
Quick Facts
Founded
1985
Denomination
Charis Fellowship
Service Times
Sundays at 9:15 AM and 11:00 AM
Men's Ministry
Yes
Kids Ministry
Yes
Pastor Credentials
Founding Senior Pastor since 1985; Grace Theological Seminary faculty member; volunteer Police Chaplain at WTC site (2001); biblical archaeology project administrator (Tel Gezer)

10-Point Theological Scorecard
Christology
Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)
Charis Fellowship Statement of Faith affirms inerrancy and orthodox Trinitarian Christology.
Strong
Scripture
Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?
Charis Fellowship affirms inerrancy.
Strong
Men's Discipleship
Intentional formation for men?
Explicit men's ministry track.
Strong
Soteriology
Faith alone? How is salvation presented?
Charis Fellowship is dispensational evangelical; sola fide and substitutionary atonement affirmed.
Strong
Gender / Biblical Design
Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?
Charis Fellowship is complementarian historically; founding pastor Terry Hofecker (male, since 1985).

Dr. Terry Hofecker (male) — Founding Senior Pastor since 1985
Strong
Leadership Structure
Male elders/pastors? Accountability?
Dr. Hofecker has 40+ year tenure with seminary teaching role.
Strong
Preaching Style
Expository or topical/therapeutic?
Seminary-faculty-level pastor with multi-decade expository tenure.
Strong
Mission Clarity
Great Commission central?
Sports ministry, youth, men's, women's ministry, local outreach, global missions, recovery ministry.
Strong
Cultural Alignment
DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?
Long-tenured pastor; archaeology and chaplaincy involvement; no published progressive cultural positions.
Strong
Accountability Structure
Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?
Charis Fellowship (formerly FGBC) — small (~210 churches) but theologically well-defined dispensational-evangelical body; lesser-known.
Caution

Assessment
Northwest Chapel is a Dublin, Ohio Grace Brethren congregation founded by — and still pastored by — Dr. Terry Hofecker since 1985, four decades and counting. He pulls double duty as Grace Theological Seminary faculty, was a volunteer Police Chaplain at the World Trade Center disaster site in fall 2001, and serves as Project Administrator for biblical archaeology excavations at Tel Gezer in Israel. That's the resume of a serious pastor-scholar. The Charis Fellowship — formerly Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, renamed in 2017 — holds dispensational evangelical theology with Anabaptist roots: complementarian, biblically-inerrantist, mission-oriented. Two Sunday services (9:15 and 11 AM), recovery ministry, full lifecycle ministry portfolio. For a Dublin or northwest-Columbus-area man wanting a doctrinally stable, scholar-led Grace Brethren church with multi-decade pastoral continuity, Northwest Chapel is one of the strongest options in central Ohio.
#charis-fellowship#grace-brethren#fgbc#dublin#columbus#northwest-chapel#terry-hofecker#dispensational#founding-pastor#seminary-faculty

Sources & Evidence
Enrichment Notes
Founding pastor verified via Charis Fellowship news + church website + GraceConnect (denominational news).
These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.
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[1] Live source
charisfellowship.com/hofecker-teaches-church-planting-cou…
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[2] Live source
northwestchapel.org
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[3] Live source
graceconnect.us/hofecker-to-retire-from-northwest-chapel-…
Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.

Last reviewed:
2026-05-16
— Annual review recommended