Posted on

Church celebrates silver anniversary with wider community

Church celebrates silver anniversary with wider community

Out of many locations, one mission continued

It started as a small, unofficial church group among eight members of Charles City. Now 25 years later, the Evangelical Free Church of Charles City will be celebrating an anniversary and years of stories at 7 p.m. on Dec. 4, during a celebration at the Ministry Center on Main Street.

The church asks community members to RSVP for the December gathering by Nov. 30. Visitors can call 641-2282780.

“It’s just a time to get together and share stories and memories of the church as it’s moved around to various locations around Charles City,” church member Colleen Downey said, later adding, “Each location has provided lessons for the church family, with the most important lesson of all: God is faithful to what was begun.”

The church has been in its current location since 2006, Downey said, and remain active in community mission work –– from Habitat for Humanity, Bible study groups for men and women, camp scholarships and weekend retreats, the church uses what they have for service, she said.

“We’re a small church, but we have a big heart,” Downey said. “We have something for everyone.”

Founded in December 1990, the church held their first service Dec. 2 of that year in Charles City’s NIACC Center, led by Evangelical Free church planter Rev. Bob Nieuwendorp of Iowa Falls. From there, the congregation migrated to several unconventional locations before settling in at their current Ministry Center.

“We all learned that a church was not a building, it was this group of people, and that was really important for our families to see that a church could be at the NIACC Center, at the Lincoln School, it could be at the Teen Center,” Randy Heitz, a founding member with his wife Marilyn, said.

“We were kind of the church in a box,” Downey, who joined in 1994, said.

It took between six to eight months to officially incorporate the church, Heitz said. The small congregation worked with Nieuwendorp, creating bylaws and working with the Evangelical Free denomination on program specifics. After six months of church services with Nieuwendorp, Rev. Tom Scheck and his wife led the congregation for a year and a half; in return, the church helped him prepare his leadership skills in the U.S. before leaving to become a church planter in Germany.

“We were not trying to take people away from other churches in the community, but trying to draw people who were not currently attending church,” Marilyn Heitz said. “It was kind of different, it wasn’t in a church building. That can sometimes be attractive to those who had negatives experiences in a church, or are just uncomfortable with that church concept.”

The church still reaches out to community members who have never visited, Downey said, and their silver anniversary welcomes in all area residents.

“Anyone is welcome, we’d love to have you come and join us,” Downey said.

By Kate Hayden khayden@charlescitypress.com

Social Share

LATEST NEWS