The Awaken Story

Pastor Brandon Bowers dreamed of planting a life-giving church in Charleston, SC with a simple and clear vision: so that people far from God will be awakened to life in Christ. 

This vision led to developing a small group of people who uprooted their lives and moved to Charleston to plant and launch Awaken Church. Through working jobs, starting small groups and serving the community, the church held its first official service on January 13, 2013. That Sunday, 115 people attended the first service in a gymnasium at Oakland Elementary School in Charleston, South Carolina.

From the beginning, Awaken Church has focused on reaching those who do not know God personally and building relationships through small groups and ministry teams. Through focusing on the simple yet powerful message of the Gospel along with building a passionate and joyful community of a life-giving relationships, Awaken experienced immediate growth. In our first year, the church grew to several hundred in weekly attendance with 127 people committing their lives to Jesus and being baptized. This steady pattern of growth and life-change have been markers in our church since the very beginning. Though we’ve met in a variety of different buildings and facilities through the years, the focus has always remained the same: so that people far from God will be awakened to life in Christ. We have watched this happen and seen God faithfully change lives while continuing to give our church favor and increase through the years.

Today, Awaken is a multi-site church reaching thousands of people both in-person and online throughout the Charleston Metropolitan area and beyond. Additionally, through intentional network partnerships, we are actively planting life-giving churches all around the world. We invite you to see for yourself how exciting church can be when the focus is simple and people are free to seek God with passion and purpose!