1.4 Million Reasons
Calgary, Alberta, Canada is home to around 1.5 million people, 95% of whom don't know Jesus or have a church to call home. So, there are 1.425 million reasons why we ask you to pray, come and give as we seek to make disciples, develop leaders and plant churches in Calgary.
We've created this webpage to help our partners learn about us and our ministry, stay informed on what is happening and discover ways to join in what God is doing in Calgary! Without our amazing, generous partners, we could not do the work God has called us to in Calgary. Thank you for being willing to let God use you and your church in powerful ways to make disciples and plant churches in our city!
This webpage serves as a hub for you to know how to pray for us and the ministry, view details for planning a mission trip and give financially to support our ministry endeavours.
If you're not one of our current partners but are interested in partnering with us to reach Calgary with the gospel, we'd love to start a conversation! Start with viewing our Partner's Guide and then let's schedule a video call to connect.
Quick Links
Go straight to the parts of this site you're interested in.
2023 Annual Report
Download our latest annual report to see what God has been up to in Calgary this last year.
Our Story
Dustin and Jill Conner moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada from Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 2017 to plant their lives, the gospel and churches in Calgary. Many people ask us why we chose Calgary but really, it chose us! God answered our prayer to take us to a city that was at least 90% unchurched and used a gentleman named Mark who invited us on a trip to Calgary, to make it clear that our calling was to move here to help multiply disciples, leaders and churches across Calgary.
We originally helped plant Hope Church in September 2018 through the North American Mission Board, Calvary Baptist Church of Winston-Salem NC and Tapestry Church of Cochrane AB. In the fall of 2022, Hope Church merged with Northern Hills Church (a local sister church similar in mission and size ) and have relaunched as Hope Hills Church.
Now we are asking you and your church to consider being a part of what God is doing here as we begin the next chapter of multiplying disciples, leaders and churches in Calgary!
Our Family
Dustin, Jill, Kirk (9), Jane (5)
Our Info
Birthdays
Dustin – August 6
Jill – October 28
Kirk – May 30
Jane – August 22
Contact
dustin@hopeforcalgary.ca
403-690-5253
Mailing Address
381 Nolanfield Wy NW
Calgary, AB T3R0L9
Canada
Calgary
Our City
Metro Calgary is home to over 1.5 million people and growing. Calgary is a young, diverse city with a median age of 37.6, more than 140 languages spoken and over 240 unique ethnic origins. The City’s motto is “everyone is welcome to be part of the energy.”
Spirituality
Over 33% of Calgarians identify as non-religious and Islam is the fastest growing religion. It is estimated by our denomination’s research team that about 95% of Calgarians do not have a personal relationship with Jesus or a local church they call home.
Our Community
Our church and our home is located in a new development area called Symons Valley. It is home to over 50,000 people (and growing) in a 5.5 square mile area with only a few evangelical churches nearby. With our recent church merger, we also focus ministry efforts in the Northern Hills area of Calgary which is home to over 80,000 with few churches present as well.
Our Vision
Two new developments (Glacier Ridge and Keystone Hills) have started since we’ve lived here that will add another 100,000+ people to our area over the next 10-20 years. Our vision is to help every person in every place—starting in our part of NW Calgary—discover hope in Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel, making more disciples, raising up leaders, caring for hurting people, starting new small groups and planting more churches.
Our Progress
2018: Started Hope Church and the Aspen Church Planting Network with Tapestry Church.
2019-2020: Helped plant 3 new churches in the Calgary area out of the Aspen Network.
2022: Merged with Northern Hills Church and relaunched our church plant as Hope Hills Church. Our relaunched church has grown from just over 50 to almost 100 since October 2022. Also helped start the Hope Care Centre from within the Aspen Network and led by one of our church leaders, Jennifer Holmes.
2023: Adopted and invested in the Sage Chapel house church network in our community and helped them start meeting on Sundays in a space we previously ministered in. Started a cohort of 4 future church planters within the Aspen Network to help them begin their journey of church planting. One of these, Nokomis Gregory, is a leader at Hope Hills that we intend to send out to plant in our community in 2025/26. Currently, the Aspen Network has 3 new church plants launching in 2024.
Ways to partner with us
We ask churches, networks and individuals to consider partnering with us by Praying, Coming and Giving. Knowing that each church may not be able to partner in all three areas, we simply ask churches to consider the best way to partner at this time and be open to other avenues of partnership. We view partnership like a pyramid. Prayer is the baseline foundation that holds up the two sides of coming and giving. Together, these three form a great partnership relationship for helping start and sustain new church plants like ours.
Pray
Sign up for our email newsletters to know how to pray for our family, Hope Hills Church, and our lost friends in Calgary. We also provide partner churches with Prayer Cards and a bulletin insert with QR code to sign up.
Come
Come alone or as a team for a Week on Mission to help us connect with even more of our neighbours and form gospel relationships with them.! A mission trip to Calgary typically costs between $1,500-1,800 USD.
Give
Until our church plant becomes self-supporting, we depend on outside financial partners to sustain and grow our ministry. Currently, we are raising funds to start a counseling centre and to develop leaders and church planting team members.
Bringing a Mission Team
We love hosting mission teams! Without them, we would not have been able to plant our church and reach as many people as we have. Planning a mission trip is a lot of work but we want to make the steps as simple as possible for you.
1. View trip opportunities
Scroll down and view the mission trip opportunities we have planned and see which might work best for you. We’ll discuss all the details for each week in our first call.
2. Schedule a Video call
After you’ve checked out the mission trip dates, we’d like to have a Google Meet video call with you so we can get to know one another better and discuss which opportunity might be the best fit for your team.
3. Fill out our planning form
The last step is to fill out a simple planning form that lets us start the conversation with you regarding logistics and details for you or your church to come for a week on mission! The form gives us all the details we need to begin planning a trip with you.
2024 Mission Trip Opportunities
We’re hosting our first ever care and counselling conference through the Hope Care Centre we helped start and Dr. Gary Chapman of Five Love Languages will be our keynote speaker. Our goal is to welcome 500 attendees and focus on relationships and mental health to serve both Christians and non-Christians in our city. A mission team would help us run the Saturday event: setup/tear-down, registration, food service, door greeting and general support for attendees. Worship and a quick trip to the mountains will be on Sunday.
The conference day is Saturday May 18. Teams will arrive on Thursday May 16, help with prep on May 17, help with the conference on May 18, worship at Hope Hills May 19 (with Dr. Chapman preaching), tour Calgary and the Rockies May 20 and depart May 21.
View this mission trip’s Week on Mission Guide to access:
- Why Mission Teams Are Essential For Us
- Trip Schedule & Agenda
- Event & Role Descriptions
- Cost Calculator
- What to Bring
- Border Crossing Guide
- Promotional Materials
- Lodging, Transportation and Food Guides
- Team Leader Checklist
- Fun Outings Options
During the Calgary Stampede, our church partners with local organizations such as community associations and retirement residences to help them host their Stampede BBQs or pancake breakfasts. Typically, we bring bounce houses, equipment and volunteers. Your team will help us run stations such as food prep, bounce houses, face painting, games and more at 5-6 Stampede events.
View this mission trip’s Week on Mission Guide to access:
- Why Mission Teams Are Essential For Us
- Trip Schedule & Agenda
- Event & Role Descriptions
- Cost Calculator
- What to Bring
- Border Crossing Guide
- Promotional Materials
- Lodging, Transportation and Food Guides
- Team Leader Checklist
- Fun Outings Options
For the last few summers, we hosted 2 weeks of kids camps and each was a different type of camp—Soccer and a VBS-style camp we called KidsFest Camp. In 2024, we’re combining the two and hosting just one longer day camp in one location. Our team thinks this will help us do more targeted, intentional evangelism and discipleship with the kids. We’ll host it each day at our Sunday location (a local school) having both indoor and outdoor stations. Activities include crafts, creative stations, group games, sports stations (soccer, baseball, basketball), Bible story time and more! We’ll finish the week with our annual Kite Festival on Thursday to connect with the families and community. Mission Team members help run the various stations for kids and start gospel conversations that we can build upon afterwards. View unique team member roles below in the FAQ section.
View this mission trip’s Week on Mission Guide to access:
- Why Mission Teams Are Essential For Us
- Trip Schedule & Agenda
- Event & Role Descriptions
- Cost Calculator
- What to Bring
- Border Crossing Guide
- Promotional Materials
- Lodging, Transportation and Food Guides
- Team Leader Checklist
- Fun Outings Options
We have several church plants we are working with to help them with kids camps and community events. A team coming this week will help one of our plants run the camp we did the week before. Same format, same equipment…just different planter and church plant. Activities include crafts, creative stations, group games, sports stations (soccer, baseball, basketball), Bible story time and more! We’ll finish each day with a session for parents to join in on the fun so we can get time and conversations with them as well. Mission Team members help run the various stations for kids and start gospel conversations that we can build upon afterwards. View unique team member roles below in the FAQ section.
View this mission trip’s Week on Mission Guide to access:
- Why Mission Teams Are Essential For Us
- Trip Schedule & Agenda
- Event & Role Descriptions
- Cost Calculator
- What to Bring
- Border Crossing Guide
- Promotional Materials
- Lodging, Transportation and Food Guides
- Team Leader Checklist
- Fun Outings Options
Mission Trip FAQs
We host both kids camps and community events and each have many roles and responsibilities for our mission team members. You don’t have to be a kite expert to help kids decorate a kite and you don’t have to be a soccer coach to help with our soccer camp. We only ask that you be available, teachable and flexible. Each of our camps and events require setup/packup support from mission team members and “stations” that need volunteers to man.
At every camp and event, we have these roles:
- Registration Table Hosts to check-in kids
- Floaters to assist where needed and help with non-emergency situations
- Conversationalists whose role is to connect with parents, start gospel conversations with them and then connect them with one of our church leaders for further conversation
- Food Service Coordinators to prepare beverages and snacks for event attendees and pass out snacks to kids during camp story time break
SOCCER CAMPS
- Station Coaches to explain and lead kids through drills (some soccer knowledge helpful!)
- Team Coaches & Assistants who are given a group of 10-15 kids to keep together and guide to each drill station (no soccer knowledge needed since this role focuses on leading and shepherding kids to and at stations)
- Storytellers to act out or read the Bible story to kids during snack time
- Timekeepers to keep station rotations going smoothly
KIDSFEST DAY CAMPS
- Station Hosts for crafts, group games, creative stations, and other activity stations we have setup
- Storytellers to act out or read the Bible story to kids at the story station
COMMUNITY EVENTS
- Setup and Packup Support for getting equipment off the trailer and setup on-site
- Fun Station Hosts for bounce houses, food service, face painting, and various fun activity stations (think manning a carnival-type game station). These vary at each event and are simple to run. If you have a unique talent like balloon animals, we’ll create a station for you!
- Hope Hills Info Table Hosts to connect with event participants and distribute information about our church
- Floaters to assist the organization’s staff we are helping needs to run a successful event
U.S. travellers only need a valid passport to enter Canada. No extra visas are required.
At the moment, there are NO vaccine, covid testing or other related requirements to enter Canada. Those were lifted fall of 2022. Travellers only need a valid passport from their country to enter Canada.
With airfare, lodging, ground transportation, food and other expenses, the average cost per person for a weeklong mission trip is typically between $1,600-2,000 USD. Airfare will be your most variable cost. Keep in mind the USD to CAD exchange rates. We do send Team Leaders a “Cost Calculator” once we get into planning a trip.
There are 3 options we typically recommend for teams. Each option varies on size and desire of the team.
- Large Teams (12+): SAIT is a local university that uses its dormitory as a summer residence center. They can accommodate teams of any size. Cost averages between $45-60/night/person. You will have a kitchen in your suite and access to larger meeting rooms. SAIT is located about 20 minutes from our community. To begin booking, visit their website and fill out the Group Reservation Request and they will walk you through the process.
- Medium Size Teams (6-12): An Airbnb or Vrbo is a great option for smaller teams under 12 people since your team can stay right in our community during the week and have your own kitchen and team meeting space. Cost averages to about $50-75/person/night and we have air mattresses your team can borrow. Go to the Airbnb or Vrbo website and search “Northwest Calgary” or our postal code “T3R0L9” to find a place near our community. Our family lives in Nolan Hill.
- Small (2-6) or Medium Teams: Church member homes are a great option for teams wanting to make more personal connections with our members. We do have a few families who have finished basements for team members of the same gender to share. A Medium size team may have to combine members’ homes with an Airbnb nearby.
Most of our mission teams come in the summer. Daytime temperatures average 75°-85°F with it getting to 40°-60° during the night. Our camps at the end of July can get hot during the afternoon and we do not have humidity!
- Bring something long sleeves (a sweatshirt, hoodie or fleece) since mornings and evenings can be a little chilly (even in July!).
- Pack clothes appropriate for activities that you’re helping with (normal outdoor activewear for summer camps). Church dress is casual.
Yes! We have youth groups and families with young kids come all the time! Minors under age 18 must have a notarized letter signed by BOTH parents/guardians giving authority for the child to travel into Canada. If you have team members under the age of 18, please refer to Canada’s regulations for Minor Children Travelling to Canada and be sure the Team Leader or other adult given responsibility for the minor has the required documentation with them at the border.
We recommend all mission team members acquire travelers insurance through a group such as the Missionary Travel Association to protect you from an unexpected medical emergency. This is not required to come to Canada or to serve with Hope Hills Church, but it is smart to have in case of an emergency. View their website to see if this is the right fit for you.
Events and camp weeks have slightly different agendas but a lot of similar parts.
CAMP WEEKS
- Day 1 (Sat): Arrive
- Day 2 (Sun): Worship at Hope Hills and group orientation
- Days 3-6 (Mon-Thurs): Run camps during the day and fun outings and dinners with our team in the evenings
- Day 7 (Fri): trip to the Rocky Mountains (Lake Louise, Moraine Lake & Banff)
- Day 8 (Sat): Depart
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Typically, the mission team has a similar agenda to our camp weeks but in fewer days:
- Day 1: Arrive
- Day 2-3: Prepare for and run event
- Day 4: trip to the Rocky Mountains (Lake Louise, Moraine Lake & Banff)
- Day 5: Depart
Some events may require an extra day added for preparation for the event.
Let's Start Planning!
After you've checked out all the details, we'd love to start the conversation about bringing a team.
Current Financial Needs
Multiplication, not maintenance, is our goal. We want to reach more of our neighbours with the gospel and start more churches in our area. There are three key initiatives we ask that you consider investing financially as we pursue financial sustainability.
After successfully merging and relaunching Hope Hills Church in October 2022, we have nearly doubled in size as a church in less than a year. This growth is exciting! We are praying about adding a part-time staff person in 2024 to serve as a Ministries Coordinator to keep all areas of ministry operating well so we can keep making disciples and developing leaders.
To reach more of Calgary with the gospel, we need more God-called and well-equipped leaders who come from within our church, our city and from our US and International Partners like you. LeadersPath is our new leadership development initiative to identify, train and send out church planting teams from within Hope Hills Church into new community developments that have little to no gospel presence and no local church meeting in it. Please consider a one-time gift or set up a recurring donation.
One thing the pandemic brought to light for our church was the disciple-making opportunity found in providing mental health care for our unchurched community. In the fall of 2022, we helped start the Hope Care Centre in collaboration with other churches in the Aspen Church Planting Network. This ministry is led by one of Hope Hills’ members, Jen Holmes. Visit hopehills.church/care for more details. We are raising funds to support the centre until it is self-sustaining.
Downloads
We want to help make it easy to share our story with your church and promote your mission trips to Calgary!
The Partner Guide will help you and your missions committee/team learn more about our city, our family and our church planting efforts here in Calgary. The Promotional Images and Slide Backgrounds are for you to download to create your own promotional materials for your trips and prayer initiatives.
Feel free to download, print and share!
Affiliations
We are a highly collaborative church that partners with several organizations and networks to help give every man, woman and child multiple opportunities to see, hear and respond to the gospel in our city, our country and around the world.
U.S. Sending Church
Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC is our sending church that had the original vision of helping plant many new churches in Calgary. We’re honoured to be sent out by them!
Local Sending Church
Tapestry Church took us in and developed and cared for us in our first 18 months in Calgary before launching the church. We continue to collaborate with Tapestry through the Aspen Network to develop local leaders and plant local churches.
Local Network
We helped form the Aspen Network in 2018 in partnership with Tapestry Church to increase capacity to make disciples, develop leaders and multiply more churches in Calgary.
Church Planting Organization
Our church was started through the assistance and resources of the SEND Network of the North American Mission Board.
Denomination
We cooperate with and are denominationally affiliated with the Canadian National Baptist Convention—a sister convention to the Southern Baptist Convention in the U.S.
Local & Global Missions
We work alongside Lifeline Christian Mission for both our local and global relief efforts.
Network Partner
Our churches merging strengthened our partnership with the ICPA who focuses on planting disciple-making churches in every community throughout the intermountain West of North America (Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Easter Orgeon, Eastern Washington and Alberta, Canada).
Camp Okotoks Foundation
Believing in the value of kids camps for evangelism and discipleship, the Camp Okotoks Foundation in southern Alberta has helped fund our summer kids camps and outreach events since 2018.
Photo Gallery
Feel free to download and use for your own graphic designs.
