The Water Church
In our years of doing ministry on college campuses, we have at times affectionately been called 'The Water Church.' We think this is because it is sometimes unclear why our church is called H2O.
We named our church H2O after a passage from the Bible: John 4. In this passage, Jesus offers a woman 'living water.' He tells her that if she drank this water, she would never thirst again. Jesus, in this passage, is speaking to a kind of spiritual thirst. A thirst that no other thing in this world can quench except Him alone. He offers the true living water.
We believe that most people are seeking to quench the deepest longings of their souls with things that could never satisfy them, and we hope to share the good news about Jesus so that they could come to Him and experience the living water just like we have.
Our Rhythms
Those involved in H2O take part in three key rhythms that we believe are essential to our walks with God.
Gather (together)
We gather together to share the gospel and our lives with each other. We believe God is glorified through our gathering together as we worship Him through the hearing, sharing, singing, and praying of His Word.
Give (of our lives)
Sharing the gospel and our lives will require us to give generously of our time, talent and treasure. As family we will pursue a life of sacrifice and generosity with all that God has given us. We will love one another by giving of our time in service, our gifts in building up the church and our finances in supporting God’s work through us.
Go (into the world)
We are a family that doesn’t exist just for ourselves. We will go with the gospel into our neighborhoods and workplaces and campus, to other college towns through church planting, and to the ends of the earth through overseas trips. Going is the regular rhythm of our life as a family and we will suffer many gospel goodbyes as we raise up men and women who are capable of extending the family to new places.
Our History
Years ago, H2O Church at the University of Cincinnati began to dream about what it might be like to plant another college focused church. We so believed in the vision to be missionaries on college campuses across the US because of the immense need and strategy in university missions.
Years later, in 2019 we sent out our first scouting trip to begin to prayerfully consider where God would have us go. After visiting many universities, it did not become any clearer where God was leading our plant team. All that was clear to us is that we wanted to go where the need was clear, and somewhere that had a high international population. All the while, Buffalo was a place we really wanted to consider as a result of these two key factors.
In February of 2021 we took a team to Buffalo and fell in love with the campus and the city. As we prayerfully considered where it is we should go, it became more and more clear that the Lord was calling us here.
We are so excited to serve and love the campus at UB and the city of Buffalo as we seek to extend God's kingdom wherever we go!
The H2O Network
H2O Church in Buffalo is not alone! We are a part of a network of churches intent on reaching college students with the gospel called the H2O Church Network.
The H2O Church Network is a collection of college churches that seek to bring the timeless message of Christ to the University setting. We are passionate about sharing the hope of Jesus in an environment where Christianity is stereotypically opposed or forgotten. Our desire is not to provide another campus social group, but a place where students can experience a deeper community of believers seeking to live out their faith through discussion groups, Bible studies, service projects, Sunday services, mission trips, and more.
We do not want students to come to college and be spiritual spectators. We want them to enjoy participating in the great plan that God has for their life. By actively meeting them within the campus environment, basically bringing Church to them, we foster greater participation, greater community, and a deeper commitment. We acknowledge that tomorrow's leaders are in our universities today, and we have a passion for them to experience the Living Water.