History

As a denomination, the Christian Reformed Church owes its origin to the influence of a great pastor and theologian of the 16th century John Calvin. Calvin brilliantly defended the faith in the midst of a church world shredded by legalism, scandal, and violent revolution.

Pastors who studied under Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, left to form the Presbyterian Church in the British Isles and the Reformed Churches in France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is no surprise then that the conservative branches of Reformed and Presbyterian churches are very similar to us spiritually and organizationally. As waves of immigrants fled to the United States and Canada, a new denomination was formed in the late 19th century called the Christian Reformed Church. Today almost 300,000 people make up the Christian Reformed Church, a family of congregations excited about spreading the good news of Jesus.

Our local congregation had her official beginning in the late fall of 1950 (November 13). It was officially organized and called the Des Moines Christian Reformed Church.

The events that precipitated the start of our congregation were launched April 8, 1945, when a small gathering of Reformed Christians began worshipping in the Des Moines YMCA. Four families petitioned the Home Missions Committee of Classis Pella to have worship services. Rev. William Verwolf became the first missionary pastor to shepherd this flock. The family count grew from four to thirteen families during the three years he was there.

In 1951, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. John C. Mendendorp, property at the intersection of 50th and Hickman was purchased. On April 23, 1953 a newly constructed church building was dedicated. Twelve more families joined between 1951 and 1954. Over the years several pastors led the flock at Des Moines Christian Reformed Church. They included Edward Hills (1954-1962), James Versluys (1963-1967), Thomas L. Smith (1968-1971), Leonard J. Vander Zee (1971-1973), Larry D. Meyer (1974-1981), Alfred S. Luke (1981-1987), Jack Van Marion (1988-1995), Carl A. Heuss (1995-1998), Aldon Kuiper (1999-2004) , Anson Veenstra (2000-2006) and James Petersen (2005- 2014). 

In 1990, the Des Moines CRC decided to purchase five acres of property at the corner of 60th and Vista in West Des Moines with the ultimate goal of building a new facility. That goal became reality in January of 2003 when the newly named Crossroads Fellowship Christian Reformed Church was dedicated.

We are blessed to have Pastor Mark Jicinsky as our current leader. He came to lead our congregation in August 2016.  Moving from Leighton, IA, he and his family now live in Urbandale.  

From the humble beginnings in 1945, Crossroads Fellowship CRC has grown to 249 active members