1944-2024

In 1944, a group of passionate individuals formed our congregation to share the love of God with their neighbors. Since then, the faces have changed but our focus hasn’t. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, it is important to acknowledge the growth and challenges we’ve experienced over time, yet remember that our vision remains unchanged.

HISTORY

In 1944, representatives of the Beaver Heights Federated Church met with the Church Extension Committee of the Pella Classis to apply for admission into the Reformed Church of America (RCA). The classis helped this new RCA Church purchase 12 acres of land. In 1944, thirty members from Beaver Heights Federated Church, ten members from other churches, and fourteen members who joined by confirmation of faith began worshiping at the new Reformed Church named Meredith Drive Reformed Church. In 1945, an old unused church building in Guernsey, Iowa was purchased. In February of 1946, a group of over one hundred men from the churches in the Pella Classis met to dismantle the building and move it to the current 5128 Meredith Drive in Des Moines. The church was dedicated December 22, 1948. 125 new members joined the church between 1944 and 1956.

As the church grew, it developed women’s and men’s ministries and developed a music ministry, and the congregation undertook the project of raising money to purchase a new piano and organ. At the same time, First Church, Pella presented MDRC with a generous gift to be used to purchase new pews.

In 1984, the church began worshiping in the new sanctuary and also hired people to lead children and youth programs at the church. This was also a period where the church began to grow in the area of missions. We began to partner with the Des Moines Area Religious Council, Moulton Schools, Trinity Meals, and Habitat for Humanity in Des Moines. The church also started to support national and global mission in significant ways, including mission trips to California, Haiti, Africa, and Central America.

The decade of the 1990s was a time of growth in programming and membership. Small group bible study participation was strong and emphasized three things: Word and Scripture learning, relationship growing, and serving. Music ministry grew, and the church embraced new technologies to support worship. In 1993, MDRC and the RCA planted Westview Church in Waukee. In 1994, the church added on a new wing to create opportunity for more classes and education for kids, students, and adults. The church continued to grow in areas of discipleship, pastoral care, equipping and empowering elders and deacons, generosity, and mission. The church developed internships to those planning a career in Christian service, and a parish nurse program was started.

Haiti Vision Mission began in 1998 by a small group of MDRC members who had a deep desire and clear calling from God to serve the central plateau region of Haiti by providing medical eye care. MDRC supported Haiti Vision Mission through prayers and finances. Many MDRC members served on the twenty mission trips over seventeen years. Also in 1998, MDRC and the RCA committed their support to starting a new church plant; Prairie Ridge, in Ankeny, IA, with 25 MDRC members transferring to Prairie Ridge.

In 2001, MDRC ordained their first female pastor, and the church has continued to call both men and women into the offices of elder, deacon and pastor.

In the early 2000’s it was determined that a multi-campus model would be helpful to facilitate the growth of Meredith Drive Reformed Church. For a season, a new campus met in Johnston High School until the Bridge campus building was completed in 2005. For a number of years, the campuses shared pastoral leadership, with the preaching pastor traveling between campuses to preach every Sunday.

During this time, the church continued to grow and innovate in its music ministry, including blended worship services and outreach events such as church musicals that the community was invited to attend. Discipleship continued to take new forms. The church experienced new forms of growth as members of African communities began to make Meredith Drive their church. 

A downtown ministry center and weekly worship was launched in partnership with the Willkie House in 2014 and continued for three years.

Eventually, campus pastors were hired at both the Meredith Drive Campus and the Bridge Campus and each location worked to best serve the community that surrounded their campus. Each campus took on different worship styles and discipleship formats.

In 2018, the Meredith Drive Campus experienced significant flooding that required that the entire basement be reconstructed. During the process of a financial campaign to rebuild and remodel the campus, we entered the Covid pandemic, which paused our construction plans. After much discernment, the church leadership determined that it would be better stewardship of our current resources to combine campuses to worship only at the Bridge. The Meredith Drive Campus was sold to Mizo Church, a Burmese Congregation in Des Moines. 

The Bridge worked, and is continuing to work to combine campus cultures, value our differences, build unity, and discern together how God is calling us to continue the mission and vision of sharing the love of God with our neighbors in this new season. We continue to emphasize ministry to kids and students, discipleship, hospitality, mission, music, and generosity as important components of living our unique call as a church.