Conflict in churches leads to splits so often as to make them commonplace, though no less sad. This makes the story of church unification all the more compelling—as in the case of two PCA churches in Ackley, Iowa.
West Friesland Presbyterian Church was more than 140 years old when Shawn Willis (MDiv ’10) first applied to become its solo pastor. The church replied to his application with a unique invitation.
“They told me that there were two churches—West Friesland and Faith—that were actually seeking a pastor together,” Shawn remembers. “They asked me if I still wanted to apply knowing I would pastor both.”
The two churches are located in Ackley, Iowa. “You can actually see one church building from the other,” Shawn says. Ackley itself is an old farming community, with a population of roughly 1,500 people. So how does a small town end up with two PCA churches within sight of one another?
Shawn laughs, and says, “That’s the question isn’t it?” West Friesland was originally organized as The Second German Presbyterian Church of Grundy County, a Swiss-German congregation, in 1873. The congregation became part of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA. It later transferred membership into the PCA. By comparison, Faith Presbyterian Church is young. It was started by a group that left East Friesland Presbyterian Church (USA) because of the increasingly liberal leanings of that denomination.
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God bless Pastor Willis and these believers! I often dreamed of being called to serve uniting congregations, especially ones who’ve escaped the raging apostasy of this age. Instead, I served conflicted groups. Now retired, I’m thrilled to read that this wonder is being worked by the Lord. Yea, Whoopy and Ho-Rah! May God be praised!
Wow! What a heart warming story of 2 small churches in a midwest farming community coming together to further Christ’s work.