Our Story
In July 2000 in the backyard of a home in Xenia, Ohio our Pastors Mark and Anna Brooks, said “Yes” to God. Struggling with feeling displaced in their own personal ministry it seemed as if God was orchestrating their lives for just the moment when they would answer the call.
Within a few days God began confirming His call. Not only through signs and wonders, but most importantly through His word. In Mark’s daily reading God spoke through Isaiah 56 that His house would be called “a house of prayer for all nations.” So from that message came our name AHOP, an acronym for A House of Prayer.
Our church would be a house of prayer, a house of joy, a house for outcasts, a house for those who need a home. God called us to be a multi-denominational, multi-cultural, casual and contemporary. It wasn’t a good fit for everybody but we said “Yes” to His call and God blessed His work.
From that first Sunday in November our DNA began to emerge. Clearly God was working, at a faster pace than we had ever imagined.
Through these few years God continues to bring in new leaders, teams, and ministries. As we experience seasons of transition, stretching, pain and dependence, but God continues to remind us that His church is led by Christ alone.
AHOP is part of much bigger movement than itself-God’s global movement called the Church. Our story is still being written by God’s creative hand.