Our Story

Marlan Mincks, as the lead church planter, had a calling to plant in Waukon IA in the early 2000's. In addition to giving the message weekly at Iron Ridge Church, Marlan has also been on staff since 2004 for ConvergeUSA assessment centers as national co-director. So he and his wife Terri, took there two kids and moved to Waukon to start Iron Ridge Church.  With a small group of families and his own family being involved, the first service was held in August of 2004 in the auditorium of Waukon High School. Every Sunday a trailer was loaded with sound equipment, driven to the school, unloaded, set up, used, taken down and then loaded back into the trailer.

As the church grew, it bought the Main Feature Theater. It was a movie theater and a pizza business which continued to operate after the acquisition. Marlan and the rest of his family not only started holding Sunday services in the theater, but also running the movie theater and business all week with the help of employees and volunteers.

In August 2016 Iron Ridge was gifted a large piece of empty land and built a completely brand new church building! Half of the church was built with the plan to build the other side as the church grows. In 2020 Marlan took more responsibility at Converge and promoted his son Bryan as lead pastor, where Bryan has been working since the beginning. Marlan still serves as the Planting Pastor guiding the development of Iron Ridge alongside Bryan and the other staff members.

We are only just beginning to grow and God has had his hand on the church and it's people since the beginning. Here are some ways that God is working in our midst: 

• Our building is only half done but it is starting to fill to capacity. We are currently in talks about how to get it finished to better facilitate the people who are growing in Christ
• Our community involvement will continue to grow as we serve our communities by facilitating food drops during the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting Trunk Or Treat, supporting our law and emergency workers over Christmas and giving away school supplies for area youth.
• We have developed an amazing relationship with our sister church House Of Faith in Hayward CA. We offer each other support and development of our members and youth, together.
• Mental health has become a crisis in the United States and we want to do everything we can to help an support those in need. We are only just beginning to work in this area, but it is of utmost importance to Iron Ridge Church and it's staff.
• In response to  the COVID-19 pandemic removing all our members from the church, we realized the need to stay connected and in communication with them. So FIRESIDE was born and has been going strong ever since. Every Thursday night at 7pm we sit down and take questions about absolutely anything, talk about pop culture and connect with Iron Ridge people all over the country!

Iron Ridge has been incredibly blessed by continued growth, even during a world wide pandemic! The future is bright for the church and everyone in it as we continue to embrace The Gospel and share it with everyone we encounter. As we look ahead to completing our building, adding to the staff, providing mental health care, increasing our biblical teaching, increasing our  and counseling and growing our youth ministries, we are constantly reminded of why we do what we do:

"God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change." 2 Peter 3:9

We want everyone to be a part of God's story and as we continue to grow at Iron Ridge, we give all glory to God, no matter what.