What We Believe

Radical Welcome

Our Welcome Statement
Because God's image is reflected in every person, 

Because God's grace in Jesus Christ ensures every person a place at the table, 

Because God's nature is magnified in the Spirit-endowed gifts, abilities, & stories of every person, 

Because the love of God compels us, the way of Jesus calls us, and the Holy Spirit guides us:

The congregation of Second Reformed Church prayerfully commits to being a community of Jesus Christ that wholeheartedly loves, affirms, and celebrates LGBTQ+ people, along with all those whom God sends to us and who seek to follow the ways of Jesus with us. We do so confessing that the Church of Jesus Christ has often willfully judged and excluded God's LGBTQ+ beloved.

We understand "all" to include every person, encompassing the wide diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, background, family, age, social and economic status, physical and mental ability.

Whether believer, seeker, or skeptic, God welcomes all. By embracing this rich variety, together we seek to embody the love that God expresses in and through each of us.

Our Land Acknowledgement Statement
Every community owes its existence and vitality to generations of all sorts of people, from all around the globe, who by their hopes and dreams, their commitments and energy have brought us to today.The Land between Two Rivers has been the homeland for many Indigenous peoples for over 10,000 years. These people include the Ioway and the Otoe, the Omaha and the Ponca, the Pawnee, Sioux, Sauk, and Meskwaki. They farmed the land, built villages, hunted, made lives, raised children, and buried their dead here. They were part of networks of trade that spanned the continent. Today, Iowa is home to about 17,000 Native people.History is always complex. If we take the time to look and listen, perhaps we can learn and grow. If we ignore or deny history, we continue the suffering, untruths, and injustices.So we acknowledge the past along with the legacies of violence, forced migration, lies, and racism. To the Native peoples, we express our regrets, sorrow, and gratitude. Small statements like this cannot undo what has been done, but we hope that sharing them occasionally in our life together puts us on a path toward honesty, recompense, reconciliation, and a brighter future.

Rooted Faith

What does it mean to be reformed?

We are Christ-centered, biblical, and confessional.
This means that, as a church, Jesus is the center of who we are and what we do. The Bible points us to Jesus and connects us to the grand reconciliation story of God. The confessions and creeds we affirm provide clarity to our beliefs and guide our actions. We use a variety of historic and contemporary creeds and confessions in worship.

We practice corporate, liturgical, and sacramental worship.
We gather for regular communal worship that follows a liturgical pattern (Approach to God, Word of God, Response to God). Sacraments are celebrated in the worship service with the faith community present. We celebrate two sacraments: communion and baptism. Both are signs of God’s grace and visible reminders of God’s love. On Communion Sundays, all ages and stages are welcome to participate.

We value Spirit-inspired structure and leadership.
We are led by the consistory – elders, deacons, and ministers – who seek to represent Christ through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Leaders utilize specific rules and bylaws to facilitate an orderly and intentional decision-making process while prayerfully discerning Christ’s call for the congregation. Together, elders, deacons, and ministers along with the ministry staff empower the congregation to live into Christ’s unique mission and ministry embodied by SRC in our local community.

We embrace Christian unity, diversity, and ecumenical relationships.
Our particular theological tradition is not the only way to follow Christ. We recognize that denominations and theological traditions exist for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, we desire to work in partnership to increase Christ’s witness in the world. Currently, Second is a part of the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The RCA is a part of the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. and shares a “Formula of Agreement” with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the Presbyterian Church (USA).

We encourage individuals to become part of a local congregation.
It is natural to want to find the “perfect church,” but no church is perfect because each church is full of imperfect people. Consistent participation in a local church connects us to a supportive community and inspires us in our love for God and our love for all people. Second welcomes everyone! At the same time, Second may not be the church for everyone, so we encourage everyone who visits SRC to engage in a local faith community by attending worship, volunteering in a ministry area, participating in faith formation opportunities, and committing to financial stewardship.

Relevant Mission

A Look at Second's Past
In 1847, hundreds of people packed into four different ships and sailed away from the Netherlands on course to a new land to live and worship freely. They had considered Borneo, Texas, and Missouri but ended up in Pella, Iowa. Just 10 years later in 1857, the first congregation of the Reformed Church in America west of the Mississippi River was organized in Pella. However, the church only held worship services in Dutch, excluding many people in the growing and changing community of Pella. Of particular concern was the exclusion of non-Dutch-speaking children and youth as well as those without Dutch heritage, and a core group of people from the Dutch-speaking church began exploring the possibility of planting an English-speaking church.

In April 1862, the Board of Home Missions of the Reformed Church in America approved a plan to start an English-speaking missionary church. Rev. Abram Thompson arrived in May 1862 to begin the work of church-planting. Less than one year later, on February 13, 1863, the Classis of Illinois approved the official organization of an English-speaking church which became known as Second Reformed Church on April 7, 1863.

SECOND … it’s not exactly a creative name, but it tells a beautiful story about a group of people who, even though their first language was Dutch and they were comfortable worshiping in Dutch, took a risk. They risked their own comfort to sing songs in their SECOND language. They risked their familiar traditions to pray prayers in their SECOND language. They even risked relationships with those who opposed the new English-speaking church to worship in their SECOND language. They took a risk and put themselves—their comfort, their familiarity, their relationships, their language—SECOND to start a missionary church rooted in faith with a relevant mission for their changing community, embodying the radical welcome of the community of God revealed in Jesus.

A Look at Second's Present
Our origin story continues to shape our identity as a faith community. We strive to be open—to new people and new ideas. We strive to be a place that reaches out to the newcomer and welcomes the outsider. We strive to be a progressive church, looking beyond ourselves to engage the world.

As a church founded with younger generations in mind, every child is known by name and a valued part of the community. All kinds of people from a wide variety of religious traditions are a part of Second. When we gather in worship together, we follow intentional rhythms and patterns yet aim to be warm and welcoming. We seek to be a safe place where people journey together in faith. Questions are welcomed. Doubts are acknowledged. Differences are accepted. When we say, “Come as you are,” we mean it.

We proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and take seriously Jesus’ call to love God heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbors, near and far. We are rooted in the creeds and doctrines of the Christian church throughout the ages as a people of “generous orthodoxy.”

A Look at Second's Future

God welcomes all. And so do we.

This isn’t just a catchy tagline. It’s what we believe, and it’s who we strive to be as the people of God and followers of Jesus. Since 1863, Second has been a church with a rooted faith in Jesus Christ and a relevant mission to welcome all people. This is the DNA of our community, and we hope to live into this more fully in the future.

We acknowledge that we don’t always get it right because we aren’t a perfect place for perfect people. Yet, we move into the future with curiosity, ready to listen for God’s prompting and discern the Spirit’s leading as we strive to be a place of radical welcome in a world full of people so deeply in need of belonging.

We will continue to look for practical ways we can be gracious, welcoming people inside our church and outside in our neighborhoods, schools, community spaces, workplaces, and beyond.