we're not just a church. We're A Family.
A passionate, Spirit-filled community in Deer Park, NY where lives are restored, faith is ignited, and purpose is discovered. This is the story of how it started, who we are, and why we exist.
a humble warehouse, A Burning Vision
Pastor Johnny Ova gave his life to the Lord at seventeen years old, just after losing his father to a heart attack at forty-four. What followed wasn't religion. It was a fire he couldn't put out. He spent the next five years in street evangelism before being ordained as a minister.
As a professional wrestler, Johnny traveled the world sharing his testimony, eventually sharing stages with leading Christian voices like Pastor Tommy Barnett and Jentezen Franklin, and being featured on TBN with Carman. But his heart kept being drawn home to Long Island.
Rachel was raised in church. She grew up serving, eventually leading the youth worship team. When Johnny and Rachel met, married, and felt the call to plant a church together, they didn't wait. Rachel was nineteen. Johnny was twenty-six. A few months later, Sound of Heaven Church was born.
It wasn't always easy. But it was worth it.
Pastor Johnny & Rachel OvaFrom those first humble beginnings to the facility we call home today, with two Sunday services, a thriving children's ministry upstairs, and the chance to minister to over 50,000 people every month through our online platforms, we've watched God do what He promised. He always does.
three photos. four months apart. The Story In Pictures
From a living room to a packed warehouse in just a few months. This is what God does when ordinary people say yes.
A Living Room
The very first Sound of Heaven gathering. Jimmy and Celeste's living room. A handful of people, one big vision, and a God who shows up wherever two or three are gathered.
An Empty Warehouse
Pastor Johnny alone in the warehouse a week before launch. No congregation yet. No guarantees. Just a humble space, a calling, and the faith to believe God would fill it.
A Packed House
Just four months later. Same warehouse. Now full of hungry hearts, real worship, and a community God built faster than anyone expected. The fire never stopped.
three things you'll feel right away What Makes Us Different
Plenty of churches preach the Bible. We teach it the way it was actually written. In its world, on its terms, through Jesus.
The Bible In Context
We teach Scripture from a historical, cultural, and factual setting. Not the watered-down Sunday-school version. Not the fear-driven speculation version. Just the Bible as it was actually written, to the people it was actually written to.
Spirit-Filled & Believing
We're a Holy Spirit-filled, prophesying, miracle-believing church that expects God to move. Worship is alive. The gifts are active. We've seen marriages restored, addictions broken, and supernatural healings. That's not the exception. That's the family business.
Family, Not Audience
You're not a number here. You're family. Whether you stay forever or for a season, nobody walks through Sound of Heaven and stays the same. We're committed to building real disciples and real relationships through our ministries, not filling seats.
brothers and sisters Doing Life Together
Sound of Heaven isn't run from a podium. It's built by people who've walked together, raised families together, and stayed faithful through every season.
founders & lead pastors Pastor Johnny & Rachel Ova
Johnny and Rachel planted Sound of Heaven in 2011 with a vision to bring the real Jesus to Long Island. Johnny teaches with depth and clarity, walking through Scripture in its historical and cultural context. Rachel leads worship with the same passion she's carried since her teenage years on the youth worship team.
They get speaking requests from across the world, but their commitment is to this island. To building a worldwide mission from a local church.
Pastor Jay D'Ambrosio
Six months after we opened, Jay picked up a flyer outside a CVS that read "no making out in the back row." He'd come up from down south to do ministry on Long Island and was about to give up and head home. He didn't. That flyer turned into a God-ordained moment, and Jay has been ministry partner and family ever since. Today he leads our Wednesday Night Bible Studies verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and hosts The 1% Christian Daily Podcast.
Chrissy D'Ambrosio
Right alongside Jay from the start. Chrissy is a steady, faithful leader who has helped shape Sound of Heaven into the family it is today. She and Jay aren't just ministry partners with Johnny and Rachel. They're brothers and sisters doing life together, raising leaders and building a church the way God intended.
at the core of everything we do The Kingdom Is Here
We firmly believe the Kingdom of God is present and active right now. Our mission is to advance His Kingdom into the hearts of every man and woman, to give hope to the hopeless, and to set the captives free, whether they're bound by religious tradition, addiction, or pain.
There's a lot of misinformation about the Bible that keeps people stuck. Our job is to clear that up. Below are a few of the foundations. For the full picture, check out our beliefs page.
Read Our Full BeliefsThe Kingdom Is Now
The Kingdom of God isn't something we wait for. It's a present reality we walk in.
Jesus Is The Final Word
Scripture is interpreted through Jesus, the perfect and complete revelation of who God is.
The Spirit Is Active
Healing, prophecy, miracles, the gifts of the Spirit are real and operating today.
Freedom Is Available
God's discipline restores. His love delivers. Captives are meant to be set free.
since 2011 and counting The Mission In Motion
We measure success by the fruit of the Spirit and the lives that are different because they walked through our doors. Here's a small look at what God's been doing.
People Reached Online Every Single Month
Through livestreams, the SOH Church App, podcasts, and YouTube, we have the privilege of ministering to over 50,000 people every month from our small Long Island church. Local roots. Global reach.
Since 2011
Transformed
Released
Worldwide
From Deer Park To The Nations
Right Here On Long Island
your seat is waiting
Come See For
Yourself
Reading about it is one thing. Walking through the door is another. Whether you stay forever or for a season, nobody walks through Sound of Heaven and stays the same.