A network of churches working together to change lives.

 The Northwestern Ohio District was officially organized in 1959, multiplying out of the former Western Ohio District into the Northwestern and Southwestern Ohio Districts. NWO is one of five districts within Ohio and spans 22 counties. At the close of 2022, the Northwestern Ohio District consisted of 9,720 members, 53 organized churches, and 57 congregations. The makeup of churches includes Swahili, Haitian and Chinese congregations, several revitalized churches, two multisite churches, two churches over 1000, two churches over 400, and 10 mid-size or larger congregations. 

The district has a population of 1.6 million people, an average age of 40, and a strong blue-collar presence that includes both urban and rural communities. Toledo sits at the far north end of the district and is the largest city within the district’s footprint. The district center known as the CrossOak Camp & Retreat Center is a year-round facility that is located within minutes of the Grand Lake St. Marys State Park. 

Church planting and Leader Development are quickly becoming real strengths in Northwest Ohio. We now have a church planting assessment center assessing and training church planters to lead new works. Last year alone, 15 church planters were assessed and 11 were given the approval to take their next steps. We created a focused role of a Church Planting Coordinator and filled it with a proven church planter/campus pastor, who is now helping coach the leaders of new works in our district. Additionally, a team of trainers is launching a new training series to help prepare existing pastors and new church planters to successfully reach new people with new methods for Jesus!