

Others talk about the impact of Hope Mission.  Darlene Verner hopes that people will “come and experience what goes on here.”  Darlene has watched Hope Mission change lives.  When she started coming nine years ago, it was a small gathering.  Now Darlene marvels at the seventy or so people that share their lives together twice week.  

Kathy and Chris Hanna offer an explanation about why Hope Mission has grown so much in the last decade.  Hope Mission is a place to meet people, to socialize, and to share your faith.  “We are open to anyone who wants to come.  We kid around.  (We) don’t force religion.”  

Main Street Baptist Church is a congregation of about 450 people and Hope Mission – which meets Tuesday and Friday mornings – is a community of about 70.  For more information about the Hope Mission, contact Pastor John Knight by phone at 642-8060 or by email at john@mainstreetbaptist.ca.

This post was originally part of a newsletter that I co-authored about Saint John area churches and Christian non-profits with poverty reduction services. Over the next several weeks I will post the articles that I wrote for this project.  If you know of other churches and Christian NGOs in the Saint John area, let me know. I'd love to get to know them.