Our Story
The story of Hope Church begins with the story of God and his passionate love for us in Jesus.
Erik and Emma Thomson moved to the Valley in 2016 to run a Guest House. They loved the area and the people they met. As time passed, they sensed God was leading them to pray about a new Church in Aviemore, to give local folks in this growing area another chance to hear about and experience the love of Jesus. They spoke to friends from other Churches about this and were put in touch with the FIEC.
In Spring 2016, Erik attended an FIEC prayer day to seek God about his plans for Scotland and what part he wanted them to play. At this meeting, FIEC Scotland felt led to support this project. Also in attendance was a group from the Avery Baptist Association (a group of Churches in the Appalachian Mountains in America). They had come to Scotland after sensing God leading them to partner with Church planting work and felt this was what they were looking for.
With the FIEC and Avery Baptist Association behind the project, it started to look viable, yet there were still massive challenges. Over the next two years, God led many Churches and individuals from across the country to pray for and give to the project.
During this time, Kenny and Lesley Rogan worked for a Church in London. They loved their Church and the area they lived in but sensed that God was calling them back to Scotland. Kenny is from the Highlands and, during this period, felt increasingly burdened by the need for Highland folks to hear about and experience the love of Jesus through healthy local Churches. After prayerful discussions and taking lots of advice, in May 2018, they accepted the invitation to lead the Church Plant. It took a further year to raise funding and secure housing. Then in June 2019, the Rogans moved up.
After a couple of years of developing a Core Team to launch the Church and getting to know the area, we launched Hope Church in November 2021. It has been an exciting time of growing and welcoming new folks since then.
Our Partners
The idea for Hope Church Aviemore came from local folk seeing a need for another Church for the community. However, it has come into being with the support of many Churches (most of which in Scotland) and several organisations. We are currently members of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and Acts 29.
