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Elders
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I am originally from Tennessee but moved to northern Virginia for college and never left, staying for graduate school in DC and various jobs with the federal government and the private sector. My wife, Rebekah, and I are blessed with five kids--four boys, and one girl--who keep us quite busy and exhausted and full of joy. Before having kids, we enjoyed traveling, internationally, if possible; some of our favorite memories are exploring Switzerland and attending the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. I also very much enjoy reading (or listening to audiobooks, now that I have kids and a long commute), especially good biographies or histories and the occasional novel.
As an elder, I particularly enjoy leading worship; it is a blessing to be able to speak with and for those assembled in prayer and in praise to God. This year, I'm also serving as the clerk of session, which really just involves keeping meeting records and ensuring that any pending "business" items are addressed during the regular meetings of the elders.
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I work in Information technology as a technical trainer, which means I teach people how to use specific computer programs more efficiently and effectively. In my work I’ve traveled the world and my favorite places include Phnom Penh, Frankfurt, and Buenos Aires.
I grew up in Virginia Beach and earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from George Mason University where I return frequently for basketball games. I also enjoy watching football, baseball, and hockey on TV. I’ve been married to Deborah since May 1997 and have three children.
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I was born and raised in Cincinnati by two loving Christian parents. I moved to the east coast in 2007 to take a job with a manufacturing company, and I’m serving as President of that company fifteen years later. I’ve been married to Julie for ten years and she has changed my life for the better, and beyond measure. We have two delightful children.
When we began attending Bethel just after we were married, we were soon blessed with spiritual growth at a rate we had never before experienced. We learned what effective discipleship looks like in our relationship with Chip and Donna Hammond and many other members at Bethel. Serving as an elder, my hope and prayer is that God will enable me to shepherd others similarly.
My humble suggestion to anyone visiting Bethel, or any new members, is to “dive in” and get involved, so that you can get to know folks outside of the church walls and build the bonds of fellowship. Spiritual growth can accelerate rapidly through relationships with other believers.
I hope to meet you at Bethel, as I always enjoy meeting new people. If you get me started on topics of family, fishing, travel, golf or music, I apologize in advance if I ramble on too long!
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Before his retirement Elder Glenn Taylor faithfully served Bethel Church for many years. While Glenn no longer actively serves on the session, he still helps and contributes to the church in many ways. For his many faithful years the congregation has designated Glenn as Elder Emeritus.
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Alan Aubel and his wife Annette have been members at Bethel for decades. He has served the church many ways including prayer, counseling, exhorting the congregation in the pastor's absence, and teaching. In 2019 he retired from being an active elder and was given the honorary emeritus designation.
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For more than twenty-five years of ministry, I’ve tried to use the skills and interests God created in me to meet others with the hope found in the love of God in Christ.
My years-long study of Tae Kwon Do and other martial arts lead to a father-son spiritual and physical self-defense program for the church that drew up to 100 participants from three states per season. More recently I’ve renewed my interest in drums and jazz, hosting monthly jazz jams for Loudoun Musicians and getting involved in the local music scene.
I’ve been incredibly privilege and blessed to have had a chance to serve as chaplain for the Leesburg Police Department, and I currently teach Greek at the Loudoun Classical School, and am a senior teaching fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute.
Years ago, I was asked what advice I’d give to a young pastor just starting out. I said, “love people, help as much as you can, and try to stay out of Jesus’ way.”
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Deacons
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Our Pastor
His friends – and that’s about everyone – call him Chip, but Bethel’s pastor was born George C. Hammond in a New Jersey suburb across from New York City. His family sometimes went to a Roman Catholic Church, but the message never took hold. By age 12, Chip decided he was an atheist.
Finding faith
At 16, Chip realized that if there is no God, there’s no way to say what’s right or wrong. Basically, everything is OK if you don’t get caught; Certain things may be unacceptable to society, but if there is no God they can’t really be “wrong” (or “right”). By the time Chip was 18, he was both exhilarated and frightened by the implications of “if there is no God.” That’s an enormous “if.” What if there is a God?
In God’s good plan, that fall Chip enrolled at William Paterson University and took the required introduction to philosophy course. The class was organized around one question: “Does God exist?” To answer this question, students read the works of philosophers who wrote both for and against the existence of God. The final exam for this class had only one question: Does God exist? The exam made Chip realize he was no longer an atheist.
But Chip was not yet a disciple and follower of Jesus. He needed to answer the question: Who is this God that exists? Christian friends had given him a Bible which he tried to read, but he didn’t understand it very well. Maybe the Catholic Church of his youth could help. He went back to that church and was told being good showed that you knew God and were accepted by him. Chip tried to be good, but his conscience told him he failed. “How good do I have to be? How good is good enough?” The priest told him, “No one knows that for sure. You just have to do your best, and when you stand before God in the judgment you have to hope that it was good enough, and that God will accept you for your goodness.”
Chip left that meeting in despair. His conscience told him he wasn’t good enough to gain God’s approval. He tried to read the Bible. And he prayed. He prayed like he’d never prayed. “God, how good is good enough? How good do I have to be? What do I have to do? How good is good enough?” Suddenly the meaning of a hundred Bible passages coalesced in his mind, and the thought occurred to him, “Jesus is good enough!”
The good news – the gospel – had broken through
The gospel had given him peace with God. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and not of yourself; it is the gift of God so that no one may boast before him” (Ephesians 2:8-9). To his delight Chip found that being accepted by God as a gift of his grace meant his life began to change to conform to God's Word.
Beginning ministry
When Chip returned to college at William Paterson, he visited the director of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and told him that he recently had become a disciple of Jesus. The director asked Chip to lead a campus group Bible study! There he was, a Christ follower of all of about four weeks, teaching the Bible to others. He felt completely out of his depth.
He stayed at William Paterson for one more year leading the student Bible study, and then transferred to Nyack College, a Christian liberal arts college in New York, so that he could add Bible and theology to his academic curriculum.
After graduation, Chip joined a church in New Jersey that was pastored by Frank Valeriano, a man who taught him the practical outworking of all the theology he had learned in the classroom. Chip grew immensely under his ministry. At the time, he worked in sales for an aerospace engineering company but felt unfulfilled. A friend told him about a small Christian college in New Jersey that was looking for an admissions director; he applied for the job and jumped at it when it was offered to him.
Chip enjoyed working for the college. His job included being a guest speaker for vacationing pastors. He discovered that he had both the ability and a liking for teaching the Bible, leading worship, and helping people to find a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Within two years he moved to Philadelphia to begin studying at Westminster Theological Seminary. He graduated from with a master’s degree in divinity and was called to pastor Bethel Church the following year. He and his wife Donna moved to Leesburg and started a family with their first three children.
The image of God
In 2001 his youngest daughter was born. The seizures would be the first indication that Rebecca would have intellectual disabilities, but until she was a bit older the Hammonds did not realize how severe the disabilities would be.
The presence of Rebecca in their lives prompted a question for Chip: “What does it mean for a human being to be made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27)? Does the imago Dei (Latin for “image of God”) require certain abilities or intellectual capacity?”
For the next nine years Chip wrestled with this question. In 2010 he enrolled in the doctor of ministry program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and attended the Charlotte campus. His research led him through the historical and modern perspectives on the Imago Dei and the practical implications to families and churches ministering to those with severe intellectual impairments. In May 2014, Chip graduated after completing his dissertation: It Has Not Yet Appeared What We Shall Be: A Reconsideration of the Imago Dei in Light of Those with Severe Cognitive Disabilities.
Chip’s work proved a blessing and encouragement to families with members who had intellectual disabilities, as well as to pastors seeking to minister to such families. His work was noticed by P&R Publishing, and with minor modifications his dissertation was published as a book in the fall of 2017. The book is available at Westminster Theological bookstore and other book distributors. See more about this topic.
Other endeavors
In addition to his work for the intellectually disabled, Chip has contributed to publications like Westminster Theological Journal and New Horizons, Knowing & Doing, and to secular periodicals. He has served the community as senior chaplain of the Leesburg Police Department. For more than a decade he served as chairman of the Candidates and Credentials Committee of the Presbytery of the Mid-Atlantic. He has also served on the Committee of Home Missions and Church Extension.
The expansion of Christ’s church and the blessings of the gospel have always been important to him. In 2000 he began meeting with residents of western Loudoun County, preaching on Sunday mornings in the Round Hill Municipal Building. This work eventually grew into Ketoctin Covenant Presbyterian Church, a work which continues to flourish in Purcellville.
In 2015 Chip was appointed as a Teaching Fellow with the C.S. Lewis Institute’s Fellows Program, a program which seeks to disciple and equip God’s people across denominational lines for spiritual growth, solid commitment to Christ, and service to the local church.
Chip and his wife Donna are recent empty-nesters. When not preaching, teaching, writing, or studying, he enjoys listening to jazz and playing drums with other musicians and working with his hands.