Our Story
Freedom House Church began the way most great things do: quietly, in someone’s home, with a handful of people and a conviction that something bigger was possible.
A Dining Room and a Dream
On April 11, 2003, Paul Anthony and Amy Gonzalez gathered a small group of friends and family in the dining room of Pastor Paul’s mother, Gloria, in South Lorain. It was a simple Bible study—no stage, no sound system, no grand plan. Just people, Scripture, and a belief that God was up to something.
That first gathering was the seed of everything that followed.
A Church on the Move
From those weekly meetings in Gloria’s home, Freedom House Church began to take shape. Sunday services launched. The congregation grew. And as it grew, it moved—first to a storefront in Elyria, then to a unique, almost hidden space in the lower level of the Antlers Building in downtown Lorain.
The church was like a seed planted underground: growing quietly, unseen by many, but taking root.
God's Provision
By 2008, those roots had grown deep enough that God opened a remarkable door. A local businessman approached Pastor Paul with an extraordinary opportunity: the chance to purchase a 10,000-square-foot commercial facility in Amherst—for only what was owed on it. No markup. No catch. Just a man who believed in the vision of Freedom House and wanted to see it flourish.
The people of FHC still call it what it was: God’s favor.
That building—1240 Park Ave—has been the home of Freedom House ever since.
A New Call
In 2017, after fourteen years of shepherding Freedom House from its earliest days, God placed a new call on Pastor Paul and Amy’s hearts. They were to go to Nashville, Tennessee, and plant a second church—what would become Awakening Church Nashville, a sister congregation still in close relationship with FHC today.
Entrusting the leadership of Freedom House to someone he had personally mentored—his close friend and longtime ministry partner, Pastor Jason Jackson—Pastor Paul and Amy followed where they believed God was leading.
Seven Faithful Years
Pastor Jason Jackson, a graduate of World Harvest Bible College, stepped into that responsibility with dedication and integrity. For seven years, he led Freedom House with a steadfast commitment to the Word of God, prayer, and discipleship. His leadership was formative for a generation of FHC families, and his legacy in this church runs deep.
In March 2025, Pastor Jason announced his resignation. A season had come to a close.
Picking Up the Thread
That same month, Pastor Paul and Amy stepped back into leadership of Freedom House. They remain based in Nashville, where Pastor Paul continues to lead Awakening Church—but their commitment to the Amherst congregation has never wavered. They lead FHC remotely, travel to Ohio as often as possible, and are deeply invested in what God is doing here.
Alongside a dedicated team of local staff and volunteers, the work continues.
Still Being Written
More than two decades after that first Bible study in a dining room in South Lorain, Freedom House is still a church built on the same convictions: that every person deserves a place to belong, that real community changes lives, and that God is still writing stories worth telling.
We’re glad you found us. We’d love for you to be part of what comes next.
We’d love to see you this Sunday
You don’t need to have it all figured out to walk through our doors. Just come as you are—we’ll take it from there.