Celebrating 60 Years of Faithful Service

In 1961, a small group of believers began meeting for Bible Study in the farmhouse owned by Cliff and Edna Doubleday just outside Elkhart, IA.  By 1962, the group grew to the point where they needed a larger place to meet.  They began conducting Sunday worship services in the Ankeny American Legion Hall.  In February of 1963, the First Baptist Church of Ferguson in St. Louis, Missouri, assumed sponsorship of the church, and it became known as Berea Baptist Chapel.  In November of that year, the fellowship purchased the house at 713 SE 3^rd Street in Ankeny.  It would serve as a parsonage for their first pastor, Rev. Don Woodcock, and as a meeting place for worship.  A year later, with Rev. Wendell Mosser as pastor, the church changed its name to East Ankeny Baptist Chapel.

In June 1965, a site was selected for a church building to be constructed.  The location was at the corner of what is E. First Street and Trilein today.  The building was completed and dedicated on March 4, 1967.  In 1972, the church became self-supporting.  With Rev. Ron Kallem, the name of the church was changed one more time.  On April 17, 1983, the church became Cornerstone Baptist Church.  For a few years, the church once again became a “mission type” church supported by the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention.  As the church grew, an addition was built with a new worship center and additional education space.  It was completed in November 1998.  

God has sent several men of faith over the years to shepherd the congregation.  The current pastor is Rev. Evan Johnson.  He came to Cornerstone in 2020 after serving as an Associate Pastor and Director of Youth at Immanuel Baptist Church in Bethany, MO.  He also served as a student missionary in Uganda and as a Pastoral Intern at Williamstown Baptist Church in Williamstown, KY.  He completed his Master of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.