Our Story

2020

Matt and Emily Powers began gathering with friends on Saturday nights to pray and worship, longing for a church that looked like the one they saw in Scripture. There was no plan to plant a church and no agenda beyond Jesus. With only holy hunger, they made room for His presence and trusted Him to meet them there.

2021

By May, a small group of believers was gathering weekly in Matt and Emily’s home. Around shared meals, worship, repentance, prayer, and the Word, a spiritual family began to take shape. The gifts of the Holy Spirit flourished, team ministry emerged, and everyone learned to bring their portion as the Body of Christ. From young children to those in their seventies, generations were being formed side by side. They called themselves The ONE Movement.

2022

As the family expanded, God began to clarify the assignment: to host His presence and contend for the unity of the Church in Akron. That year, He miraculously opened the door to a church building after the original buyer walked away at the closing table. The community gave sacrificially and worked side by side to renovate the building, establishing a permanent base from which the growing mission could take root and extend throughout the region.

2023

In August, Firelands Church officially opened its doors, planted between A.W. Tozer’s grave and the site of Billy Graham’s 1956 Akron crusade. What began around a living-room table now had a place in the heart of the city and a name that reflected its emerging identity. Yet the invitation remained beautifully simple: to host God’s presence corporately and encounter him daily.

2024

Firelands entered a season of strengthening its foundation. Covenant relationships deepened, leaders were formed, and believers from across the region gathered for worship, prayer, and catalytic moments of encounter. A distinctly Firelands culture was emerging, marked by presence, purity, power, and purpose, with a growing conviction that revival must become reformation and encounter must become formation.

2025

A new season of maturity and multiplication began. New leaders emerged, the mission developed, and Firelands School of Ministry launched to deepen biblical literacy and form Spirit-filled disciples whose theology becomes a way of life. What began with a handful of people pursuing Jesus was becoming a local church with regional authority and apostolic reach, strengthening the Church, building healthy spiritual family, and preparing a people to carry His presence and purposes from Akron to the nations.