Newhope Church Durham — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Dr. Benji Kelley (Founding/Lead Pastor, since 2002)

Founded See website

Denomination Wesleyan Church

Service Times Sunday morning (see website)

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.newhopechurchnc.org

Pastor Credentials See website

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Trinitarian, gospel-affirming church.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Verify inerrancy stance.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Verify men's ministry.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Wesleyan-Arminian; falls outside Reformed/sola-fide baptist framing but is historically evangelical.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

The Wesleyan Church ordains women and endorses female pastors/elders; newhope Church affiliation confirmed per wesleyan.life and wesleyan.org. Red per rubric.

Wesleyan denomination ordains women

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Verify elder/pastor structure.

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Verify expository vs topical.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Verify Great Commission focus.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Verify cultural alignment.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

The Wesleyan Church is a Holiness-tradition egalitarian denomination, not confessional Reformed/Baptist; per rubric non-accountability-structure pattern (egalitarian denom mislabeled non-denom).

WARNING!

Assessment

Newhope Church, Durham, NC — #5 fastest-growing Wesleyan church. Rev. Benji Kelley. Main campus Durham + 7 NC sites + Columbia SC + Kenya + Haiti.

#wesleyan#north-carolina#durham#multisite#fastest-growing

MOOP Engagement Tracker

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

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Known rubric pattern: non-denom label on an egalitarian Wesleyan/Nazarene church = red on gender.

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 wesleyan.life/newhope
[2] Live source wesleyan.org/newhope-celebrates-ten-years-472
[3] Live source benjikelley.com/about/

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.