ABOUT



Living Hope Church Yucca Valley is associated with the Evangelical Free Churches of America. Living Hope Church Yucca Valley is an interdependent church, committed to serve our Lord Jesus under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and obedience to the Word of God.






STATEMENT OF FAITH


GOD

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.


THE BIBLE

We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises


THE HUMAN CONDITION

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God's saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.


JESUS CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.


THE WORK OF CHRIST

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.


THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.


THE CHURCH

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.


CHRISTIAN LIVING

We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God's Word, the Spirit's power, and fervent prayer in Christ's name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ's commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.


CHRIST'S RETURN

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.


RESPONSE & ETERNAL DESTINY

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

Pastor Bill & Tina Wilcox



Pastor Bill Wilcox, his wife Tina, and their family were called to serve at Living Hope Church in September of 1997.



Pastor Eric & Karli Armendariz



Pastor Eric accepted a call to serve part time as the church Youth and Worship Pastor. On July 14, 2020, Eric was joined in marriage to his wife Karli right here at Living Hope Church.


2023 BOARD OF ELDERS


Elder of Education
Tony Salto

Elder of Facilities
David Bratton

Elder of Global Outreach
Glen Kippel

Elder of Local Outreach
Cory Lotz

Elder of Worship
Gary Hudson


The church began as a Bible study in the home of Ralph and Millie Brownell; their first official meeting was October 11, 1959. They received their charter with the Evangelical Free Church of America on April 22, 1960. The first church "sanctuary" was Brownell Hall and it was completed in 1961.

The church grew quickly, and the need for Sunday school rooms became apparent. A wall was added to the west side of the hall and partitioned to make four Sunday school rooms. Today we use them for our library and storage. The church continued to grow and so in 1962 the education building was completed. The current worship center was built in 1965 and was remodeled in 2007. Our gymnasium was completed in 1997 and was built over the top of the education building.

In 2021 the church name changed from "Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley" to "Living Hope Church"

Desert Christ Park belongs to a local, nonprofit foundation. Some of its works are on our property. That goes back to a time leading up to October 11, 1959, when the current church property was then owned by a man named Eddie Garver, a bi-vocational pastor who came to Yucca Valley in 1946 to plant a church. According to Frank Garske (the contractor who built Brownell Hall) the sculptor, Antone Martin, asked Pastor Eddie if he could place one of his statues on the property, and then another, and then another. Not too long after that (according to Garske) Martin tried to acquire the title to the property from Pastor Eddie. But before the artist could execute his plan, Pastor Eddie sold the property to the newly chartered Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley for $1. Martin then purchased the property adjacent to the church and relocated many of the sculptures to the present site of Desert Christ Park. Today, the church and Desert Christ Park have a wonderful, synergistic relationship.

Above all the buildings and statues and historical landmarks were the many people in this church who faithfully shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their neighbors and the community at large. Many individuals over the years came to Christ through Pastor Johnson or Will Gerrard or any number of others from this fellowship for whom sharing the love of Jesus was more than a passion. It was a way of life! Throughout our long history, God has richly blessed the faithful witness of His children at Living Hope Church Yucca Valley. Our witness for Christ is more important today than ever.


IMAD N. SHEHADEH is President and Senior Professor of Theology at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary, Amman, Jordan, which he founded in 1991. Dr Shehadeh earned his PhD from Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas, USA, and has carried out post-doctoral studies at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium, and the University of Edinburgh, UK. He has a wide-ranging preaching and teaching ministry including online and television series, and speaking at churches, seminaries and conferences. Dr Shehadeh has written a number of articles and books published in both English and Arabic.