World Harvest Church began as a backyard Bible study in 1977. Seventeen people attended. Nobody there thought it was going to be a church. But after a few meetings, the idea of something more permanent took hold. The group rented facilities in the area for weekly meetings, and eventually constructed a building on Wright Road just outside Pickerington. The church kept growing, and eventually required a larger building on the same property. Finally, the church – then known as Word of Life – purchased property on Gender Road in southeast Franklin County, and built what is now WHC on what had been a corn field. When the new building was dedicated, the congregation was named World Harvest Church in honor of Dr. Lester Sumrall, who had befriended Pastor Rod Parsley some years earlier and had become the young pastor’s mentor. The Columbus campus of World Harvest Church also houses Harvest Preparatory School, a K-12 educational institution, the operational offices of Breakthrough, Pastor Rod Parsley’s worldwide television program & six other national ministries. The Columbus campus is also the home of Valor Christian College's classrooms and dormitories. Today, more than 12,000 people in central Ohio will tell you World Harvest is their church home. At every WHC service you’ll find a family-friendly congregation of Spirit-filled believers in Jesus Christ, representing every age, ethnic group and walk of life. We hope that sounds like the kind of place you want to be. We invite you to join us in celebrating and worshipping our awesome God!