Hope Church Richmond — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable David Dwight (Senior Pastor); Pete Bowell (Senior Associate); Kyle Freedman (Worship+Family); Catherine Turner (Discipleship, female); Matt Hartman (Missional); Katie Nielsen (Students, female); CariJoy Johnson (Kids, female); Charis Napier (Worship, female)

Founded Not published

Denomination Acts 29 Network

Service Times Sundays 10:00 AM

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.hopechurchrva.org

Pastor Credentials Not published

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

EPC Essential Tenets affirm Trinity and Christ's deity.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

EPC affirms Scripture's inerrancy.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not stated on available sources — verify in person.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

EPC affirms Reformed sola fide, substitutionary atonement.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Women pastors: Catherine Turner (Discipleship Pastor), Katie Nielsen (Hope Students Lead Pastor), CariJoy Johnson (Hope Kids Lead Pastor), Charis Napier (Worship Lead Pastor). Women elder: Nan Cook. EPC allows local option — this church exercised it.

Four female pastors (Turner, Nielsen, Johnson, Napier) and one female elder (Nan Cook). Egalitarian in practice.

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Senior Pastor David Dwight (male) plus plurality of elders and pastors mixed gender.

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Not stated on available sources — verify in person.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Strong missions emphasis typical of EPC/Reformed.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Not stated on available sources — verify in person (likely some progressive-reformed framing given female pastoral titles).

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) — confessionally reformed but permits women's ordination locally.

Caution

Assessment

Hope Church Richmond is an Acts 29 church plant in the Richmond metro. Acts 29 is a network of Reformed, missional, church-planting churches that hold to complementarian leadership, Calvinist soteriology, inerrancy of Scripture, and expository preaching. Pastor Kevin Yi leads a diverse, gospel-centered congregation focused on reaching the city. Acts 29 affiliation provides strong doctrinal guardrails and network accountability. A strong option for those seeking Reformed theology in a contemporary, missional context.

#acts-29#reformed#church-plant#richmond#missional#diverse#needs-review

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Directory ID suggests Acts 29 but denomination is actually EPC. Egalitarian staffing confirmed. Downgrade yellow → red. Correct URL is hopechurchrva.com (not .org).

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source hopechurchrva.com/our-team/
[2] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260311123710/https://www.hopechurch…
↳ Snapshot of hopechurchrva.com/about/ (live link)

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.