A House-Church on South Avenue: Hope Baptist Since 1979
Hope Baptist Church sits on South Avenue in Toledo, Ohio, in a building dedicated in February 2001 but rooted in a fellowship much older than its walls. The church began in February 1979 when Pastor Richard Sowell and his family arrived in Toledo and three families began meeting in two of their homes, praying for a new Bible-believing work in the area. By December of that year they had secured a small building; by April 1986 they had outgrown it and moved to a larger facility on the south side of Toledo; and by 1999 the church was full again. On April 2, 2000, members broke ground at 6250 South Avenue, and the present building was completed and dedicated in February 2001. In February 2019, Pastor Sowell marked forty years of ministry at Hope, and leadership of the church transitioned to the current pastoral team.
The church's single-sentence mission is short and worth quoting: "Glorifying Jesus Christ by Multiplying Disciples." Everything from the preaching schedule to the Saturday Kids Club flows out of that aim. Hope Baptist is explicitly an independent Baptist church, self-governing and unaligned with any denominational hierarchy, and it holds to the King James Bible as its final authority.
Two Sunday Services and a Wednesday Midweek
Hope Baptist's main weekly rhythm is built around three gatherings. On Sundays, Morning Worship begins at 11:00 a.m. and Evening Worship follows at 6:00 p.m. Both services are held in the main auditorium and both are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel for those who cannot attend in person. The music is described by the church as "meaningful, enjoyable, and refreshing," with a goal of worship rather than entertainment, and the preaching is Bible-centered and practical, aimed at everyday life.
On Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., the building fills up again. A Midweek Bible Study meets in the main auditorium under the teaching of Pastor Marshall, and Hope4Kids runs at the same hour in the Children's Wing (with its own Kids entrance). Teens with Hope, for students in grades 7 through 12, meets in the gym's upper room. Adult classes - HomeBuilders for younger marrieds, Prime Time / Steadfast for those 40 and up, and others - meet at the same hour around the building.
Saturday mornings are given to children as well. Kids Club runs from 9:00 a.m. to noon and is open to any child in grades 1 through 6. The morning is free, includes lunch, and the church will arrange its shuttle bus to pick up children in the surrounding area; drop-offs are also welcome.
What Visitors Can Expect
Hope Baptist has thought carefully about what first-time guests will encounter and has spelled it out plainly on its visitors page. Greeters welcome people at the door and help them find nurseries and classes; ushers guide them to seats in the auditorium; and a Welcome Center is available throughout the morning for additional help. The culture is described as "friendly, grace-filled," with members from many different backgrounds. Guests are explicitly told not to feel obligated to give during the offering, and they are told they will not be "evaluated" when they walk in.
Music is congregational and traditional, the preaching is expository and applied to daily life, and the church says openly, "We speak plain English" - meaning the Bible is taught in straightforward, contemporary language rather than religious jargon. Children can be checked in at the nursery or in Hope4Kids before the service begins.
Beliefs Rooted in the King James Bible
Hope Baptist's statement of faith is unusually explicit about its convictions. The church holds that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and teaches that the Authorized King James 1611 Bible "is the supreme, inerrant, infallible, and final authority in all matters of faith, creeds, and conduct." It confesses one living and true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and a Jesus Christ who is fully God, virgin-born, sinless, crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended, and bodily coming again.
Salvation, in the church's teaching, is a free gift of God received by personal faith in Jesus Christ and secured eternally in every born-again believer. The church practices believers' baptism by full immersion as an outward picture of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and observes the Lord's Supper as a symbolic remembrance rather than a sacramental transformation. Hope Baptist believes the local church is self-governing and independent of any hierarchy, that every believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ at salvation, that missions is "the heartbeat" of the church, and that Christ will come for His body before the tribulation period.
Hope4Kids and the Nursery
Children have been a focus at Hope Baptist for decades. The nursery, coordinated by Bethany Snow, is divided into three rooms - Infants (1-12 months), Crawlers (1-year-olds), and Toddlers (2-year-olds) - and is staffed by approved, screened volunteers who wear smocks and socks while serving. Parents are given pagers so they can be reached immediately if a child needs attention.
Hope4Kids picks up where the nursery leaves off, covering children from age 2 through sixth grade. On Wednesday evenings at 6:45 p.m., kids gather in the Children's Wing for singing, teaching, and preaching tailored to their level, with the goal of helping them understand how much Jesus loves them and inviting them to accept Him as Savior at a young age.
Teens with Hope
Led by Jon and Brittany Roque, the youth ministry meets every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and is split into Junior High (grades 7-8) and High School (grades 9-12) groups so that teaching can be aimed at each age. The ministry's stated goal is to help each teenager develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and monthly activities are planned as high-energy times of fellowship and spiritual growth. The ministry works to remind teens that, through Christ, they can make a difference in their families, their friends, and their community.
Life-Stage Adult Ministries
Hope Baptist organizes adult ministry around life stage, so that whether a person is single, newly married, raising children, or retired, there is a class designed for them. College & Career, led by Caleb and Justine Cheedie, is for unmarried adults ages 18 to 35 and meets monthly for activities aimed at spiritual growth and fellowship. HomeBuilders, for couples from newlywed years through about the ten-year mark, meets monthly as well. Prime Time / Steadfast, led by Pastor Marshall, gathers adults 40 and up in the main auditorium on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. for verse-by-verse study through books of the Bible or topical series. Additional groups - the Foundation Group, the 40-60 Builders' Group, and the 60+ Primetime Group - meet bi-monthly for activities centered on growing in Christ and fellowship with believers.
Saturday Kids Club and Community Outreach
Beyond its weekly schedule, Hope Baptist reaches into the surrounding neighborhood through Kids Club on Saturday mornings. The program is free, open to any child in grades 1 through 6, and includes games, prizes, songs, Bible lessons, and lunch. The church provides transportation through its shuttle bus for families in the area, and accepts drop-offs from outside the area as well.
The church also partners with GriefShare, a national grief-recovery program, hosting a support group for those who have lost a loved one. Visitors interested in the group can find more information through the GriefShare listing.
The Pastoral Team
Hope Baptist is served by a small pastoral staff. Pastor Jonathan Marshall, a 2002 graduate of Landmark Baptist College in Haines City, Florida, has been working at Hope since August 2004 and was voted in as Senior Pastor in 2019. He and his wife Jessica have five children. Pastor Caleb Cheedie, a graduate of Golden State Baptist College in Santa Clara, California, serves as Assistant Pastor and oversees the music ministries and the College and Career group alongside his wife Justine; together they have four children. Pastor Richard Sowell, a 1975 graduate of Pensacola Bible Institute, is the founding pastor and preached at Hope for more than forty years before his retirement; he and his wife Cindy have three children.
A Church on Mission in Toledo
Hope Baptist frames its life with a simple grid: connect people to Jesus, help them grow in Him, and send them out. The building at 6250 South Avenue is a relatively recent one, but the church itself is older than its walls and rooted in the same conviction with which it began in 1979 - that the Bible, preached plainly and believed fully, is the way Hope grows in Toledo.