More People. More Like Jesus.: A 150-Year Story in Saylorville Township
Saylorville Church stands at 6429 NW 6th Drive, just south of the intersection with Corporate Woods Drive in Saylorville Township - the rolling stretch of Polk County that sits between Des Moines and Ankeny, Iowa. From a log cabin that housed a Methodist Episcopal congregation in the 1850s, through an underground basement church built in the 1940s, to the present campus with five parking lots and a Family Life Center, this congregation has been declaring the glory of God in Christ for more than 150 years.
The church is known around the Des Moines metro for its family-friendly, gospel-centered identity, its steady stream of baptisms, and its determined habit of sending out new churches. Its motto, stamped across the front of the building and on every bulletin, reads simply: "More People. More Like Jesus."
From Log Cabin to the Engage Network
In the 1850s the first worshipers gathered in a log cabin in what was then called Saylorville. By the 1920s the congregation had become Saylorville Community Church, and convictions about the Bible's authority and the exclusivity of the gospel were already shaping its doctrine.
In 1948, with theological liberalism making inroads into many Midwest churches, Pastor Harold Young led the church to affiliate with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches and to take the name Saylorville Baptist Church. The GARBC, the church explains, is "a fellowship of churches across the country with no church or denominational headship holding authority over any church" - simply an agreed-upon friendship of Baptist churches that hold to historic Baptist beliefs.
The next several decades brought steady growth. Clark Mann, William Koltivich, and Everett Wolfe led outreach in the 1950s and 60s that pushed attendance past 200. Frank Chittock's youth and outreach emphasis in the early 1970s carried the church over 300. Under Joe Hayes in the 1980s, the congregation built the large sanctuary it still worships in. Gary Butler led the church out of debt in the early 1990s as attendance climbed past 400.
A poorly handled discipline situation in 1997 led to a painful season, but the following year Pat Nemmers arrived as lead pastor. The church grew again, expanded in 2005, and exceeded 500 in attendance. In 2013, to remove what many saw as a roadblock in a name that often prompted the question "What are you not?", the church simply became Saylorville Church.
The Engage Network: A Church That Plants Churches
That same year, with attendance growing and many people coming to faith, the elders cast a new vision: Saylorville would become a church-planting church. That vision has produced what is now called the Engage Network, a fellowship of gospel-centered churches that have together started more than half a dozen new congregations across central Iowa.
The first plant, Lakeside Fellowship in Polk City, was established in 2006 under the leadership of Dave Heisterkamp. Living Waters Fellowship in South Des Moines followed in 2009 with Josh Daggett as planter. Greg Pollak launched High Pointe Church in Altoona in 2012, and Redeemer Church in Winterset began in 2015 under Jaysson Gurwell. In 2019, Lakeside Fellowship in turn planted New City Church in Ankeny, with Adam Beecher as lead pastor and Chuck DeCleene, who had served as Saylorville's evangelism pastor for nineteen years, joining the new church's pastoral team.
Today the Engage Network Leadership Development Program exists to move "people from our ministries to the ministry," identifying, training, and sending men and women into vocational ministry, especially church planting.
Sunday Mornings at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00
Saylorville meets three times on Sunday morning in its auditorium: at 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 11:00 a.m. All three services are identical in music and message, so newcomers can pick whichever hour fits their morning.
The music is contemporary, led by a worship team, and the preaching walks straight through books of the Bible. The church's preaching translation is the English Standard Version (ESV). A Bible is not required - the texts and verses appear on screen - but those who bring one tend to follow along in ESV.
Sunday Nights at Saylorville is a separate monthly gathering during the school year that begins at 5:00 p.m. Past series have ranged from doctrinal teaching to missions emphases.
What to Wear, Where to Park, What to Expect
On a Sunday morning, parking attendants help direct traffic into the five lots that ring the building, and handicap parking is available near the entrances. Greeters wait at the doors, and a Welcome Center is staffed once visitors are inside. Door 2, on the northeast side, has a pull-through driveway with an overhang that shelters riders from the weather.
As for dress, the church's guidance is simple: wear whatever you like - skirts and dresses, jeans, shorts, casual all work. The atmosphere is family-friendly and warm, and the Coffee Cove, a cafe area between services, is the social hub where newcomers regularly find their first conversation.
Services are also livestreamed on YouTube at all three morning hours, and recordings remain available afterward along with transcripts and downloadable sermon questions.
Saylorville Kids: Nursery Through Fifth Grade
The children's ministry runs in every age-graded room of the Family Life Center and is divided into four sections.
- Nursery. Two rooms are offered: an infant nursery for newborns through confident walkers, and a toddler nursery for confident walkers through 2 1/2 years old.
- 2 1/2 to 3 years. A transitional class with play, a short Bible lesson, a craft, songs, and a snack.
- 4 years through preschool. Children learn and recite Bible verses, join large-group worship, hear Bible lessons, play games, snack, and craft.
- Kindergarten through fifth grade. A similar format, using The Gospel Project, a Christ-centered, chronological Bible-study curriculum that walks through the story of redemption.
Kids Director Caleb Fisher oversees the program. Safety is taken seriously: every volunteer is background-checked and must be a member of Saylorville. Each child receives a randomly numbered security tag, and the matching tag must be presented before a child is released.
During the school year, kindergarten through fifth grade meets during all three morning services. In the summer, K through 5th grade meets only at the 11:00 a.m. service. Nursery and preschool care are available at every morning service all year.
Saylorville Students on Wednesday Nights
Middle school and high school students meet on Wednesdays during the school year from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Youth Ministries Pastor Jerrod Leonard and Middle School Director AJ Lux lead the program, which partners with parents to make "more students more like Jesus" through gospel-centered teaching, mentoring, and learning experiences.
Summer brings Lake Ann Camp in Michigan, where Saylorville students join other churches for a week of camp. A $150 scholarship is available to member families whose students memorize 1 John 3 and submit 15 sets of sermon notes from Saylorville services.
Rise Up: A Sunday-Morning Place for Friends with Disabilities
Rise Up is a ministry that demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ to physically and intellectually disabled adults in central Iowa. It meets on Sundays from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Student Center, a handicap-accessible space, and includes Bible stories and lessons, music, crafts, and puppet shows. Community Groups are invited to serve together in Rise Up as a hands-on ministry opportunity.
Community Groups Across the Des Moines Metro
Community is the organizing principle of life at Saylorville outside Sunday services. The church's small-group ministry unites what used to be Cell Groups, Men's Bible Studies, Women's Bible Studies, and Young Adult groups under one banner: Community Groups.
Each group gathers 6 to 12 people around either "life" - prioritizing relationships and application - or "learning," which emphasizes Bible study content. Groups meet on different nights and in different parts of the Des Moines metro, and most follow a seasonal rhythm: a fall season from Labor Day to Christmas, a spring season from Super Bowl Sunday to Memorial Day, and an optional summer season from July 4 to mid-August.
About 75 percent of those attending on Sunday mornings are part of a Community Group. To lead a Community Group, a person must be a saved and baptized member of Saylorville, recognize the Bible as authoritative, model faithfulness in attendance, giving, serving, and leadership, have completed at least one season in a Community Group, and be willing to lead through at least one full group life cycle.
The church has built an extensive training library for group leaders built around nine essentials: Scripture, Relationships, Participation, Service, Movement, Accountability, Authenticity, Multiplication, and Mission.
Men, Women, Young Adults, and Senior Adults
Men. Men's Ministry Director Kyhl Pearson oversees a network of men's Community Groups, monthly men's breakfasts, an annual Wilderness Trip backpacking through the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota, and Men's Prayer on the last Saturday of every month at 6:00 a.m. in the Coffee Cove.
Women. Women's Ministry Director Lindsey Holan leads women's Bible studies, Community Groups, an ongoing women's podcast, and service opportunities for women. Women's Counseling Director Meredith Jackson leads the counseling arm of the ministry. Bible studies for women meet throughout the year and are scheduled at times convenient for the leader.
Young Adults. Young Adults Director Curtis Johnson leads a small-group-driven community for single or married young adults from college age through young professionals. Young Adult Community Groups are available on the church's online groups page, and the ministry also produces a YA podcast.
Senior Adults and Prime Timers. Senior Adult Director Randy Charlton oversees the Saylorville Senior Adults (SSA) ministry for adults around 70 and older. SSA hosts a monthly meeting - typically on the third Wednesday - that has included trips to see the tulips in Pella, park breakfasts, and soup lunches at the church. A separate Prime Timers group serves adults in their 50s and 60s with its own monthly fellowship.
Gospel Centered Recovery on Tuesday Nights
Gospel Centered Recovery (GCR Saylorville) meets every Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Coffee Cove, with entrance through Door 2 on the northeast side of the building. The ministry exists for men and women who want freedom from life-dominating sin and idolatry, and each evening includes large-group teaching followed by small-group breakouts.
Counseling and Heart for Des Moines
Music and Counseling Pastor Paul Seymour and Women's Counseling Director Meredith Jackson head the counseling ministry, which serves women in the church and the broader community. The counseling team also produces resources for Community Group leaders who are walking alongside members through difficulty.
Heart for Des Moines is the church's compassion ministry to its surrounding community. Like the rest of the church's work, it aims to make "more people more like Jesus" by meeting practical needs in the metro.
Adult Education
Adult Education offers ongoing classes for men and women designed to deepen Bible literacy and theological understanding. Classes typically run in seasonal blocks and use set curriculum with homework and benchmarks. Current and past class recordings are available on the church's YouTube channel.
Missionaries on Five Continents
Saylorville supports a roster of missionaries serving around the world, including Jay and Tami Prescott with FCA in Urbandale, Iowa; Shane and Erin Latham in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Joseph and Kimberly Frerichs and Steve and Kelley Frerichs in Lima, Peru; Cole and Debbie Albright in Latin America; Andy and Lindsey Messmer in Seville, Spain; Rich and Julia Rudolph in Leipzig, Germany; Tyler and Katherine Betz in La Rochelle, France; Jonathan and Alannah Michalski in Lukaya, Uganda; Bill and Becky Petite in Izumi, Japan; and Nan Veach with Central Iowa FCA.
Each fall the church hosts its Saylorville Church Missions Conference, a four-day event in which missionaries visit for prayer times, hangouts by audience (seniors, students, families, mixed adults), and a closing Sunday-night celebration. A Missionary Christmas tradition allows the congregation to purchase gifts for missionaries from their personal wish lists.
What Saylorville Church Believes
The church's doctrinal statement lays out sixteen Articles of Faith.
The church holds that the Bible, as originally given, was verbally inspired and is "truth without any mixture of error." There is one living and true God, infinite, intelligent, and holy, existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - equal in every divine perfection. Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; He is true God and true man, who died for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice, rose again, ascended into heaven, and will return personally and bodily before a millennial reign.
The church accepts the Genesis account of creation, believes that man came by direct creation of God, and holds that all human beings are sinners by both nature and choice. The Holy Spirit is a divine person who convicts of sin, regenerates, seals, sanctifies, and guides the believer. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone; the new birth is instantaneous and is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word. Justification is the declaration of righteousness, secured by the Redeemer's blood and imputed righteousness.
Ordinances are believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. The church practices congregational governance under the headship of Jesus Christ alone, with pastors and deacons as the offices established in Scripture. The church holds to the eternal security of the believer, the conscious, everlasting suffering of the lost, and a distinct view of civil government as appointed by God.
The Pastoral Team and Deacons
Pat Nemmers has served as lead pastor since 1998. The pastoral team includes Jason Jackson, discipleship pastor; Paul Seymour, music and counseling pastor; Jerrod Leonard, youth ministries pastor; Kyhl Pearson, men's ministry pastor; and Colton Willey, connections pastor.
Ministry directors include AJ Lux (middle school), Caleb Fisher (kids), Lindsey Holan (women), Curtis Johnson (young adults), Randy Charlton (senior adults), and Meredith Jackson (women's counseling).
Deacons currently serving include Mike Bear, Joe Funkhouser, Jim Grant, Jeff Hardie, Jeremy Holan, Brad Millard, David Millheim, Jeff Rouse, David Taschner, and Nate Worsham.
Media, Podcasts, and the Five-Day Bible Plan
The church's media footprint is unusually large for a single congregation. Every Sunday morning sermon is posted in audio, video, and transcript form, with downloadable discussion questions for Community Groups. Searchable sermon archives go back many years and can be filtered by book of the Bible, topic, or speaker.
A separate podcast feed, "The Saylorville Women's Podcast," runs on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, alongside a podcast for young adults. Services are also livestreamed on YouTube, and a SoundCloud account hosts additional audio.
Saylorville has partnered with RightNow Media to give every member free access to a streaming library of more than 10,000 Bible-study, leadership, marriage, parenting, and kids' videos. The church also produces its own Five-Day Bible Reading Plan, structured around five days a week so readers can take two days off, with options to read either the entire Bible or just the New Testament in a year.
Visiting Saylorville Church
The address is 6429 NW 6th Drive, Des Moines, IA 50313. The phone number is 515-289-2395; the text line is 515-999-6429. Email goes to office@saylorvillechurch.com. The fastest way to get connected as a newcomer is to register for Saylorville Connect, a free, casual Sunday lunch held after the third service a few times a year where newcomers meet pastors, ministry leaders, and other newcomers.