Like many a Midwest metropolis, Columbus has a multitude of evangelical, Jesus-is-my-savior churches and if he’s not yours, you are going to hell because “Hell is Real,” as the sign says.

There’s Rod Parsley’s World Harvest mega-church in Canal Winchester, which the Free Press has heard purchases used cars for struggling single mothers if they were to convert. There’s the youth-focused Vineyard, which has multiple campuses around Central Ohio including a new church in Grandview. And the head-scratching Xenos, which recently changed its name to “Dwell,” the cultish church that sure-as-hell seems to prey on Ohio State campus kids.

These churches and their pop-rock bands promote, for the most part, a loving Christianity. Rock City Church, for instance, with its shiny and modern-ish locations in Hilliard and the Short North, has partnered with 30 Ohio prisons helping inmates.

But when tough times assail the flock, like a pandemic and a Democrat in the Oval Office, evangelical pastors begin to seriously push apocalyptic evangelicalism.

And according to Northwest Bible Church in Hilliard, the “Rapture,” or the return of Jesus, followed by the “Tribulation,” are about to go down in ole’ Hilliard, one of Central Ohio’s whitest and most Christian suburbs. A suburb becoming increasingly diverse as more Middle Eastern and African families move to this far west community for its schools.

Northwest Bible Church’s Pastor Ken Harrell, or just “Pastor Ken,” recently completed a seven-part sermon series during the holidays that was titled “The End.” The series was advertised in Hilliard’s ThisWeek community newspaper owned by the Gannet Company. The church’s weekly ad taking up nearly half a full page.

Pastor Ken with his tasseled loafers seems like a grandfatherly kind of guy, but how grandfatherly can you be when your seven-part sermon includes these titles: “The Final Warning!”, “Will America Survive?” and “The Worst 3-and-a-half years in Human History. Part 1.”

“What will the sentence be?” Pastor Ken asked his congregation during one of the sermons. “The sentence for living your life and never giving your heart and life to Jesus…is the lake of fire. It will be occupied by anyone who refuses to open their life to Christ….They will be tortured day and night, forever and ever.”

Such a pleasant Christmas message, and a little unsettling for the so-called non-believers who are puzzled that if they don’t believe in Jesus they’ll be splashing around in flames for eternity.

Churches are tax exempt, thus separating church from state. But that’s mostly a fallacy when far-right evangelical pastors preach “dominionist” theology which essentially inspires hardcore Christians to take over government, media and schools. No surprise is how “dominionist” preaching is helping Roe-vs-Wade make a slow march to extinction.

But it’s not just policy that’s affected. Pushing fear from the pulpit has a profound influence on many, and in some cases, just as their adult lives are getting started.

Several young people who are made by their parents to attend Northwest Bible Church and listen to Pastor Ken told the Free Press his recent sermons have instilled fear, to the point they worry their own lives may soon end.

But this isn’t just a problem for Christian suburbia. Near the OSU campus, the Xenos Christian Fellowship church – now calling themselves “Dwell Community Church” – has since the 1970s sought to convert impressionable young adults new to Columbus, inviting them to “house parties” where alcohol is served. They claim to have 5,000 members and 300 “home churches” or member group homes.

Unlike Hilliard’s Northwest Bible Church, Xenos, or Dwell, is believed to not be pushing end-of-the-world scenarios. The church is also believed to not be forcing ultra-conservative political beliefs on its members.

“To my knowledge Xenos does not overtly push a political viewpoint, although they will commonly weigh in on major cultural issues or political division through their teachings without clear endorsement of candidates or ideology, or any significant discussion on Trump or MAGA,” said Mark Kennedy a former member and outspoken critic of Xenos who created Xenosisacult.com. “However, as a point of caution, in my experience what Xenos members publicly profess and privately practice are often worlds apart.”

Besides Jesus-is-my-savior or you’re going to hell, Xenos, Northwest Bible Church and many others, arguably have this in common, as well: Disseminating fear and then taking advantage of one’s defenselessness.

“Xenos members are very focused on growth, and they deploy many tactics to lure in high school and college age students – parties, events, trips, etc.,” says Kennedy. “The vulnerable period during freshman year of college is where Xenos members can provide an instant social network to join which is very appealing to many people because they believe that they are being befriended by people who generally care about them.”

College students are in a vulnerable period in their life because they have to create an entirely new social network and are living away from their parents for the first time, says Kennedy. He believes the “Dwell” name change is likely an attempt to re-brand from “Xenos” after the Dispatch and WOSU recently ran unflattering stories on the church, along with the 170-plus stories and first-person accounts posted by former members on Xenosisacult.com.

“Across the website (Xenosisacult.com) you can see stories of people genuinely believing that they are being befriended with good intentions – but learning often too late that they are being recruited. Every semester there is a large influx of new students into OSU and Columbus State who are generally unaware of Xenos – and the cycle continues,” he says.