About Us
Members of DeWitt Evangelical Free Church have been celebrating and sharing the gospel of Jesus in eastern Iowa for nearly 50 years!
It all started in 1977 when a few families joined together to study the Bible and worship God. These believers continued to meet in homes, rented spaces, and even the Ekstrand Elementary gym over the years before finally moving to our current location at the north end of town in 1988.
Affectionately known as “the church on the hill,” we press on in the same mission: to know Christ and make Him known.
What We Believe
We proudly share the EFCA’s Statement of Faith, preferring to “major in the majors,” graciously leaving room for those things that do not affect our salvation in Jesus Christ.
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We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.
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We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.
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We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
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We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
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We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
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We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
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We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
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We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
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We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
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We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.
Our Mission
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Connect with Christ
We are born disconnected, dead in our sin and in need of a relationship with Jesus.
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We envision people engaged in making Christ known in families, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and throughout the world. We envision people engaged in compassionate service and the gracious proclamation of the good news that Jesus died for the forgiveness of sins and he gives eternal life and victory over death to those who believe.
(Rom 3:23; 5:8; John 3:16; 1 Cor 15:3-4, 56-57)
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Grow in Faith
We are part of a community of believers that are growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ so that he is honored through us and the world is changed around us.
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We envision people conforming to his image through obedience to his word as it is taught, as it saturates into their lives, and as they obediently follow where the Holy Spirit leads. We envision people praying together, worshiping together and walking side by side with one another as we cultivate a community of followers of Jesus Christ.
(Acts 19:10,20; John 14:15-17; Phil 4:4-9; 2 Thess 1:3; Heb 10:23-25)
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Love Our God
We are here to love and exalt God, and our greatest joy is finding fulfillment in him.
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We envision people worshipping God through daily living which reflects his glory and by meeting regularly to praise his name. We envision people who love the Lord their God by pursuing lives of holiness and by obediently loving one another.
(Mark 12:30-31; Matt 5:14-16; 1 Pet 1:13-16; Phil 1:19-20)
Our Values
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Bible
As the inspired, inerrant, relevant word of God, the Bible is the final authority for belief and behavior.
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Therefore, it is our objective to:
Clearly present the truth of Scripture through accurate teaching.
Communicate the message of God’s word through expository preaching.
Develop in people a thirst for God’s word and teach them how to study the Bible.
Demonstrate the Bible’s contemporary relevance and encourage individuals to allow it to impact their lives.
2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17; Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Peter 1:2-4
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Prayer
Prayer is the delightful opportunity given by God as a means to communicate and develop an intimate relationship with him as our sovereign King and heavenly Father.
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Therefore, it is our objective to:
Engage in prayer individually, declaring our love and adoration, confessing our sin, thanking him, and making requests; knowing that God will answer in ways that glorify Himself and bless us.
Rely on God through prayer in the conception, planning, and implementation of ministries, programs, and activities.
Pray for our church leaders so that their authority will continue in submission to the Holy Spirit’s leadership.
Psalm 5:3; Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6-7; Hebrews 4:16; 13:17; James 5:13-18
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Worship
Worship is our direct expression that God alone is supreme and our King.
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Therefore, it is our objective to:
Exalt God in every part of our services as we engage one another in cherishing and honoring Christ corporately.
Instruct and encourage people to cultivate an intimate relationship with Christ by the development of spiritual disciplines in their lives.
Present music that artistically and creatively expresses God’s worth to him in praise as we lead the people of God to a greater appreciation of his magnificence.
Psalm 95:6-7; 96; Isaiah 29:13; John 4:20-24; Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 12:28-29
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Obedience
The joint work of the believer and the Holy Spirit is motivated by grace, love, and God’s passion for holiness. Obedience to this work results in the believer being conformed to the image of Christ.
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Therefore, it is our objective to:
Be filled with the Holy Spirit by submitting to his direction and guidance found in the Bible.
Graciously and humbly point one another to God’s promises and commandments so that we may experience lives filled with joy.
Encourage one another to serve Christ from hearts of love and gratitude rather than guilt and condemnation.
John 14:22-26; Romans 6:14; 8:28-30; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; Ephesians 5:18-21; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 3:16-17; 1 Peter 1:13-16
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Family
The family was the first institution created by God to reflect his magnificence. It is where God’s word is initially taught and lived out and the first place where disciples are made.
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Therefore, it is our objective to:
Build up biblical marriages where husbands and wives give of themselves daily and put their spouse before themselves.
Help parent(s) teach and train their children for a lifetime of service to God and living for His glory.
Serve families who have encountered a variety of life’s complications and encourage each person as individuals who have been created in the image of God.
Genesis 2:18-25; Deuteronomy 6:4-7; Ephesians 5:18 – 6:4; 2 Timothy 1:5
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Community
The place where biblical unity and oneness manifests itself is through the sharing of life together as a local church community.
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Therefore, it is our objective to:
Engage in caring relationships in which we seek to love one another, encourage one another, forgive one another, admonish one another, serve one another, and bear one another’s burdens.
Equip believers to understand and use their spiritual gifts for the glory of God and the edification of the church body.
Provide frequent opportunities to become involved in the church community through ministry programs, small groups, Bible studies, and activities that encourage the church to share life with one another.
Acts 2:42; Romans 14:19; 15:7; 1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4