Church History 

Demetra Sanderfer began preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 1988 when she was only 19. As a licensed evangelist, she began evangelizing across the United States at various churches, conferences, revivals, and other religious events. Although she thoroughly enjoyed traveling abroad and impacting the lives of various people over the course of 20 years, she felt in her heart that God was calling her to something more in ministry but was not sure what direction. She began to pray and ask God for direction. She also spoke with her Bishop Arthur Brown, who was the pastor of Manna From on High Ministries in Pittsburgh, Pa. He also confirmed that God had been showing him about her being elevated to the next level in ministry. In 1998 Evangelist Demetra Sanderfer was elevated in ministry to become an ordained Elder.

 
 

In January of 2007 Elder Demetra Sanderfer started a weekly Bible Study in Columbus, Ohio and waited patiently on the Lord for further direction. The bible study was held in a hotel meeting room and started with a total of 4 people – Elder Sanderfer, a 6 year old, a 17 year old, and 1 other adult. 

In October 2007, God began to deal with Elder Sanderfer again and showed her it was time to start a Sunday worship geared towards those who were lost and hurt by the “religious” world. God showed her that her platform would be education and mentoring hurting people back to a healthy relationship with God. God also revealed to her that sometime in 2008 she would begin weekly Sunday worship services. Pastor Sanderfer continued to serve faithfully as a bible study host and remained prayerful that God would also show her Bishop His divine plan.

A few months passed and Bishop Arthur Brown called Elder Sanderfer and said God had spoken to him that it was time for her to move into the role as a Pastor. God showed Bishop Brown that the first service would be in the spring of 2008. On May 25, 2008 Manna From On High Ministries had their first Sunday service with about 10 attendees. On June 1, 2008 Elder Sanderfer was officially installed as Pastor of Manna From On High Ministries Columbus, also known as Manna Columbus.

For the first year and a half, many young people from the community began to join Manna Columbus. The membership of the church grew to 39 people but interestingly enough, 36 of those members were all kids between the ages of 2-17. The hotel room that was being rented for services became too full and God allowed the church to change to a larger location to accommodate more people. The new sanctuary was in a converted office building on High Street in Columbus, Ohio that also had a few additional rooms used for youth classes.
Over time, more adults joined and some of the kids that started with the ministry became adults. After a couple years, the ministry grew once again and Manna Columbus had to be relocated to a larger facility.  Manna Columbus’ platform of education, total life balancing, and restoration remains the primary focus as it did from the day of its inception. The church continues to grow by teaching the Love of Christ. Our scripture of purpose is found in: St. John 13:35 – “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”