New Heights Church - Central Vancouver Campus

Lindsay

Update: I continue to have issues with this church. Our small group randomly decided to start having animals brought to group. The leaders of the marriage counseling group we joined said they were "previously married." These leaders also threw my partner and I publicly under the bus for enrolling late. Needless to say, we left. The worship hasn't changed, the leadership is still not accessible, and the small groups are focused on hanging out, not discipleship. This is a great church for the new believer. I just don't think this church will challenge the faithful, or offer opportunities for mental health assistance. We really just need a married couple to mentor us, but that isn't offered and there is no formal way to request someone in the church provide us any guidance during life crises. But hey, they have pizza parties and dog hangouts I guess. Original: I have attended New Heights for over 13 years. I have volunteered with the church, gone on trips, attended weekly worship, been involved in small groups, church LAN parties, and book groups. I have really struggled to find a place here. I have made many friends who have come and gone. David Whiting is an honest, Biblical pastor who guides this church in a good direction. But the worship is very modern and hard for me to get engaged with. I am in my mid-20's and despite my young age, find this contemporary worship very difficult to truly connect to Jesus. The lights are turned off completely and the pickups are so loud, it might as well not be corporate worship at all. I can't hear myself or other members sing. If I wanted to write down a song lyric, I couldn't see. If I wanted to pull out my Bible during this time, I couldn't read. If I wanted to smile at the other people seated near me, they wouldn't know I was there. And of course you have to yell directly into your family member's ear if something must be said during worship. I know the worship team works very hard to put on many services and I can only imagine the challenges they encounter- please do not read this criticism as angry or resentful... but I feel like this style of worship is seeker-sensitive. It can feel very consumerist. All traditional hymns are long, long gone here. Any signs of our 2,000+ year old faith or ancestors have been filtered out, and the worship is diluted down to Hillsong and other emotional crescendos with less theological depth. Sometimes I get the "my boyfriend Jesus" vibe from the worship selections. When Matt Hannon retired we were told the church would be making changes to help encourage more people to come. I do not believe that worship is the way to evangelize, however. Worship is a believer's response to Christ's work in their life. New Heights is filling seats with new believers, not making disciples. It feels as though attendees are drinking the milk of the Word- depend on the hype and emotional high of the overwhelming sensory experience of the worship here- rather than God-fearing mature believers who can actually transform our culture. I know several couples who denounced their Protestant faiths and converted to Catholicism because they felt as though it was the only church that provided a traditional approach to worship. I'm not asking for every song to be hymns. I am just trying to give honest feedback about the redundancy of lyrics and repetitive song choices. If the occsional gospel song or gentle piano hymn was interjected throughout, the church could engage various groups.

Jeremy O'Neill

Friendly, great for new to church people, and amazing kids ministry.

Theresa Marie

First time here. Sweetest, kind, welcoming church! Went to the adult Sunday school social with my roommate. Lots of laughter & sweet treats. Thought it was a potluck so I made potato salad. 😋

John Casteel

Such a wonderful church and welcoming atmosphere. We moved to Vancouver 7 years ago and needed to find our new church. We searched around and read reviews. We had a list of several we were going to check out. New Heights was the first on the list. Needless to say, we felt at home from the beginning and ended up not checking anybody the others out.