When Can It Be A Good Thing For Ohio Churches To Be Labeled “Beyond Problematic?”
By Tim Stechschulte
MONCLOVA, OHIO - Church attendees of today are often confused by the conflicting messages, from the media, secular teachers or the world in general, against their traditional biblical worldview. A new trend of boldness has appeared within some Christian churches throughout this country regarding this clash of globalist worldview versus biblical worldview. This boldness is coming in the form of bold preaching, which includes previously taboo subjects that some people would call political issues. Also included within this trend is using two or three day conferences, with both secular and spiritual speakers who will embolden and equip todays Christian to stand on God’s word without fear. One of these churches is Redemption Church located in Monclova, Ohio.
Redemption Church self identifies as a post-denominational church that sets aside the man-made religious sects that divide the church of Jesus. I sat down with the millennial age pastor, Steven Whitlow, to talk about his views on why the church he leads has been so attractive to so many people.
Redemption also believes the bible is as relevant today as the day it was written. The church defines the attendees as partners not members. By making this distinction, they want to come along side everyone who wants to grow, while not letting long time members feel they have achieved a certain status within the church.
Redemption Church got its start in October of 2016 in Perrysburg, Ohio, with about twenty five people. Prior to Covid, they had increased to one hundred fifty attenders on Sunday mornings. Devine providence led them to their existing twenty four thousand square foot building setting on twenty acres in Monclova When the purchased facility was finally ready in Sept of 2020, they opened up with a crowd of two hundred and twenty five people and with zero mask requirements. Concerning the growth, Pastor Steven stated that people expressed “You knew it would attract a lot of people if you are the only church in town not requiring a mask”. Steven explained “We did not know that was going to be a win, we did it out of conviction and there was no grand plan of, let’s become a bold, hit culture in the face church and it will lead to success”.
Redemption saw more growth in three waves created by Covid in 2020. The first wave came from those who just did not want to wear a mask. The second wave of newcomers came because they took a while to feel comfortable in public again. The third wave came from folks who had gone back to their former churches and realized something had seriously changed. It was not the same church they had left. They felt led to seek another church that was not ignoring the culture and the plain truth that they needed to hear. Redemption Church message, however, remained the same pre and post Covid.
Redemption was not always considered a radical church until the madness that had happened during Covid made Pastor Steven feel a new perspective needed to be added. He stated, “It felt like before we were arguing about political policy, now we are talking about worldview, which are two different things”. He further adds “The church has a place to teach current worldview, and how it affects your biblical view”
Redemption is a church that is not afraid to broach the current events of today from a biblical perspective. During the season of Issue One in Ohio, until the August vote, Steven could be seen from the pulpit, sporting a tee shirt with the printed message “Vote Yes On Issue One” and later a vote “Vote No In November” shirt. During an exchange on a social media thread, a person disagreeing with Steven’s political views mentioned that, “Redemption Church appears to be “beyond problematic” and proceeded to give the church a one star online rating. “If standing for the clear truth word of God means were problematic, I’ll take that as a badge of honor” Steven replied. Steven then expressed the badge of honor by wearing a new shirt with “Beyond Problematic” printed on the front and the visual graphic of a one star rating logo on the back.
When asked, why churches today are afraid to take a stand against an unbiblical worldview, the Pastor’s answer was interestingly pointed. He explained that during the early 1990’s, three popular church leaders, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley and Rick Warren, lead the unhealthy mega church movement towards a feel good gospel versus a fundamental bible adherence. Messages from speakers in those churches would teach and praise equality not morality, inclusiveness not repenting and sexual forgiveness not conviction. Bringing in Cory Booker to lecture on white privilege to a congregation would bring confusion to many Christians who a not anchored to the true word of God. Is it any wonder why churches today are going to a secular worldview not a biblical worldview?
Redemption Church is very revolutionary when compared to other church models. A few examples included starting Revere College in 2023, because the higher education model is broken. Revere College provides a Christian conservative classical education. New polling states that out of ten solid bible believing enrollees that enter college, you only get two or three coming out after the indoctrination. Revere’s goal for 2023 was to launch with five students but they ended up with nine. The target for the next semester will be thirty students.
2023 was also the first year to start the Mayflower Project, a congregational food growing garden on part of the twenty acres of land. That provides another sense of community within the body of Christ to get people more connected and involved.
One of Redemption’s first church seminars was also held in 2023 with a nationally renowned author and podcaster out of New York, Eric Metaxas. Over fifteen hundred people attended the three services that Sunday. Metaxas was brought in to discuss his recent best seller, “A Letter to The American Church”. His book compares the eerie parallels of the 1930’s German Church’s apathy to political issues of their day to the 2020 American church’s hesitancy to discuss and get involved with current events. We know now what happened in the late 1930’s in Germany due to the silent church. Of the eighteen thousand German churches of that era only three thousand spoke out against Hitler. Steven points out that “A lot of pastors believe that today’s moral issues are political and they cannot and should not be mentioned in a church setting”. Nothing could be further from the truth, abortions, tyranny, voting, racism, economy as well as immigration are all under the principles of scripture and discussed at length in the bible.
Many pastors incorrectly or deliberately declare they cannot talk about current events or policies because they will lose their 501C tax status. Steven’s response to that statement shed new light on the topic. Steven strongly questioned why any church would ever want to be classified as 501C. Instead he suggested they should be an “Ohio not for Profit Corporation”. Under that classification Ohio churches do not report any year end information to the state or the IRS or anyone. The church just needs to stay within the guidelines of a nonprofit. There are many so called political activities that the pastors or the membership can facilitate or speak on. Please refer to “what churches can do in elections” to download a two page document.
In October of 2022 Redemption did a 5 week series called clear truth for a confused world and with that series, they increased attendees fifty percent in six weeks! The series was on men, women, marriage, family and society, because that is what’s being attacked today. When surveyed as to why the new attendees decided to check out the church then continue attending, it was almost unanimous. It was “I am so glad that you just preach from the bible, I just want to hear the truth”. Currently Redemption Church is averaging about 850 attendees on Sundays.
To continue being bold, Redemption will host a large 3 day conference from March 14th through 16th. It is titled the Clear Truth Conference and is open to everyone. It came about as a next step after the Eric Metaxas seminar and the Issue #1 vote from last year. Besides Pastor Steven presenting, there will be seven additional speakers from across the country. Steven stated “The genesis of this conference was realized as we continue to see culture just run amok and we wanted to be increasingly clear on the biblical standard versus the worldly standard” Steven has also reached out directly to over four hundred pastors with an invitation to attend the Clear Truth Conference.
The goal of the conference is to equip, embolden and encourage the church in northwest Ohio to stand for truth in the public square. “I think we’re entering into a really cool season of a post denominational regionalization of the evangelical church that still believes in orthodox Christian doctrine”. The conference is a way of drawing people in, encouraging them that we need you standing for truth. The message to any pastor or guest from any church would be, “if you believe what we believe, traditional Christian doctrine, then come and listen to these speakers and be encouraged”.
This conference is similar to the “Flashpoint Live” events that are being held around the United States. “Flashpoint Live 2024” was birthed from the television programing show called Flashpoint, which has guest talking about the unfiltered current event but from a biblical perspective. A Flashpoint Live event is also scheduled in the Columbus area this summer.
There is also a similar event being held in Xenia, Ohio by a different sponsor called “Fearless Faith Conference” on February 16th and 17th of 2024.
By attending a truth conference, you will realize you’re not alone in wanting more clear truth. You will become equipped to push back against the lies Christians are being told today from secular pastors and world cultures. You will be given the tools to fight back to restore God to the center of your life and possibly help your church see more clearly.
