The Promise Church

A wonderful church! I’ve grown up with this church family, and they’re fantastic at making both old friends and new visitors feel warm and welcome. It’s hard to decide what the best part of worship at the Promise is.
First, the music is great. It’s lively, upbeat, filled with the spirit, and you can tell that the worship team puts a lot of time into into their work.
Second, the pastor does a good job of mixing sound biblical knowledge with a lifetime of real world experience in Christian living. He takes the truths of the bible, and presents them in a way that makes them come to life for application in today’s society.
Finally, the community is truly a family. They’re welcoming to individuals, couples, and families. They love each other, and God’s love shows through them.
This is a church experience that you truly need to take part in!

I am so excited to finally be able to review a very special church and group of people who I have come to call my family. Let me begin by backing up a bit. I grew up in Tuscarawas County, Ohio and in that area there are a number of Moravian churches. The Moravian Church is a regular Protestant church that has been serving Christ since 1457 (per the denomination’s web site:
). It’s a loving community with Christian principles and a strength in building relationships. My absolute favorite thing about the church is the motto: «In essentials unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.» It’s truly one to live by. Agree on the key parts, disagree on the semantics, but whatever you do, do it with the love of Christ in your heart and your actions.
Now, fast forward to being a college graduate, getting my first job in Columbus, and looking for a church. I gravitated toward the Moravians once again and found The Promise Church, a community of believers in the Lewis Center area. The Promise is welcoming, loving, contemporary and casual. I was received with open arms and even though I thought I was just trying out the waters, I found myself intentionally waking up every Sunday and looking forward to the worship service. My husband (fiancé at the time) started attending with me, and soon after our marriage (performed by The Promise Church’s Pastor Darryl Bell himself) we became members.
The messages are intentional and relateable. Pastor Darryl Bell has the gift of making the Bible truly the Living Word of God and putting things in a modern perspective. The music and worship band is upbeat and sounds like something you would hear on a contemporary Christian station like 104.9 The River, but it is also intermixed with traditional hymns and Moravian texts. A mini-children’s message is given every week and there is often Ed Hour for the young kids to attend during the sermon. If you’re not a morning person and haven’t had your caffeine by 10 a.m. there’s no need to worry, because coffee, tea and hot chocolate are always hot and ready for drinking. But most of all, The Promise is a family. I’ve now worshipped there for four years and through thick and thin my Promise family is always a steady and loving group of people.