Horizons History

Horizons Church was conceived in September of 1996 as five people gathered to pray for God's direction for a new church. Over the course of six months of prayerful study, God revealed His plan for a new church. Within six months a nucleus of 35 adults and 15 children formed small groups that met around the Clarksburg area. Our church was born On Easter Sunday 1997 as we conducted our "Grand Opening" worship service at the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Lost Creek. Throughout 1997 Horizons maintained an average worship attendance of 63 people.

In 1998 our average attendance nearly doubled to 118 people filling the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. Therefore in the Spring of 1999 we added a second worship service to accommodate the crowds.

This relieved some pressure, but we once again found ourselves running out of room. So in April of 2000 we moved our worship services to South Harrison High School. This was an answer to prayer and gave us plenty of room, but it also brought some challenges, as we became a portable church.

Each Sunday morning pastors and volunteers arrived early to set up classrooms, nursery, sound equipment, video equipment, and all of the instruments. At the end of service everything was dismantled and put in storage containers. It was amazing to see everyone pull together week after week to help in this huge undertaking.

During this time of change and growth we were moving towards the dream of having a facility of our own. Through the Possessing the Land stewardship campaign we were able to raise the funds to purchase land. In 2001 we bought a 13 acre tract from Georgia Pacific near Interstate 79 in Lost Creek. We dedicated that land to God’s purposes and planted a large cross on the property in October 2001.

In November 2001 we launched the Stepping Towards Tomorrow Campaign to raise funds to build the first phase of our new facility. The campaign was a great success and we were ready to begin developing construction plans.

In June of 2002 the site preparation began while the Building Team worked with the architect and contractors on the details and design of the new $2.2 million edifice.

In October of 2002 the structural steel was delivered and the building construction began. We finally moved into our new home with a dedication service on February 8, 2004.

Six weeks later on March 23, (Horizons seventh anniversary) we celebrated the building’s Grand Opening with 909 people in attendance. A few weeks later we set a new record worship attendance as 1,216 people worshipped with us during three Easter services. The following Easter, we set a new record attendance of 1,461.

In September of 2005 we launched a video campus in Fairmont, and in June of 2007 we opened our Buckhannon Campus.

We continue to see God’s blessings throughout the various ministries of the church. At the beginning of 2009 more than 1700 people call Horizons home and our average attendance exceeds 1000 per weekend.

Future plans include two more phases of construction at the main campus in Lost Creek, along with the expansion of satellite campuses throughout the region to reach more people with the Gospel.