History & Mission

  • Hills Community Church was formed in 1993 when members of St James Anglican Church, Mapua Uniting Church (Presbyterian and Methodist) and the Mapua Pentecostal Fellowship came together as an independent area church. In 1994 the Anglican Diocese of Nelson modified the boundaries of the Waimea Parish and Mapua was established as a Mission District.

    From then until 2003, Hills Community Church used two church buildings on opposite sides of Aranui Road, one on land owned by the Presbyterian Church and one (St James Church) owned by the Diocese. The Hills Community Church Trust (a registered charitable trust) was established in 2003 as the entity to own and manage HCC property and assets and to provide funds to enable ministry to the Mapua and Moutere Hills community. The new church building was then built in 2007 on the site formerly occupied by St James.

    HCC is led by a Minister, the HCC Trust, and Ministry leadership team.

  • HCC operates on the values of Hope, Compassion, and Courage. We live this out in four key elements of our own discipleship journey and together in our church life. We are called to:

    Worship - Grow - Serve - Go

  • We are called together to live deeper in worshipping God. At the heart of Hills Community church is this command “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

    We express this love by choosing to worship God, as our creator and sustainer, to honour him and to give him Glory. One of the ways we do this is in our corporate worship, but to grow deeper in worship is a journey for each of us. As we live deeper in worshiping together this leads us to seek to go deeper in living our lives according to the desire and heart of God. Our worship leads us to grow.

  • We are called to live deeper in being more like Christ. God’s heart for humanity is that we grow; becoming mature, ‘and attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’ (Ephesians 4:13) This is a lifelong process and as we seek to honour Christ in our lives, we are and shaped into his likeness. The first followers of Jesus were called disciples. In our life as followers of Christ, we are his disciples, growing deeper in his teaching, learning what it means to follow his example and allowing ourselves to be shaped into his character. One of the striking aspects of Jesus’ character is that he came to serve.

  • We are called together to love wider in serving one another, community and the world. ‘The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.’ (Matthew 20:28) In our life together, we grow deeper in being more like Christ through serving one another. Jesus says that the second great commandment is to ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39) We express this love for one another, in serving. The apostle Peter wrote: ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.’ (1 Peter 4:10) God calls us together to serve one another with the many gifts and skills that God has given his Body. It is in serving one another that we continue to grow and in serving one another that we live out what it means to worship, for when we serve we are serving Christ. As a church we seek to serve one another, in caring for one another, we seek to serve our community in the outward facing ministries we share in, and we seek to serve the world in supporting overseas mission and our prayer life.

  • ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

    Not all of us are called to go to the ends of the earth, but all of us are called to ‘go’. Each one of us has a part in joining Christ in his mission to the world, of making disciples, of living out and sharing the teaching of Jesus, and serving one another.

  • We are a community-based church encompassing a spectrum of Christian beliefs and traditions unified and firmly grounded in the basic tenets of the Christian faith. HCC affirms the historic Apostolic and Nicene Creeds.

    The Trinity

    We believe in the threefold nature of God described in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

    God (Father)

    We believe in one God, who created the world and all that is in it. We believe that God is sovereign; that is, God is the ruler of the universe. We believe that God is loving and that we can experience God’s love and grace.

    Jesus

    We believe that Jesus is divine, He is the Son of God. He became human; lived as a man, died when he was crucified and was raised from the dead. We believe that the risen Christ lives today. We believe that Jesus is our Saviour and that through His death on the cross, and resurrection we receive forgiveness of sins and abundant life. We believe that Jesus is our Lord and that we are called to pattern our lives after Him. We believe Jesus will return in power and glory, to fully restore his creation, and bring eternal life for all who belong to him.

    The Holy Spirit

    We believe that the Holy Spirit is God with us. We believe that the Holy Spirit comforts us when we are in need and convicts us when we stray from God. We believe that the Holy Spirit awakens us to God’s will and empowers us to live obediently.

    People

    We believe that God created all people in his image to live in relationship with Him, each other, and creation. Through sin these relationships have been broken. We are unable to reconnect to God by our efforts alone. We believe God has given us freedom of choice to accept or reject a relationship with him. As a loving Father His great desire is to restore these broken relationships and he invites all people to respond to his love.

    The Church

    We believe that the church is the body of Christ continuing His mission and ministry in the world today through self-giving love and service. We believe God calls the church to make disciples of Jesus Christ, to worship God and to support those who participate in its life as they grow in faith.

    The Bible

    We believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word and is the primary authority for our faith and practice.

    Sacraments

    We believe that Christ left two sacraments for his Church to keep, the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. The Lord’s Supper symbolises His sacrifice for all people on the cross, Baptism represents new birth, and symbolises Christ’s resurrection. We celebrate all forms of baptism for both infants and adults. We practice “open Communion,” celebrating with both grape juice and wine and welcoming all who love Christ, repent of their sin, and seek to live in peace with one another.

    Apostolic Creed

    I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
    I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

    Nicene Creed

    We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
    We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, and has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.