A Disciple-Making Church on San Antonio's Northwest Side
Oak Hills Church gathers on a single campus at 19595 IH 10 West on San Antonio's far northwest side, just past the Rim and the shops of La Cantera. From there, a non-denominational congregation shaped by sixty-plus years of ministry in this city reaches out to its neighbors, to the Spanish-speaking majority of San Antonio, and to short-term mission teams crossing oceans. Lead Pastor Travis Eades and Teaching Pastor Max Lucado share the pulpit with a wider staff, and together the church describes its identity in a single sentence: disciples who make disciples by guiding all people to follow Jesus moment by moment.
The congregation's name, its roots on Fredericksburg Road, and the long preaching tenure of Max Lucado - who has taught here since 1988 - have made Oak Hills one of the better-known churches in the San Antonio area. Yet the weekly rhythm of the church is intentionally simple: a Sunday morning service of about an hour, with worship, communion, and a biblical message, repeated three times to give families flexibility.
Sunday Mornings at the Crownridge Campus
Three identical Sunday morning services fill the Worship Center at 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM, and 11:30 AM. Each runs about an hour. Music is described by the staff as "powerful and engaging," pointing worshipers to Jesus, and a different pastor teaches the message each week. Communion is served every Sunday: bread and juice taken together as the church remembers the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
The 10:00 AM service is the gathering point for several access ministries. American Sign Language interpretation is provided at that hour for the Deaf and hard of hearing. Spanish interpretation, in addition to the standalone Spanish service, is offered at the same hour. The Bibleland Kids check-in desk opens fifteen minutes before each service and closes fifteen minutes after the service begins.
OHC Español meets at 11:30 AM in the West Auditorium, a full Spanish-language service that also has its own Bibleland Kids Español for children three months through fifth grade. The Hispanic ministry began with forty to fifty people meeting on Wednesday nights in 2010 after a season of prayer, moved to its first Sunday gathering in January 2011, and relocated to the West Auditorium in September 2019 for more space and broadcast capability. Since November 2024, Flavio César has served as pastor of OHC Español.
What a First Visit Looks Like
The church recommends arriving about twenty minutes before the service you plan to attend. That buffer covers parking, checking children into Bibleland, finding a seat, grabbing coffee, and meeting the people around you. Parking lots are staffed by a Guest Services traffic team that also runs pedestrian safety and a shuttle to the far reaches of the lot. The lobby hosts Connection Central, a welcome desk staffed before and after every service; first-time guests are invited to stop by for a small gift and an introduction to next steps.
Inside the Worship Center, the format is consistent regardless of which service you choose. A greeting team welcomes you at the doors. Worship together opens the gathering. The pastoral message is described by the church as biblically grounded and practically relevant. Communion is observed weekly. No dress code is published, and the church's tone is warm and family-friendly rather than formal.
Bibleland Kids welcomes children from three months through fifth grade at all three Sunday morning services. Check-in takes place at Bibleland Central in the family wing. Parents of children with special needs can choose Kingdom Kids, which runs two age-grouped classrooms at 10:00 AM (ages 3-8) and 11:30 AM (ages 8-14). On Christmas Eve, the church offers children's classes at the 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM, and 4:00 PM services for children three months through four years, plus ASL interpretation at 12:00 PM and Spanish interpretation at 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.
Bibleland Kids and Milestones for Growing Families
Bibleland Kids is the children's ministry arm of Oak Hills Church and one of the busiest doorways into the congregation. Classes serve children three months through fifth grade in a safe, creative, and age-appropriate environment. The teaching team walks children through Bible stories through games, crafts, music, and small-group discussion. The whole ministry sits under a value the church calls Family Focus: partnering with parents to raise the next generation of Jesus followers, drawing on texts such as Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Proverbs 22:6, and Ephesians 5.
Five milestones give shape to a child's years at Bibleland. Baby Blessing welcomes infants and their parents into the church family. Pathway to Kinder marks the move into elementary years. Agape Trail, a multi-week class for fifth graders and their parents, takes place several Sundays a year and walks families through the next stage of faith formation. Challenge 8 acknowledges eighth graders as they approach the student ministry years. Senior Celebration honors high school seniors as they graduate from the children's wing into adult faith.
In the summer, Camp Rio turns Sunday mornings into a vacation Bible school-style experience for every child who walks through Bibleland's doors. Each Sunday from late May through late July, the children's wing becomes a themed camp with games, music, and Bible teaching, all built around the same memory verses and stories.
Kingdom Kids: Special Needs Ministry
Oak Hills Church runs a dedicated special needs ministry called Kingdom Kids for children whose needs require a smaller, more tailored environment. Two classrooms serve different age groups during Sunday services. Ages three through eight meet at 10:00 AM, and ages eight through fourteen meet at 11:30 AM. Volunteer buddies and trained staff walk students through the same Bible stories the rest of Bibleland is learning, but in a setting designed for their sensory, social, and developmental needs.
Students: Middle and High School
OHC Students (OHCSM) is the ministry for middle school and high school students. Its purpose is to guide every student to be a disciple who makes disciples. The flagship weekly gathering is Wednesday Night, which runs during the school year from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM in the Student Center with dinner included. Small-group leaders walk students through teaching and conversation. Summer Nights continues the rhythm through June and early August. Beyond the weekly program, students participate in milestone events, retreats, mission trips, and parent-and-teen activities such as Ride and Rally outings and the Pierre Parker Basketball Camp.
OHC Young Adults
For college students and young adults in their twenties and thirties, OHC Young Adults (OHCYA) creates its own community on the Crownridge campus. The signature weekly gathering is Tuesday Night, a 6:30 PM meetup with dinner and teaching that runs during the program year. Sunday morning small groups gather at 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM, and 11:30 AM. Monthly Link Gatherings bring young professionals together on Sunday evenings at 5:00 PM, and a 20 Somethings Bible Study meets weekly in homes. Active young adult small groups for men and women also gather off campus, often in restaurants or homes around the city. Recreation is woven in through Trail Running, the Family Friendly Hiking Group, and adult sports leagues.
Adults, Groups, and the Discipleship Pathway
Oak Hills Church organizes adult spiritual formation around a clear three-step pathway called the Discipleship Pathway, with the prayer that every disciple would be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.
The first step is Starting Point, a one-session class offered monthly on Sunday mornings at 11:30 AM and Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM. It introduces the mission, vision, values, and beliefs of Oak Hills Church and gives newcomers a chance to ask questions of people who have been around the church for a while. The second step is Following Jesus, a three-week experience offered on Sunday mornings at 11:30 AM and Wednesday evenings at 6:30 PM that explores what it means to be a disciple of Jesus through Bible study, prayer, spiritual gifts, community, and service. The third step, Everyday Mission, focuses on finding a group of believers and a place to serve. A separate set of classes - Our Good Shepherd, Equipping Workplace Disciples, Experiencing the Old Testament, Trust the Truth of God, and others - covers everything from men's and women's Bible studies to workplace faith and seasonal Advent studies.
Small groups are the backbone of the adult ministry. The group finder lists around fifty active groups, sorted by audience, day, and location. Adult Bible Communities gather on Sunday mornings and are organized by life stage: adults, young marrieds, young professionals, single adults in their thirties, single adults in their forties and fifties, and senior adults. Family Discipleship Groups bring parents together with their elementary, middle, or high school children. Topic-specific groups - Doing Life Together, Biblical Marriage, Adult Bible Study with Sports Emphasis, the Co-ed Online Group on Thursdays, and the Covenant group studying the unseen realm - add depth. Legacy Senior Adults meets monthly for fellowship, the Men of Courageous Joy and similar widows and widowers ministries walk with grieving spouses, and Betrayal Recovery Support gathers women who are processing betrayal and abuse.
Men, Women, Marriage, and Parents
The Men's Ministry encourages men to lead and serve in their homes, churches, workplaces, and the world, anchored on 1 Corinthians 16:13. A wide range of men's groups meet at different times and locations: the Men's Thursday Morning Group at 7:00 AM in classroom W103, the Saturday Morning Men's Group at 10:00 AM on campus, the Wednesday Young Men's Group in homes around the city, the Men's Online Group on Wednesday nights studying Romans, the Dad's Group at Mary's Tacos in Helotes on Wednesday mornings at 6:00 AM, the Men's Basketball Group on Sunday nights, the Widowers Group once a month, and the Tapatio Springs Men's Group on Thursday evenings via Zoom with a once-a-month in-person gathering. Fall studies include John, Equipping Workplace Disciples, and Experiencing the Old Testament on Wednesday nights. A Men's Spring Retreat is held each April.
The Women's Ministry gathers women of every age and season - married, single, divorced, young mothers, empty nesters, widows - around a vision of every woman being embraced by God's grace, established in God's Word, engaged in joyful community and service, and empowered to share faith, hope, and love. Fall Tuesday morning Bible studies include The Book of Joshua, Harmony of the Gospels, The Gospel of John Year 2, The Names of God, The Sermon on the Mount, and Life of the Apostle Peter. Doma tus pensamientos meets in Spanish. A Mentoring Moms group meets Monday nights from October into May. Widow-specific communities such as Women of Courageous Joy and Praying Mothers Grief Support walk with women through loss. The 2025 Women's Conference gathered women from across the area for two days of teaching and fellowship.
The Marriage Ministry offers premarital preparation, marriage enrichment, and small groups for couples. Merge, the premarital class, runs each fall on Wednesday nights. Re-Engage is the marriage enrichment track for existing couples. A Young Marrieds Adult Bible Community meets on Sundays, and a Biblical Marriage group in the Stone Oak area meets on Sunday afternoons.
The Parents Ministry produces Parent Talks, a podcast that streams on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music, with new episodes released regularly and an on-demand library on YouTube @OakHillsChurch. Practical topics address shepherding kids of every age through their walk with God. The ministry also runs Boy Scout Troop 701, family-friendly hiking, fall flag football and soccer, basketball camp, and father-specific groups.
OHC Español: A Spanish-Speaking Congregation
The Spanish-language ministry at Oak Hills Church exists to serve the Hispanic majority of San Antonio. It meets every Sunday at 11:30 AM in the West Auditorium and offers Bibleland Kids Español for children three months through fifth grade. The service is livestreamed on Facebook Live and through the OHC+ app so that worshipers can join from home. The ministry's mission mirrors the larger church: disciples who make disciples, guiding all people to follow Jesus moment by moment. Its values - God Dependence, Persistent Prayer, Authentic Love, Biblical Community, Family Focus, and Radical Generosity - are the same six values carried by the English-speaking congregation.
Pastoral leadership rests with Flavio César, who was named pastor of OHC Español on November 2, 2024. A longtime Christian recording artist and broadcaster from Monterrey, Mexico, César and his wife Diana joined the Oak Hills Church Español staff in August 2017. Flavio shares preaching and discipleship with the wider pastoral team, and the congregation offers serve opportunities across worship, Bibleland, greeting, parking, students, hospitality, young adults, prayer, and production.
Care, Counseling, and Re:Generation
The Care Ministry provides pastoral care and biblical support to people walking through difficult seasons. Resources include care visits, support groups, classes, workshops, and referrals to trusted counseling partners such as Genesis Counseling Center. Congregational Care Ministry Leader Steve Doss coordinates visits to those who are hospitalized, in hospice, or homebound. The Oak Hills Church Care Team of trained volunteers provides emotional and spiritual encouragement for people feeling isolated in the San Antonio area.
Re:Generation is the church's Christ-centered recovery ministry, designed to help people find freedom from life-controlling struggles through biblical teaching, honest community, and supportive mentors. The weekly Re:Generation Gathering meets Tuesdays at 6:30 PM. The ministry uses the Re:Gen curriculum and partners with organizations like Covenant Eyes and Be Broken Ministries for those dealing with pornography and sexual brokenness. GriefShare runs as a thirteen-week class on Thursday evenings during the fall, with Surviving the Holidays one-day seminars in November and December. Betrayal Recovery Support for Women meets Tuesday evenings on campus.
Marriage-focused care continues through Re-Engage, a biblically based marriage enrichment track. The Merge premarital class for engaged couples meets on Wednesday evenings, and pre-marital counseling with Prepare-Enrich certified facilitators can be scheduled through the marriage ministry.
Local Outreach in San Antonio
Local Outreach is the church's neighborhood-facing arm, partnering with established ministries across the city to meet physical and spiritual needs. The signature partnership is with Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio, where Oak Hills Church is building a sponsored home. Volunteers age fourteen and up can serve on the construction site on Saturdays with no prior skills required. Lunch teams provide midday meals for the build crews, and the church's Square Foot Campaign lets donors fund $70 increments of construction. A weekly prayer guide is published for the project.
Fresh Food Distribution partners with the San Antonio Food Bank to provide free food boxes to families facing food insecurity. Pre-registration is required, and the distribution is open to anyone in the community, not just church attenders. Volunteers welcome families, distribute boxes, and hand out hygiene kits assembled from gallon-size bags of travel-size toiletries. Family to Family Mentoring pairs volunteers with vulnerable families in the Texas Hill Country and Northern Bexar County through Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries, which serves more than three thousand families across eight counties.
The ministry's Sanctity of Life efforts support a network of partner organizations. Threads of Love produces and distributes clothing for premature babies through local hospitals, crisis pregnancy centers, and AWC ministries. AWC Centers (formerly Any Woman Can), the Hill Country Pregnancy Care Center, and the San Antonio Pregnancy Care Center offer free counseling, ultrasounds, STI testing, and parenting support. Meant to Soar provides healing experiences for children impacted by parental addiction or trafficking. Genesis Counseling Center offers mental health services. 40 Days for Life coordinates prayer and advocacy campaigns.
Threads of Love meets in the south parking lot of the Crownridge campus. OHC Serve Weekends run three times a year - in November 2026, March 2027, and June 2027 - to mobilize volunteers across affordable housing, food insecurity, child protection, and school support. The Hill Country Volunteer List invites people to join rebuilding efforts after recent flooding in the Texas Hill Country.
Around the Globe: Global Outreach
Global Outreach sends short-term mission teams to Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Nicaragua, Mexico, and the Texas border, in addition to supporting a wide network of long-term missionaries. The 2026 Short Term Missions Trip List is published as a PDF download and includes specific trips such as the Fall Guatemala Mission Trip, the Winter Texas Border Mission Trip, and the Kenya Mission Trip running January 28 through February 7, 2027.
OHC Missionaries serve around the world through partnerships with Pioneer Bible Translators, Mission India, World Vision, Bright Hope World, Operation Christmas Child, and others. Active missionary couples and individuals include Archie and Mandy Chankin with Pioneer Bible Translators, Austin and Kate Mackintosh in Northern Ireland, Bio and Dayse Nascimento in Recife, Brazil, Filipe and Karen Aires in Honduras, Jose Luis and Valentina Estrada in Monclova, Mexico, Moise and Altagrace Toussaint in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Radu and Liuda Cucos in Moldova, and Pat and Adriana Hile in Guatemala.
The church has partnered with World Vision for more than fifteen years through the Chosen child sponsorship program, currently focused on Honduras. Disaster recovery giving supports refugee relief in Ukraine through trusted partners. The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is observed each November, with prayer for believers in Burkina Faso, China, Indonesia, India, and other high-persecution regions.
OHC Worship and Original Music
OHC Worship is the worship arts ministry of Oak Hills Church, leading congregational worship each Sunday and producing original worship songs. The ministry seeks to lead people into personal encounter with God and to courageously engage culture with the hope of Jesus through worship songs written out of moments of worship. Original songs released by OHC Worship include Heaven Is Closing In, Clean, Surrender All, HOLY!, All of the Glory, Calling On Your Name, HEAVY/LIGHT, and Anchored. The team also leads covers of well-known worship songs like Holy Forever and Trust In God.
The ministry runs three OHC Worship Nights each year, gathering in the Worship Center at 7:00 PM. The Singers choir is a volunteer team of professional and amateur vocalists who lead worship once a month from September through May, with Thursday evening rehearsals in the two weeks prior. Musicians and vocalists are invited to apply through the OHC Worship Audition form. Worship Night t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other merchandise are sold through ohcmerch.church. OHC Worship music streams on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
Oak Hills Church Preschool
Oak Hills Church Preschool is an outreach ministry of the church that has served the community for decades. The preschool offers a play-based Christian early-childhood education for children ages two through five. Two-day programs meet Wednesday and Friday; three-day programs meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. School begins at 8:30 or 8:45 AM and dismisses at 12:30 or 12:45 PM, with an extended-day option on Wednesdays until 2:15 PM. Tuition for the 2026-2027 school year is $240 per month for the two-day program and $300 per month for the three-day program, plus a $125 non-refundable registration fee and supply fees. The first day of school is the Wednesday after Labor Day, and the last day is the Friday before Memorial Day.
Teachers are Christian educators who hold degrees in education and are committed to integrating biblical truths with developmentally appropriate learning. Each classroom is organized into learning centers designed to support cognitive, language, perceptual, and social development. Open enrollment for the 2026-2027 school year opens in February, with in-house registration for currently enrolled families and their siblings first, followed by open registration for the broader community.
Recreation, Sports, and the Outdoors
Recreation at Oak Hills Church creates faith-based community opportunities to play and grow through sports, fitness, outdoors, and family-friendly experiences. League-based youth sports include fall flag football, fall soccer, and the Pierre Parker Basketball Camp. Adult sports include a co-ed softball league, an open-gym men's basketball group, and occasional tournaments. Fitness offerings include the Trail Running Group, a Family Friendly Hiking Group, and other movement-based gatherings. The outdoors ministry hosts Boy Scout Troop 701, disc golf, grilling nights, and similar group experiences for families and adults.
What Oak Hills Church Believes
Oak Hills Church is a non-denominational congregation that sincerely tries to follow the Bible and its teachings. The church's stated beliefs center on the Trinity - one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was miraculously born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, performed miracles to confirm his divinity, died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for sin, and rose again on the third day. The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son, indwells and empowers believers, and gives spiritual gifts for the building up of the church. Salvation is a free gift of God, available to all who put their trust in Christ as Savior; those trusting Christ repent of sin, confess their faith, and are baptized.
The Bible is the inspired Word of God and the final authority in life and doctrine. The church is the body of Christ on earth, empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach the lost and disciple the saved. Christ will return and judge all people; believers will be welcomed into God's presence in heaven, and unbelievers will be separated from his presence in hell.
On the ordinances, Oak Hills practices baptism by immersion as an outward demonstration of an inward commitment to Christ, and observes communion weekly as a memorial of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The church teaches that the gifts of the Holy Spirit seen in the New Testament are still active in the life of the church today. On marriage and sexuality, the church teaches that the Bible defines marriage as one man and one woman for life, and that intimate sexual activity is a sacred gift intended only for that marriage. On men and women, the church teaches equal essence, dignity, and value with complementary roles; the office of elder is reserved for qualified men.
Six values shape daily life: God Dependence (living fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit), Persistent Prayer, Authentic Love, Family Focus, Biblical Community, and Radical Generosity. Four discipleship commitments - Worship Together weekly, Biblical Community weekly, Spiritual Practices daily, and Serve Others daily - describe the rhythm the church asks of its people.
Elders, Pastors, and Governance
Oak Hills Church is governed by a board of shepherding elders who, with their spouses, care for, pray for, protect, and love the congregation. The active elder couples include Roosevelt and Patricia Adams, Jim and Julie Barker, Tom and Marian Cates, Caleb and Carie Chance, Chad and Jamie Darter, Travis and Alisha Eades, Tyler and Sharlynn Ferris, Steve and Cheryl Green, Russell and Gina Harrison, Heath and Kelly Jackson, David and Jan Karney, Keith and Sarah Kennington, Peter and Debbie LeDoux, Patrick and Amy McGrath, Dennis and Cindy Means, Paul and Kathy Moody, Rick and Laura Nicosia, Dan and Janet Niederhofer, Greg and Jibs Oefinger, Eddie and Lety Pina, Alan and Janice Reaves, Jim and Mary Toombs, David and Judy Treat, Philip and Donna Vick, Kenneth and Gloria Williams, Woody and Lori Woodard, Eliot and Julie Young, and Larry and Elza Marshall.
The Lead Pastor is Travis Eades, who holds a B.A. and M.Min. from Harding University and preaches alongside Teaching Pastor Max Lucado, who has taught at Oak Hills since 1988 and whose papers are archived in the Max Lucado Collection at Abilene Christian University. Greg Oefinger serves as Executive Pastor. Adam Mendez is the Gather Pastor, overseeing English and Spanish, adult and next-generation worship services. Mike Oakes is the Grow Pastor, guiding adults toward following Jesus. Gerry True is the Multiply Pastor, developing leaders for disciple-making. Jesse Maldonado is the Director of Operations, Renee Navarro is the Human Resources Director, and Matt Moore serves as Adult Discipleship Minister. Flavio César pastors OHC Español.
Online, Apps, and RightNow Media
The church streams every Sunday morning service online. Live services can be watched through the OHC+ app on a web browser, on Apple TV, on Roku, and on Amazon Fire TV. Sermon archives include recent services plus sermons going back more than a decade. The OHC+ app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play, and a separate Oak Hills Church app offers additional content and tools.
Oak Hills Church partners with RightNow Media to provide free access to more than twenty thousand Bible study videos for every church attender and their family. The church also hosts Parent Talks, a podcast with episodes streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music, with on-demand video on the Oak Hills Church YouTube channel. A monthly e-newsletter keeps subscribers informed about events, classes, and opportunities. Giving is available online through credit card or bank transfer, and the church's Radical Generosity Offering each December supports ministry partners through year-end giving. The church posts job openings and internship applications, with paid summer internships in Women's, Children's, Communication, Student and Young Adults, Sports, Outreach, and Operations ministries.