Elder Candidates Spring 2024
The following men have met with the Elders regularly for approximately a year. As part of the eldership process, and to ensure they are “above reproach” as a necessary qualification (1 Timothy 3:2), we are putting their names before the church for 30 days. If you have any hesitancies with Eric, Robert, or Sam moving forward to the role of Elder, please reach out to the Elders through the church office or after a Sunday service.
Please pray for the Lord's guidance in this process and for the Hammond, Doyle, and Thrall families.
We encourage you to read 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 to understand all the Biblical qualifications of elders.
ERIC HAMMOND
Joyce and I have been blessed to attend Hope since August 2007. We’ve been entrusted with three wonderful children: Maryann (16), Ezra (13) and Faith who is a very energetic 10-year-old. We are very thankful to be part of this faith community where the name of the Lord is lifted high through worship, prayer and the preaching of the Word.
I was born in Ghana and grew up with my maternal grandparents. My mother worked very hard as a single mother to provide for my brother and me but unfortunately succumbed to an illness in the United States and subsequently passed away when I was getting ready for high school. My mother’s passing left me with bitterness and lots of questions with no answers. I knew there was a God, but I didn’t think He cared. I saw God in the same light as my absent father until the gospel was explained to me. I was made aware of the gravity of my sin, my inability to save myself and my need for a Saviour. John 1:11-13 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of God”. I realized that the anger and bitterness I had toward my absentee father was ultimately toward God. I became acutely aware of my sin, prayed for forgiveness and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I subsequently attended a discipleship class (Faith Builder Class) and was baptized shortly after. In 2003, I moved to Canada to pursue higher education and was led to join the University Bible Fellowship (UBF), where I was introduced to the spiritual disciplines and Christian fellowship.
In 2006, Joyce and I were married, and we began attending Hope. We were greatly encouraged by the passionate preaching and teaching of God’s Word. The Lord created in me a hunger for His word and a desire to grow closer to Him. We were also placed in a small group where we got to experience the love and grace of God through doing life together with other believers, which grew us as a couple in our walk with the Lord. We’ve had the privilege to serve in children’s ministry together, attend and lead one of the discipleship classes offered by Hope Institute, and we currently lead a small group. The Lord also granted me the opportunity to go on medical missions to Haiti, Kenya and Zimbabwe where I got to see the love of God for the nations and the part we get to play in the spreading of the gospel. Over the past few months, the Lord has been growing in me a deeper love and care for His people. I’ve been sensing the call and desire to labour with those who shepherd His flock. With much prayer and affirmation from folks I serve with, I am encouraged to take this step of faith in obedience to His call. Keeping my eyes on the Chief Shepherd for His leadership, it is my heart's desire to serve in this way: “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith” (2 Corinthians 1:24).
ROB DOYLE
God called me out of darkness and into His marvellous light through the ministry of this church in 2007. Pastor Robbie preached a sermon from Nehemiah about the saving power of the Holy Spirit and I was brought to my knees. I can’t pretend that I was seeking salvation at the start of that day, but I knew by the end of it, I was forever changed.
My wife Jen and I were married in 2004, and our two children, Alexander and Lauren, were born within a handful of years. For as long as we’ve been in Christ, gospel-centred community has been a part of our Christian walk. It was modelled to us by our first group leaders who loved us, practically cared for us and exhorted us with God’s Word. We continue to see and seek to demonstrate the fruit of gospel-centred community by engaging in home groups, prayer groups, discipleship groups and prayerfully supporting the intentional care of our kids’ Hope youth groups.
I love seeing the power of God’s Word move in our midst as it is faithfully preached, taught and lived. As I reflect on what God is doing in my life, I am thankful for faithful men who act as iron sharpening iron. I am thankful to sit under sound teaching from the pulpit showing that God’s Word is active and living. And I am thankful to have had opportunities to teach God’s Word to faithful and expectant men who desire to be transformed by the Word. To Him be the glory in the church, forever.
SAM THRALL
I have the great privilege of being married to my best friend, Morgan, and being the undeserved father of five children, who brighten our lives: Phineas (9), Atticus (8), Beatrice (5), Magnus (4), and Florence (2).
I was born in Montreal and grew up in Oakville, in a family that loves Jesus and worships Him as Saviour and Lord. My parents began attending Hope in 2004 and this decision would have a seismic impact on my life. As an undergraduate student, God the Father, in His grace, called me to Himself and, by His Spirit, transformed my heart to see the beauty of His love for us in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In His rich mercy, a few months later, He also saved my wife-to-be, Morgan. It is through the ministry of Hope that we heard the gospel, responded in faith and repentance, and were baptized. The Body here has discipled us in our love for God and His people, and helped us grow in our knowledge of, and obedience to, His Word.
Our journey has led us from Oakville to Montreal to Toronto and, finally, to Hamilton, for the purpose of completing my medical training. During those years, we had rich and formative ministry experiences making disciples in urban church plants. As I began my work as a Geriatrician, we returned to Hope. Our hearts beat in unison with Hope’s focus on the unapologetic preaching and teaching of God’s Word and the focus on making fully formed Christ followers. Over the last few years, Morgan and I have been serving in the Twenties ministry. As Twenties small group leaders, we have learned the importance of brokenness, watchfulness, endurance, fervency, and prayer. We are passionate about seeing the next generation of young adults discipled to live all out for God’s glory.
The Lord has put a desire in my heart, as one of the sheep, to “guard the good deposit entrusted to [us]” (2 Timothy 1:14), “care for the church of God” (Acts 20:28), and “present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). My prayer for our church is that through patient endurance, rooted firmly in the Word, we would remain faithful witnesses to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ for generations to come. Our family has been the beneficiaries of grace upon grace from Hope Bible Church. I deeply love our church family and joyfully aspire to serve the Body in this way. Soli Deo Gloria!