“Our launch service was amazing. We feel so blessed,” said Church Planter and Pastor Jeff Ream. “We had 149 people in attendance and we saw 12 salvations the first week! Last Sunday (January 15th) we saw 8 salvations. That’s 22 salvations in the first two weeks so we are very excited for what God is doing. But we don’t just want decisions, we want disciples. Pray that we will be able to follow up well.”

There was a full breakfast served on launch day before the worship service. “We served eggs, sausage, pancakes, and it went really well. We plan to serve a full breakfast once a month as a way to serve guests and draw visitors in. We know people will come for breakfast and stay for church to hear the gospel.”

More Than 2 Years of Prayer and Preparation

Planting Generations Church has been in process for more than two years. Pastor Jeff, originally from Waterloo, and his wife Jenn have served in numerous ministry capacities in multiple churches throughout the years. After receiving a call to start a new work in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, Jeff reached out two years ago to Chase Abner, Send Network Lead Church Planting Catalyst for Iowa. They explored the possibilities of planting with Send Network and eventually went through the Send Network Assessment process. During the planter development process, it was determined that Generations Church needed the support of a sending church. Chase Abner had previously connected Jeff with Pastor Nick Reed from CityPoint Church in Urbandale. Eventually, it was decided that CityPoint, itself a recent church plant, could serve as a sending church for Generations Church.

“It’s exciting to see two years of prayer and preparation come together for Jeff, Jenn, and Generations Church,” said Chase Abner. “God is bringing together a church family from diverse walks of life to make a positive impact in the Cedar Valley.”

Unexpected Blessings from Kingdom-Minded Partners

One major unexpected blessing that the Lord brought to Generations was a free facility. “We assumed we were going to be a mobile church for several years, at least. But an opportunity presented itself to purchase a facility from a recently closed church in Cedar Falls.” Not having even launched yet, they had no way to finance this kind of purchase. But the Lord provided a Christian investor willing to provide a loan. “We were in the process of determining the terms of financing when the investor said he wanted to make a ‘kingdom-minded decision.’ He provided full funding to purchase the facility. We owe nothing for the facility. And God has also provided builders to remodel and refurbish it as well. We’ve repaired the ceiling, replaced the flooring, and added a new cafe for fellowship and hospitality.”

All About the Gospel

“It’s been a whirlwind for sure. But we are excited to see what God is already doing. We are all about the gospel and we’re running with that. We want to be a church where people can bring their unsaved friends and they feel accepted and loved, so that they can hear the gospel.”