Walnut Creek Church Blog

Mission to the City Goes Global

Mission to the City volunteers pack meals for Meals from the Heartland. Photo by Stephanie Brandstatt.

The work of Mission to the City reaches beyond Des Moines – as far South Africa, Haiti, and the Philippines. Mission to the City groups from Walnut Creek Windsor Heights teamed up with Meals from the Heartland to pack meals that will be sent to those three countries.

“We packed 20,000 meals just this morning,” said Joel O’Dell, hunger fight manager for Meals from the Heartland. “The need is great. One in six people in the world is starving. It’s biblical to help them – we’re called to take care of our neighbors.”

Brigitte Haugen of Walnut Creek Windsor Heights said the experience was very eye-opening for her. “There are a lot of people who need food,” she said. “I’m thankful we can be part of this because it demonstrates how much we as a church care about people.”

Jon Touchette, also of Walnut Creek Windsor Heights, said he was impressed by the efficiency of Meals from the Heartland’s system, which allowed them to pack the most meals possible in the time they were there. He added that feeding the hungry is really about following Jesus’ example. “Jesus did what he taught,” he said. “It’s important to live the gospel – not just speak the gospel.”

Pancakes with a Purpose

Come and get all-you-can-eat pancakes at Walnut Creek Downtown on Sunday, May 25, from noon to 1:30 p.m. The pancake brunch is one of the many activities happening at Walnut Creek Church this weekend as part of Mission to the City.

The proceeds from the pancake brunch will go to support Operation Christmas Child and Walnut Creek's annual Christmas in July party on July 18. This year's Christmas in July party will be bigger than ever because it will be a "special access" packing party.

Shoe box gifts packed at a special access party are sent to countries that are especially spiritually dark and resistant to Operation Christmas Child's efforts. Agreeing to host a special access party means committing to pack 1,000 boxes and raise $7,000.

"It's a huge honor to be asked by Operation Christmas Child to consider hosting a special access party," said Sarah Johnson of Walnut Creek Downtown and one of the event's organizers. "It's a big goal, but I'm confident in our ability to come together as a church to support this great cause."

Last year, Operation Christmas Child had requests for approximately 400,000 shoe box gifts from special access countries, and nearly 300,000 were collected. This year, the number of requests has grown to 500,000.

For $5 per plate, you can help Operation Christmas Child meet those 500,000 requests — and fill yourself with delicious pancakes.

Mission to the City Kicks Off

A worship and prayer night marks the start of this year's Mission to the City, May 23-26.

Walnut Creek Church’s fourth annual Mission to the City kicked off Thursday evening with a worship and prayer night. During the four-day long event, church members will serve the city with thousands of hours of community service and reach out to many with the Gospel – or, as the name implies, take a mission trip to Des Moines.

Nearly 500 people are participating in Mission to the City this year. For the first time, all Walnut Creek congregations are holding Mission to the City over Memorial Day weekend.

During the worship and prayer night, Pastor Dan Rude shared two principles that have motivated the church to do Mission to the City each year.

Christians are to be the light. “Mission to the City is all about being a light to the city,” Pastor Dan said. “It’s our identity as Christians, and this is an intentional time we set aside to serve Des Moines.”
The good news about Christ is too good to keep to ourselves. “There will be opportunities to share your faith,” he said.

Pastor Dan also shared the five key things we do during Mission to the City:

Serve other churches
Serve ministries
Serve organizations
Serve the city of Des Moines
Serve people

Join the Conversation

Join the Mission to the City conversation by posting on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and using the hashtag #m2tc. For a live look at the Mission to the City activities happening around the Des Moines metro right now, go to walnutcreekchurch.org/m2tc.

Walnut Creek Church Launches Mobile App

During weekend services on April 26 and 27, Walnut Creek Church officially announced the launch of the new Walnut Creek Church mobile app.

The app contains several resources, including weekly sermon videos, upcoming events, service times and locations, posts from this blog and more.

"One of the goals of the app is to help people stay connected," Pastor Luke Hukee said. "For example, if you miss a message, you can catch up on the app while driving in the car. Not only is the message available, but so are the notes for the sermon."

But that's not all the app is for. "Ultimately, we want to reach more people with the Gospel." Hukee said. "Young people in particular are on their mobile device using apps all the time. This is another way to put Gospel-centered content into the hands of more and more people."

For more information and to download the free app, click here.

Also, be sure to check out our 30 second ad featuring the new app.

By Tim Laehn
Walnut Creek Downtown

A Focus on Fatherhood

Pastor Rick Whitney shares important parenting principles with attendees of the Fatherhood Seminar.

More than 160 men gathered together for a half-day Fatherhood Seminar on April 12 at Walnut Creek Downtown. They were joined by Pastor Rick Whitney of Vintage Faith Church in Manhattan, Kansas, who spoke on “The Importance of Fatherhood.”

“I’m just one father sharing with you some things God has taught me over the years,” Whitney said. He shared seven principles of parenting he and his wife held to as they raised their seven now grown children.

“I thought it was a good time to be together as fathers and learn from those who have gone before us and raised godly children,” said Jason Wicks of Walnut Creek Windsor Heights. Wicks said the most important thing he learned had to do with prayer. “It was good to be reminded of the value of praying and praying often and developing that habit with your kids as soon as they learn to talk,” Wicks said.

Following Whitney’s talk and a Q&A time, breakout sessions divided by their children’s age ranges gave fathers the opportunity to gain deeper insight. The three breakout sessions were:

0-7 years old, led by Pastors Mike Bourland and Tim Rude
8-12 years old, led by Pastors Terry Amann and Bruce Crane
13+ years old, led by Pastors Bob Joy, Joel Swanson and Rick Whitney

Following the breakout sessions, a free lunch provided attendees an opportunity for fellowship and to discuss what they learned.

By Tim Laehn
Walnut Creek Downtown

All Sons & Daughters Provides Night of Worship, Worship Leader Roundtable at Walnut Creek

All Sons & Daughters leads worship at Walnut Creek Downtown on March 11. Photo by Graham Gardner.

As part of their “A Night of Worship” tour, popular Christian band All Sons & Daughters made a stop at Walnut Creek Downtown on March 11. Worshipers from around Des Moines filled the church for not your typical concert.

“I thought All Sons and Daughters did a fantastic job of leading worship, and not putting on a show,” said Darrin Miedema of Walnut Creek Downtown. “Honestly, I expected it to feel like a concert. And while the quality of music was professional, the flow and feel of the event was that it was a worship service. It was a very enjoyable and refreshing time.”

Alex Mentzer, also from Walnut Creek Downtown, said it was unlike any concert she’s ever been to. “I appreciated that they recognized people worship differently – there were communion tables, a table with sketchbooks for people to write or draw, a table for people to give financially to an organization called Feed One. If people needed space or a place to kneel, they encouraged us to find some space,” Mentzer said.

The worship duo, David Leonard and Leslie Jordan, were joined by their pastor and friend Jamie George. Between songs, George gave a message on Luke 7 in which he shared the gospel and talked about how God meets us in our loneliness.

“I sat in the front row and got to watch people take communion,” Mentzer said. “It was beautiful knowing they were all taking time to remember what God had done in their lives, and it was a great time for me to reflect on how God redeemed me and revel in the deep love God has for me.”

Miedema said one of his favorite parts of the night was seeing so many Christians from different churches in Des Moines worshiping together at one event. “Different churches have different visions, different stances on certain issues, and different cultures, but ultimately we should look for opportunities to love and serve one another and be united in the advancement of God’s Kingdom,” he said.

Worship Leader Roundtable

Worship leaders from Des Moines area churches were invited to take part in a roundtable discussion with All Sons & Daughters at Walnut Creek Downtown prior to the show on March 11.

“It was encouraging to see other people’s passion for music and leading their congregation into greater affection for Jesus,” said Miedema, a worship leader at Walnut Creek Downtown. “It was also encouraging to know that there are many other people faithfully serving in this area and managing the sacrifices that it requires.”

By Tim Laehn
Walnut Creek Downtown

Upward Season Ends With a Spin

The Crevier family performs their Spin-tacular Basketball Show before attendees of the Upward Awards Ceremony on March 8. Photo by Audrey Van Lohn

Another successful season of Upward basketball through Walnut Creek Church closed Saturday with an exciting awards ceremony. The Crevier family, who travels the world with their unicycle-riding, basketball-spinning Spin-tacular Basketball Show, performed and presented the gospel before a packed gym of Upward basketball players, cheerleaders and their families. Also during the ceremony, all the Upward players were announced, and all cheer squads performed a cheer or dance.

More than 650 basketball players and 100 cheerleaders from grades kindergarten through eighth participated in this year’s season, making it the biggest season to-date. “The season went very well for us,” said Kyle Kurtenbach of Walnut Creek Downtown, who serves on the Upward basketball board. “The Lord provided all of the volunteers we needed,” he said, adding that there was more emphasis placed on lining up community groups to provide volunteers for refs, concessions, and scoreboards at weekend games.

Throughout the nine-week season, games were held at three different Des Moines area locations: Merrill Middle School, Walnut Creek Downtown, and Walnut Creek Windsor Heights.

As in previous years, a devotional video was shown during halftime of each game. The theme of this year’s devotionals was “The Validity of the Bible.” Each week, a Walnut Creek pastor provided a brief video presentation on topics such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The pastors also used the opportunity to share the gospel with the kids and their families and to tell them how much God loves them and what it means to be a follower of Christ.

“Upward brings a Christ-centered league to Des Moines and a major opportunity to reach kids and families with the gospel,” Kurtenbach said. “It also teaches kids the fundamentals of basketball while keeping in perspective the role sports should play in comparison to God.”

In addition to Kurtenbach, other Upward basketball board members include Dave Rude, Chrissy Bloom, Rachel Bohacek, Becca Close, KayDee Cross, Jen Engdahl, Jordan Harlow, Blake Kruger, Ricki Meyer, Leah Wake, Joel Winters and Marc Wright.

By Tim Laehn
Walnut Creek Downtown