Hope Community Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Mark Upton (Pastor of City Impact, founding pastor since 2002); Matt Ham (OP Site Pastor, Olde Providence campus, since 2008); multi-site (Cotswold, Olde Providence, South End, plus office)

Founded 2002

Denomination PCA

Service Times See website for current Sunday service times across multi-site locations

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website hopecommunity.com

Pastor Credentials Ham: MDiv Reformed Theological Seminary Charlotte (2008); BS The Citadel (football); former Clemson University strength and conditioning graduate assistant. Upton: founding pastor 2002; PCA TE.

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

PCA subscribes to Westminster Confession — Trinitarian Nicene orthodoxy.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Westminster Confession Chapter 1 — inerrancy and sole authority of Scripture.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not highlighted on the public staff page — verify directly.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Westminster sola fide; Reformed soteriology.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

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

PCA requires male-only ordination per Westminster Standards and BCO; complementarian.

PCA complementarian — male teaching/ruling elders per Westminster Standards + Book of Church Order.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Male teaching/ruling elders per PCA polity.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Reformed expository preaching is PCA norm.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Multi-site Charlotte witness; church planting orientation per Upton's role description.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

RED — current/recent senior pastors signed the 2020 Warhurst Protest (Matt Ham and Mark Upton per warhornmedia.com PCA hall of infamy list). Both remain on staff as of 2026-05-07 verification. Signing the Warhurst Protest signals soft posture toward the Revoice-camp on sexuality and identity. Two-signer alignment within a single multi-site congregation increases the discernment weight. Watch-item.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

PCA polity provides session/presbytery/GA accountability.

Strong

Assessment

Hope Community Church Charlotte is a PCA multi-site congregation. Founding pastor Mark Upton (since 2002) and OP Site Pastor Matt Ham (since 2008) both signed the 2020 Warhurst Protest. Two-signer alignment within the same congregation is a stronger discernment signal than a single-pastor flag. Doctrinal scores green per Westminster Confession; cultural score yellow.

#pca#warhurst-signer#needs-discernment#soft-progressive-flag#nc#north-carolina#charlotte#central-carolina-presbytery#multi-site#reformed#two-signer-congregation#reviewed-2026-05-07

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Pastor Signatures & Affiliations [Soft-progressive signatures]

Public statement signatures and organizational affiliations of this church's named pastors. "People is policy" — these are evidence-weighted signals about doctrinal trajectory, not the sole determinant of any rating.

Warhurst Protest (2020)

Matt Ham, Mark Upton

Source: warhornmedia.com — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Both Matt Ham and Mark Upton named on the December 2020 Warhurst Protest signer list. Both remain at Hope Community Church as of 2026-05-07. Multi-site campus addresses: Cotswold 7301 Sardis Road Charlotte NC 28270; Olde Providence 4418 Rea Road Charlotte NC 28226; South End 3021 Griffith Street Charlotte NC 28203.

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 hopecommunity.com/our-staff/
[2] Live source hopecommunity.com/dt_team/matt-ham/
[3] Live source hopecommunity.com/dt_team/mark-upton/
[4] Live source ccpca.net/churches/hope.htm
[5] Live source warhornmedia.com/2020/12/23/pca-hall-of-infamy-pastors-el…

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.