We are H2O Church
OUR Story
Over 30 years ago, men and women moved to Bowling Green, Ohio and planted a church that was solely focused on reaching and engaging with college students at Bowling Green State University. The church started to grow and God raised up leaders. This young vibrant church became a flourishing collegiate focused church with pastors and staff committed to carrying the mission forward. Over the years, many students, staff and leaders were sent out to serve in ministries and church plants around the world.
We had this vision to grow from one church to many, and now we have seen God’s provision. We have grown from one church in 2008 to over ten churches with over 2000 in attendance. Our hope and goal is to provide a college-centered church to focus on reaching the campus community (students and community members) at Ohio University with the Gospel of Jesus while serving the community of Athens.
We are a community of college students and postgraduates who are pursuing God and being transformed by His love for us. We all come from different backgrounds and we each have a unique story to tell. What unites us is our shared passion to know the God who created us, rescued us, and transforms us in Jesus Christ. We look forward to where God is leading us. Our prayer is that students everywhere would experience Jesus as their Living Water during this important season of life in college.
Our strategy is to Gather, Build, and Send
GATHER
We are passionate about gathering together as a community of believers.
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another..."
Hebrews 10: 25
BUILD
We desire to disciple students and help them understand how to pursue the Lord in college and throughout their life.
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28: 19-20
SEND
Our desire is to equip students to go and proclaim the Gospel in their community.
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
WHAT WE ARE ABOUT
GOD IS ALIVE
- God is eternal. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Completely good and holy.
- The Bible is God’s Word, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit.
- The Church is made up of all true believers.
- Sin (wrong doing) is a reality for all people, so each of us is separated from God.
- Jesus, God’s Son, came into the world to die in order to pay for our sin. This payment allows those who believe to return to a right relationship with God.
- All people are called to turn from their sin and believe in Christ Jesus.
- Followers of Jesus are to make disciples, in love and humility.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
"What's the story behind our name?" That is a question we get a lot.
No, we are not a church of chemistry students. Our name is actually rooted in a story from the Gospel of John, a scene from the life of Jesus. And it captures perfectly what we are all about at H2O.
A woman went to a well to get water. She was doing something ordinary, something she had probably done a thousand times before. But while she was there, she met Jesus. She didn’t know at first that He was God. But during their conversation it became clear that Jesus was not just an ordinary man.
Jesus told her the things she pursued to find life were empty and would leave her more broken. Then, while she filled a jug with water, he offered her something that would quench her deeper thirst. He called it living water and he was talking about himself. He told her that what she needed most was to be transformed by the God who knew her every struggle. And that’s exactly what happened as she embraced Jesus by that well. Her life was radically changed and she couldn’t wait to tell her family and friends.
You are doing something ordinary. Going to college. Writing papers. Making friends. Changing your major. What if, just like that woman at the well two thousand years ago, Jesus wants to change your life. We are all looking for life, purpose, and belonging. And we look in lots of places to find these things. But in the end it’s only Jesus, the One who made us, who can give us exactly what we are looking for.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
JOHN 4:14