North Central University has announced that Greg Ford, founding pastor of One Church in Columbus, Ohio, will serve as the Moen Chair for Pentecostal Preaching for the spring 2020 semester.
Ford and his wife, Shaylyn, moved to Columbus in March 2010, with a vision to ignite a movement of Christ-centered, multiplying churches. They began by working in the community (five jobs between the two of them), building relationships, and hosting meetings in their apartment. One by one, people began to see the vision and join the movement. They formed a team, and soon word began to spread. On Jan. 23, 2011, One Church hosted its first official service.
After significant growth, One Church expanded with the purchase of property in nearby Gahanna, Ohio. This facility is now home to a church that is reaching, connecting, growing, supporting, and empowering people.
Preaching, teaching, connecting
More important than the numbers indicating growth are the stories demonstrating how lives have been transformed through the power of Jesus.
The Moen Chair role is filled each semester by people who are entrusted to bring an exceptional level of preaching to North Central University students. In his role, Ford will not only preach in chapel but also spend additional time on campus to teach in the classroom and connect with students at informal gatherings. He will be on campus twice this semester: Feb. 3–4, and March 30–31.
‘Fight the fight and never give up’
Ford attended Southwestern Assemblies of God University, where he was captain of the football team. He has used fitness as a tool to reach people with the Gospel, including participating in a boxing match. In 2014, Ford stepped into the boxing ring with a 6-foot-4, 240-pound pro boxer to exhibit his commitment to the message that “some things are worth fighting for.”
In an article in the Akron Beacon Journal (2014), Ford said, “Everybody’s in a fight, battling something—addictions, a marriage that’s falling apart, things from the past, bankruptcy, the loss of a job, doubts, illness or disease, personal temptations. This boxing match is an opportunity to create a picture for people by getting their attention and challenging them to fight the fight that’s in front of them and to never give up.”
Before establishing One Church, Ford was a youth pastor at Calvary Assembly of God in Toledo and at Evangel Assembly of God in Wooster, where he also coached middle school football and basketball.
The Fords have three children, Ella, Hudson, and Miles.
