Our History

Hope Chapel Colorado Springs began as a church plant in 1993. Scott and Sarah Dontanville left Los Angeles, California and moved their family to Colorado.

On Easter Sunday, 1994, we rented some space at Explorer Elementary School where we began our first public service. Every Sunday involved a lot of setting up and tearing down equipment but a core team grew to a size which prepared us for our own space.  

Within three years God provided a new location in a storefront near the corner of Montebello and Academy. All hands on deck were needed for a remodel and God abundantly provided the resources.

At this point in our history Hope Chapel was a part of a large denomination and was pastor-led... yet God was on the move and His winds of change began to blow. 

During the next several years, the church’s doctrinal beliefs, denominational affiliation, leadership structure and even our Sunday worship gatherings underwent significant change and refinement.

Doctrinally, our understanding of God's grace gradually enlarged our belief in God's sovereignty, to the point of where we now call ourselves "essentially reformed."

These changes in beliefs resulted in a very different Sunday morning worship service, transitioning from a "coffee-house" setting with topical sermons to a more structured worship service with expository preaching.

As a result of many of the changes in our beliefs, the overseers of the denomination we were then a part of recognized our growing differences and graciously allowed us to leave. We are now an independent non-denominational church.

Our leadership model also transitioned from a pastor-led church to a plurality of elders in 2007.

Hope Chapel is now a church comprised of about 50 families from around the front-range area. We currently have four elders who share the responsibilities of pastoral oversight and teaching; and four deacons who share the responsibilities of the practical care of our members.

We continue to enjoy a powerful time of worship that is marked by 1) the passionate singing of songs and hymns, both traditional and modern, 2) weekly times of rich prayer, reflection and communion, 3) the sound exposition of the Word of God and 4) close-knit fellowship.

We truly see ourselves as a family that expresses Christ's love and care for one another.

Our ultimate mission is to bring glory to God through the transforming of lives by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are many opportunities that lay ahead for Hope Chapel. Our leaders gather regularly to discuss how we might make the most of those opportunities and to determine our direction in the future. Our hope is that we continue to grow spiritually as a Body so that we will exemplify our values. We want to rely more on God’s Word so that we become more Gospel-centered in all that we do. We also are striving for a stronger biblical connection of those both within and outside of our Body.

• Inward Community

The medical, social, and political landscape in which we find ourselves calls for extraordinary care for those within the body of Christ. Everyone has been impacted and many are in need of additional physical and/or spiritual attention during this time. Our vision is for the church to care for the church, families ministering to families, individuals providing spiritual and physical support to other individuals; that our local body of believers might be encouraged, spiritually built-up and united together in the love of Christ.

• Outward Community

The present landscape also presents abundant opportunity for the church to minister in the broader community of Colorado Springs and beyond. Many doors have been opened to further spread the Gospel to many of the lost in this community. Therefore our vision is also to equip our members to minister to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those outside of our church walls so that the world may know and be greatly impacted by the truth and beauty of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.