Our Story

A Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids

When we first thought about planting a church in Cedar Rapids, we were thinking about American Gothic. Born on a farm in Anamosa, IA, Grant Wood moved to Cedar Rapids when he was 10, later studied art in Paris and Munich, and returned to Cedar Rapids to paint American Gothic. Though the painting has endured countless interpretations and parodies, it affects the same disturbance that Wood felt when he saw a grandiose, gothic-styled window (especially used in European cathedrals and churches) nestled into the frame of a tiny farmhouse in Eldon, IA.

In a “fly-over” state associated with agriculture and rural life, you find in Cedar Rapids a city of people longing for transcendence—truth, goodness, and beauty. You find its eagerness for truth in its excellent public school systems and proximity to the University of Iowa, just 30 miles south. You find its zeal for goodness in its commitment to creating a rich life for its citizens through affordable living, safe neighborhoods, and recreational options. You find its celebration of beauty in its museums, theaters, and artistic communities. But all these longings are empty unless the people of Cedar Rapids hear about our good, true, and beautiful savior, Jesus Christ. Without him, the rest is meaningless. 

In the Fall of 2020 Trinity Presbyterian Church began. It was a tumultuous beginning with a pandemic ravaging the world and church attendance at its lowest point in hundreds of years. But the Lord sustained the church and grew it steadily in numbers and in love of him. Over the next four years the church was established, elders were elected, and Trinity Presbyterian Church moved from a church plant to a free standing church in the fall of 2024.