Meeting God Here on Ansborough Avenue
Cedar Valley Church sits on Ansborough Avenue on the west side of Waterloo, Iowa, a single location where three rhythms run alongside one another week after week: a Sunday morning congregation of several hundred people, a weekday preschool called Happy Time, and a steady stream of small groups and Bible studies that fill the building from early morning to midweek evenings. The church's motto is "Meet God Here."
Cedar Valley is part of The Wesleyan Church, a denomination that takes its theological cues from John Wesley and gives the church a clear framework for what it teaches and how it does ministry. The people who walk through the doors describe the tone as casual, warm and family-style. Visitors are told to come as they are, no need to dress up, and to expect a greeting at the door, age-appropriate Bible teaching for their children, and a service designed to be relevant and real.
Sundays at 10:30, In Person and Online
The main weekly gathering happens on Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM at 3520 Ansborough Avenue. Worship is led by Worship Pastor Jeremy Good and a team of musicians and vocalists, with preaching from Lead Pastor Kalen Eckenrod, Associate Pastor Lucy Kerns and occasional guest teachers. Services are also livestreamed on Facebook Live and YouTube Live, with an archive of recent sermon series available for catch-up viewing. Small group questions are posted alongside each series so that neighbors and friends can discuss the same text in homes around the city during the week.
For those arriving early, two adult Sunday school classes meet at 9:00 AM. One, in Room 123, is open to adults of any age and rotates through biblical theology, books of the Bible, supplemental pastor teachings and multi-week studies, with childcare provided. The other, in Room 120, walks through the Wesley Quarterly Bible Study and currently sits in the book of James, drawing an older crowd but welcoming everyone.
Kids and Students: Cedar Valley NextGen
Children are a central focus of the church's ministry, and the NextGen team works hard to make Sunday morning a place families can rely on. CVC Kids runs throughout the 10:30 worship service with three options: a nursery for ages 0 to 2, a PreK room for 3- and 4-year-olds, and Kids Church for first through fifth grade, which is dismissed during the service for age-appropriate Bible teaching in a safe and loving environment.
The same children are invited back on Wednesday evenings. Midweek Kids meets from 6:30 to 8:00 PM for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Student Pastor Maddie May leads the parallel program for older teens. Life Student Ministries gathers sixth through twelfth graders on Wednesdays from 6:15 to 8:15 PM, a long weekly block that includes teaching, small groups and time for the friendships that tend to carry students through their high school years.
Adults: Bible Studies, Men's and Women's Groups
Beyond Sunday morning, the adult calendar at Cedar Valley runs on a weekly rhythm built around the Bible. Men have two options. On Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 PM a second men's group walks through the book of Acts in Room 120. A men's breakfast on the third Saturday of each month from 8:00 to 9:30 AM adds a fellowship layer to the studies.
Women meet on Tuesday mornings at 9:15 AM in Room 123 for their own Bible study, and on Wednesday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 AM the church hosts a Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class led by women in the wider community. J.O.Y., which stands for Just Older Youth, brings adults aged 20 and up together for lunch, a short message or testimony, and prayer on the second Thursday of each month from April through December, with a $7 charge to cover the meal.
Small groups are encouraged as the primary way to deepen friendships and study. The church publishes small group questions for each sermon series and provides written guidelines for anyone interested in hosting or joining a group.
Belong, Believe, Become
The church's mission statement is short enough to memorize: inviting everyone to BELIEVE in the forgiveness found in Christ, BELONG to a loving church family, and BECOME more and more like Jesus. Four core values give that mission shape.
Church as Family is the first value, expressed through generosity, authentic relationships and nurturing care for one another. Second Chances follows, a commitment to extending the grace the church has itself received from Jesus to anyone who walks through the door. Transformational Faith points to a daily walk in which Biblical truth is lived out in ordinary life. Holistic Mission pulls it all together: seeking and sharing with those who need Jesus, serving the felt needs of the community and sending workers out into the marketplace.
Local and Global Missions
Cedar Valley takes seriously the call to be the church beyond its walls. Locally, it financially supports several nonprofit partners in the Cedar Valley area. Alternatives Pregnancy Center serves people facing unplanned pregnancies and at-risk situations. Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ) networks churches across denominational lines to bless those in need in the community. One City and Wildwood Hills Ranch of Iowa round out the partnerships, with the ranch providing healing, hope and unconditional love to children and youth at risk.
The church also operates its own 5x2 mobile food and clothing pantry, an outreach that meets tangible needs in the neighborhood, and partners with Heart Surrender Ministry, which leads a monthly worship service in the Mount Pleasant state prison and produces the Voice of Freedom newsletter sent to Iowa state inmates, Black Hawk and Linn County jails, and prior inmates.
Globally, monthly support goes to twelve individuals and families, and the church partners with Samaritan's Purse and Greater Grace Ministries in Liberia. An annual missions conference called SHINE brings local and global missionaries together each November to update the congregation and cast vision for the year ahead.
Happy Time Preschool & Daycare
Tucked into the west entrance of the building, Happy Time Preschool & Daycare has been a ministry of Cedar Valley Church for more than fifty years. It is a Bible-based, Christ-centered facility that provides care and early education for children from six weeks through five years of age, plus before-and-after school care for kindergarten through fifth grade and an engaging summer program.
Happy Time operates Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Ministry Director Sun Hee Hahn leads the staff, and the center welcomes inquiries by phone at 319-235-6783 or by email at htime@cedarvalleychurch.net. Families interested in a tour can call to schedule one.
What They Believe
Cedar Valley's teaching follows the Articles of Religion of The Wesleyan Church. The church confesses faith in one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in Jesus Christ as truly God and truly man, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, buried, raised bodily and now interceding at the Father's right hand. The Holy Spirit is honored as the Administrator of grace and the effective Agent in conviction, regeneration, sanctification and glorification.
The Old and New Testaments are received as the inspired, infallibly written Word of God, fully inerrant in their original manuscripts and containing all things necessary to salvation. Two sacraments are observed: water baptism, administered to believers as a symbol of the new covenant of grace, and the Lord's Supper, received in faith as a means of grace that strengthens and confirms it.
Two Wesleyan distinctives shape how the church talks about Christian life. The first is entire sanctification, a moment in the believer's journey, wrought through faith in Jesus Christ and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, in which the heart is cleansed from inbred sin and empowered for loving service. The second is the belief that humanity, though fallen, is offered prevenient grace that makes repentance and faith possible, so that no one is beyond reach.
Leadership and Governance
Cedar Valley is served by a small pastoral team. Kalen Eckenrod leads the church as Lead Pastor. Lucy Kerns serves as Associate Pastor, Maddie May as Student Pastor and Jeremy Good as Worship Pastor. Ephrain Acfalle directs facility and first impressions, and Sun Hee Hahn leads Happy Time Preschool and Daycare. A Local Board of Administration, with Terry Flynn serving as Head Trustee, oversees the governance of the church.
Plan a Visit, Watch Online or Get Involved
Anyone exploring the church for the first time is invited to show up on Sunday at 10:30 AM at 3520 Ansborough Avenue. Parking is available on site, the dress code is casual, and the kids' ministry is ready to welcome children from nursery through fifth grade. Those who can't make it in person can join the livestream on Facebook Live or YouTube Live, and the sermon archive keeps past series available any time.
Giving can be done online with a credit or debit card or through an ACH bank transfer with no fees. Anyone interested in serving can fill out a contact form, and current sign-ups are available for baptism, child dedication, small groups, midweek programs and seasonal conferences.
Cedar Valley Church, on the west side of Waterloo, is a place where a Wesleyan family gathers week after week to worship, study, serve and grow together.