SMILES FOR ALL … Pete and Alice Garza call themselves the Apostolic Leaders of The Revival Hub, a church which just relocated from Bryan to Holiday City. They love to love on people and help them in every way they can. The church is about “all things Jesus” Pastor Pete said in an interview. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
By: Rebecca Miller
“The Goodness of God is over everything that has happened,” Pastor Pete Garza said when explaining the church’s sudden move to Holiday City. The Revival Hub, a church that has been located in Bryan on the Square at 108 West High St., for the past year, has also been ministering to the people of Bryan through another building called The Hub Outreach Center at 213 S. Main St.
The owner of the W. High Street building was asked to meet with the City Council on November 2, 2020, but as he was unable to attend for medical reasons, Pastor Pete went to the 4:00 meeting.
From Garza’s memory, also present at the meeting were people from another church called Dad’s Place, Mayor Carrie Schlade, the Fire Chief and people from the Engineering Department. The church leaders were all informed that they are not allowed to have churches on the square because the Zoning Laws and Assembly Permits do not allow it.
When Pastor Garza spoke with one of the council members after the meeting, asking for clarification on what had just happened, he was told, “The building that you are in is not permitted for assembly.”
After he left the meeting, Garza got in his car. “I was heartbroken and in tears for the people of our congregation, as this was done without any notice and I didn’t know what we were going to do,” Garza said in an interview. “I went to a time of prayer and as I was sitting in my room asking God how did this just happen, I heard whispered in my ear ‘Holiday City.’”
Garza went on to explain that they moved to Northwest Ohio from Texas a few years back and he barely knows Ohio at all. Bryan and Stryker have been the towns he has gotten to know a little since they moved here and began to minister, and he had never even heard of Holiday City.
“I googled it to see if it was a place and saw that it is and how close it was. I grabbed my keys and told my wife I was going to Holiday City,” he said. She got her coat on and went with him, making calls, as he drove, to see if she could find a place where they could meet.
“It was about 5:30 and dark. We were driving north on St. Rt. 15. I was still sad and disoriented because of what had happened. I was driving and I said loudly, ‘I don’t even know what I’m doing or where I’m going,’ and ‘I don’t even know what I’m looking for!’ Then ‘If i did know what I was looking for I wouldn’t be able to see it in the dark!’ when my wife said she wanted me to talk with someone she had on the phone.”
“We had gone through Holiday City and I realized after we crossed the interstate that I had missed it, so I had turned around and was heading south on St. Rt. 15. I pulled in the parking lot across from Winns and as I pulled in and parked facing a building, there was a big sign on the building that said FOR LEASE, with a phone number on it!” The building had recently housed another church called Crossfire.
They called the owner and within 24 hours of being told they could no longer meet at the place in Bryan, The Revival Hub had “a new facility that is four times the size of the place where we were,” Garza said with a big smile. “It is all the Goodness of God!” They held their first service in the new building on November 8, 2020, just six days after the meeting with the city council
. Garza shared that everyone from the congregation that had been meeting in Bryan was present as well as a number of people who saw cars there and stopped in to see what was going on.
A few weeks later, the signs went up announcing their new home. They have done some painting and remodeling inside and are up and running with three weekly meetings as well as broadcasting via Media Revival TV to 192 countries. The Hub has been broadcasting “for years and years while in Texas and since we came here to NW Ohio,” Garza said.
“We see all of this totally as the goodness of God. We just want to minister to the people in the area and share all things Jesus. We want to be able to help the community of Bryan and all of Williams County.”
For now, the church is having services on Sundays at 10:30 am, Bible Study on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and Midweek Service on Thursdays at 6 pm. Garza explained that the Thursday services are like Sunday Services, but are geared toward training and equipping the believers.
Presently they are busily moving everything from the Food Pantry on Main St. and hope to be able to relaunch the new outreach center from the new facility by February. While in transition they are helping people, by appointment only. Anyone in need can call 419-519-2855 to get an appointment.
They are excited to have people coming from Archbold, Toledo, McClure, Bryan, Montpelier, Pioneer, Holiday City, Hillsdale, Adrian and other places, making The Revival Hub truly a Hub for the area.
Garza said he has always held with the thought that,“A church alive is worth the drive.” Apparently, others feel that way, too. “We just want to see people encounter Jesus and have their lives radically transformed,” he said as the interview drew to a close. He is happy that they found a place and looks forward to plugging in with Holiday City.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
