Historical Sketch: New Hope Christian Fellowship*

In 1990 a group from Kelowna Gospel Fellowship began to plan for a church plant in the Glenmore Valley area of Kelowna. In 1992 the Glenmore Christian Fellowship was formed. The church plant, led by Ron & Marlene Daku, was a joint project of Kelowna Gospel Fellowship and the Mission/Service Committee (later known as the Evangelism and Church Development Committee [ECDC]) of the Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia. The congregation joined the conference on June 12, 1992.

Initially, the group held public services in the Okanagan Jewish Community Centre in Kelowna. The goal was to attract people from the Glenmore Valley area of Kelowna, but most of those attending the congregation came from other areas of the city. As a result, the congregation moved to the German Canadian Harmonie Club in Kelowna and changed its name to New Hope Christian Fellowship in 1993-94.

The congregation numbered around 40-50, with generally younger families. One of the members of the congregation worked with individuals who were mentally disabled, and this became one of the ministry foci of the congregation. The church followed the cell group model with a strong emphasis on leadership training.

Ron Daku resigned as pastor in consultation with ECDC in the summer of 1996 and relocated to Abbotsford. The church was lay-led until spring 1998 when it closed for a number of reasons. Those members that remained relocated to other churches in Kelowna.