Our Story
In the years preceding SATHoP, David Lee & Ali Brown began to experience a discontentment with the modern church in it’s business-like approach to prayer, worship and the ministry of God. Out of their discontentment and a citywide group of pastors' desire for an independent house of prayer, San Antonio Tabernacle House of Prayer (SATHoP) was born. SATHoP was first located in the previously vacant Highland Terrace Methodist facilities. By a super-natural move of God, David and Ali were given use of this building for free and sold their home to live on the property with their two sons (Ashton & Parker), Daniel Bullock, and Sarah Elizabeth Forhetz.
Our first Prayer meeting was on Friday, June 27th 2014. By the grace of God; the prayer room sustained 120 hours of prayer and devotion per week in the first 3 years. That was such a beautiful season of Presence, promise, and provision. Occasionally we experienced seasons of 24/7 worship & prayer. Our first scheduled 24hr worship event (Burn 24), spontaneously continued exactly 7 days and 7 hours!
During this time, we didn’t consider ourselves to be a church, but rather a ministry to the churches in the area—a para-church ministry. Our prayer room was mainly fueled by other local churches sending their worshipers and intercessors to keep the fire on the altar burning. By operating as a para-church, The Lord positioned us to carry the burden of uniting churches across the city in seeking the Lord together as one while also pursuing night and day prayer. Out of this grew partnerships with 10 Days, City Reachers, Light Houses of Prayer, Revival SA, the Texas Justice Foundation and many churches in the city: King’s Mission, River of Life, Transformation Place, Iglesia Shalom, and Faith Outreach—to name a few. What’s beautiful is that all of these key relationships continue to this day and the family of unity keeps growing!
Since those beginning years, a fellowship of believers continually devoted to prayer grew into a community desiring fellowship with one another. Because of this, the gentle Leading of the Lord has called us to scale down prayer room hours in order to better sustain that community. In 2017 we felt called of God to fervently love one another from the heart in order to become a family. This has been an incredible journey. Today, we are simply a people of the two great commandments: loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving one another as Jesus loves us. What began as a para-church house of prayer has naturally grown into a local church community committed to prayer, fellowship, understanding, and the Table of The Lord. We’ve come a long way since the summer of 2014, but we will always be a Praying Church Family.
Welcome to San Antonio Tabernacle House of Prayer!