WELCOME TO CHRIST HOPE ON THE WEB

I am Father Bill Hausen, Pastor. I was Ordained a Priest by John Cardinal Wright in 1965, for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. After 67 years in the Roman Catholic Church, (41 years as a “Roman” Catholic Priest) I became acutely aware, along with many confreres, that SPIRITUALITY is more important than following rules which are, very often, outdated, inhuman, and man-made. As is oft said, “Religion is for those who are afraid to go to hell, Spirituality is for those who have been there.” I’m one of the ones who has been there!

On May 2, 2004, “WE” began Christ Hope Church, in the Sewickley Country Inn. We now have our own New Home which we purchased two years ago- Located in Brighton Heights, about ten minutes from Heinz Field.  We Welcome all persons, of all faiths. We concentrate on the Spirituality of Agapic Loving… the 2000 year old tradition of Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament points to at least three definite aspects of what “spirituality” should entail:

  1. It is orientated to agapic loving.
  2. It is always interpersonal.
  3. It announces there will be suffering in this life.


So, the big question in spirituality seems to be:
“How can we humans come to love ourselves & our neighbor, imperfect as we may be, in the midst of suffering?”
(without denying the suffering.)

Spirituality is for those who seek peace in the midst of chaos, hope in the midst of despair, love in the midst of fear, faith in the midst of a scientific age…. without denying the chaos, the despair, the fear, or the science of the modern day. We grapple for Intellectual Integrity, above all. In the words of the Bard, “To thine own self be true, and it follows, as the night the day, thou canst not be false to any man.”

Therefore we care about:

  1. Divorced Persons, especially their remarriage.
  2. Persons of all Sexual Orientations.
  3. Women who want full stature and equality with men, NOW.
  4. Those who want to see Celibacy and Clerical Domination ended, now.
  5. Those who seek Intellectual Integrity, and, at the same time, a real and vibrant Faith.


Our Ritual is exciting and meaningful. It is modeled in a traditional way, but has been rewritten and adapted for all persons. No one, of any religious background, should be offended. All persons are welcome to Holy Communion, inclusively. General Absolution for sins is offered at every Liturgy.

We do not believe in Dogmatic Statements. There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. Our knowledge is merely confined within a certain tolerance. (confer Heisenberg and Planck on the “quantum”) We look with great reverence and openness of heart to Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, as our Main Teacher, but we also study and appreciate the Great Teachers of all the Great Religions of the World. We are, therefore, an eclectic,independent, and common sense community.

We run a “WE” program of Parishioners and People who attend. We are Positive, and spend little time on past resentments. We are Responsible, and are attracted by the Great Thinkers of the Ages who brought us out of darkness into a new wonderful light.

 

Our Foundation

We are a Non-Denominational Ecumenical Catholic.Community. We welcome all people, regardless of Race, Sex, Color, Religion, Sexual Orientation, or Nationality.

Most of us are “recovering” Roman Catholics.

All Present for Services are welcome to Holy Communion, inclusively.

Some of our Common Sense Thinking:

  1. We do not believe in the myth of Original Sin.  We begin with Original Blessing.
  2. We believe in contraception, and do not believe that it is a sin.
  3. We welcome all persons, inclusively, regardless of sexual orientation, race, belief or lack of belief. We especially  welcome agnostics or atheists.
  4. We include dialogue, and discussion in every Liturgy. We question everything in the tradition of Socrates.
  5. We believe in Evolution.
  6. We Welcome the GAY COMMUNITY.

The 5 World Religions

Fr. Bill Hausen appreciates and teaches the Wisdom of… Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These are considered “world religions” because they exist, in great numbers, on every continent. It may surprise some, but the common element of all 5 Religions is COMPASSION. So, we studied the history of each, but we are more interested in the “wisdom literature” of each. Whether we talk about God, Yahweh, Brahman, Allah, or the Eternal Spirit… we’re all talking about the same reality. It seems we get hung up on words, a lot. Knowledge is our destiny. Knowledge is our hope.

We, the Parishioners of Christ Hope Church, invite ALL PERSONS, WHO BELIEVE IN SELFLESS, AGAPIC LOVING, to join US in our effort to give some STRUCTURE to this great insight. We have made a good beginning, and we invite the Jewish Community, the Hindu Community, the Buddhist Community, the Islamic Community, the Protestant Community, the Catholic Community, and all Communities and Persons who want to unite with us, under the Banner and Theme of Agapic Loving. Forget all the Titles, and help us develop a new structure for All MANKIND, no matter what your background or experience. We are eager to go forward with a united message of agapic loving

The following is taken from DIGNITATIS HUMANAE…
THE DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (Vatican II):
It is through his conscience that man sees and recognizes the demands of the divine law. He is bound to follow this conscience faithfully in all his activity so that he may come to God, who is his last end. Therefore he must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience.” Ch.1, #3.

Christ Hope Church is an inclusive Faith Community, centered in the Eucharist, and the Agapic Love of Jesus, expressed therein. We do not impose particular “doctrines” or beliefs on anyone. We are most interested in loving, mature, interpersonal relationships.
Our emphasis is on Behavior, not Doctrine.

THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF SPIRITUALITY

  1. ACCEPTING THE IMPERFECT, INCOMPLETE WORLD, INTERNALLY. HUMAN BEINGS ARE CREATURES, NOT GODS. WE ARE LIMITED. Probably, the most basic Theological Statement is, “God is God, and we are not.” We are always restless.
  2. COMING TO SEE THE GOOD IN BEING HUMAN AND BEING LIMITED…. FINDING THE GOOD IN OURSELVES AND IN EACH OTHER, AND CAPITALIZING ON THE GOOD.
  3. BRINGING AGAPIC LOVE (unselfish love) TO THE SITUATIONS OF OUR LIVES, IMPERFECT AS THAT LOVE MAY BE.
  4. GRATEFUL PRAYER. WE DID NOTHING TO DESERVE ALL THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN US. None of us did one little thing to deserve even one breath of life. THEREFORE, THANKFULNESS.
Our Traditions

AGAPIC LOVE
Our Basic Theology and Spirituality is based on the 2000 year tradition of Jesus Christ, that God Is Love.

We believe that every Human Person is capable of loving, as Jesus loved…unselfishly or agapically. We, therefore, invite all persons who desire to grow along the lines of unselfish love in their INTERPERSONAL-RELATIONSHIPS.

SPIRITUALITY, IN OUR COMMUNITY, MEANS SHARING GOD’S LOVE WITH WHOM EVER WE ENCOUNTER NOW IN THIS WORLD THE BEST WAY WE CAN IMPERFECT AS THAT MAY BE. THE WORD “GOD’ MEANS LOVING OTHERS AS JESUS LOVED.

All Persons are welcome to our Communion Table, and for those who wish it, we have General Absolution at every Service.

We are persons from diverse backgrounds. We are POSITIVE and not interested in old battles. We too are searching for more meaning in our lives, in our Interpersonal Relationships.

So come around some Sunday and see what we are all about. We will, at least, give you a cup of coffee and a cookie.

About Our Theology

ABOUT CHRIST HOPE CHURCH’S THEOLOGY
John tells us that “God Is Love” (1John 4 v.7) St. John uses the Greek word “agape”, meaning selfless love. So let’s converse a bit about “Agape” and its meaning…. for on this “rock” of selfless love we are building our new Community.

  1. The word “agape”‘is a Greek word meaning “selfless love”.  Agapic Love is the energy within every human being, by birth… to go forth from self and share one’s self for the benefit of others, unconditionally… so as to bring about the growth in another…and, at the same time, experience God as the ground of such energy within one’s self.. with the hope of touching the same energy in the other, which also has God as its grounding. (try diagramming that one).
  2. Agapic Love builds on NATURE. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that ” God’s Grace builds on Nature.” Therefore to have some integration of one’s whole natural self is integral to agapic loving…spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and physically. It is important to at least be working on these issues. Progress, not perfection.
  3. Agapic Love is empathetic. This means to be sensitive both externally and internally, to another’s feelings. Empathy means to feel the feelings of the other person, without being “overcome” by them. Sympathetic is called for when you have not experienced the same situation.
  4. Agapic Love is being able to mirror the feelings and thoughts of another, without judgement.
  5. Agapic Love is being really present to another.
  6. Agapic Love is validating the feelings of another. One does not have to agree with another’s feelings, but another’s feeling are their’s…they own them.
  7. Agapic Love means honoring another’s map of the world, even though it may differ from yours.
  8. Agapic Love means psychically embracing the good in another and communicating it effectively. Love is not enough, it must be communicated in a way that the other person gets your message in a real way.
  9. Agapic Love means meeting the REAL needs of the other, especially the significant persons in one’s life. Another’s “wants” is another matter.
  10. Agapic Love elicits and gives permission for another to share feelings: past and present.
  11. Agapic Love attempts to help expand and nurture another’s map of the world..WHEN IT MAKES COMMON SENSE.
  12. Agapic Love means making another feel “special”.
  13. Agapic Love means that sometimes one must draw gentle boundaries and lines for another.
  14. Agapic Love means that you do not have “absolute” knowledge about your own beliefs. To quote Albert Einstein: “Do you think that in the bowels of your being that you could be wrong?”
  15. Agapic Love means that you are always a learner.
  16. Agapic Love asks for mutuality, self sacrifice, long suffering, and endurance.
  17. Agapic Love is being aware that quick results are not always forthcoming.
  18. Agapic Love means that, in the long run, it will ALWAYS produce good, even though you may never see its results.
  19. Agapic Love means that you give your positive energy to another without manipulating the outcome. ” I love you; take my love and run with it the way you want to run. I have no preconceived ideas about how you might take advantage of my love.”
  20. Agapic Love means seeking dialogue and feed-back.
  21. Agapic Love means allowing another to embrace the void and confusion of life.
  22. Agapic Love means helping another be creative in their own situation.
  23. Agapic Love means helping another dream about their possibilities and give them hope in continual “reinvention” of themselves.
  24. Agapic Love means aiding another get the help they need when you can’t do it.
  25. Agapic Love means helping other to “imagine.”
  26. Agapic Love means putting some hard work and labor into one’s relationships, especially the significant relationships.
  27. Agapic Love means being committed to one’s own personal growth and learning from mistakes.
  28. Agapic Love means being “vulnerable” and sharing one’s own “vulnerability” with others. This builds emotional intimacy.
  29. Agapic Love means helping another accept the limitations of being human. We are creatures, not gods.
  30. Agapic Love means proceeding slowly and gently in one’s relationships. Don’t move in on someone with a big bang, expecting a relation-ship to mature overnight.
  31. Agapic Love means: “I need you because I love you.” NOT : “I love you because I need you.”
  32. Agapic Love means that you concern yourself with YOUR capacity to love, not seeing yourself as an object just waiting “to be” loved. Love is a faculty to be learned and given away.
  33. Agapic Love means being aware of releasing another “from bondage”, not putting them “in more bondage”.
  34. Agapic Love is an art.
  35. Agapic Love means freeing another so that the other is, in turn, able to love freely and responsibly in response.

These definitions of Agapic Love are what we primarily talk about and share about at Christ Hope Church. We call it “God Talk”. Agapic Love talk is God talk. I suggest that we all need to grow and become conscious of the nature of God. The least wrong way to talk about God, the least incorrect way to talk about God, is that God Is Love. Do agapic love, and you do God. Want to find God in your life? Do agapic love. It is God who is doing the loving.

About Our Logo

About Our Logo
It represents the Eucharist, the Center of our Community Worship, with the Chalice and Host, which also represents The Risen Christ, with Christ’s arms outstretched.

At the base of the Chalice you will see the Diversity of mankind, gathered around the Eucharist, holding hands in Celebration of Unity for Prayer, Song, Hope & Love for all Peoples of the World.