Chapel of Faith Church history, copied from The History of Warren County, Iowa compiled by the Warren County Genealogical Society, Curtis Media Corp., Dallas, Texas, 1987, p. 411
In October 1982, a small group of believers met at the little Chapel at the IOOF Cemetery in Indianola, Iowa for Bible study conducted by John W. LONG. It soon became the desire of the group to have Sunday evening services and then, in a short while, Sunday morning services were started. Because the Chapel was small and the congregation grew rapidly, two Sunday morning services were soon necessary.
At Thanksgiving time, we rented the IOOF Hall and held a Thanksgiving dinner. This was truly a festive occasion as we enjoyed being together with friends and family. By now we had outgrown the Chapel and must look for a new home. We rented a building on the west edge of Indianola. Since we were starting out with nothing, “not even a spoon to our name” was Olive LONG’s way of putting it, we had our work cut out for us. The building had to be remodeled to make a sanctuary, bathrooms, a kitchen, office and Sunday School rooms. Our talented, willing workers got busy and soon we had a lovely altar area where we could truly worship the Lord. A piano was purchased, chairs and tables arrived on December 8, 1982, we held our first church service in the new building. We chose “Chapel of Faith” for the name of our new church. The ministry of our church is based on Ephesians 4:11-12.“And He gave some apostles and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfection of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
It soon became evident that a Sunday School was an essential part of our ministry, not only to reach our children and teenagers for the Lord, but also that the adults could more thoroughly understand the Lord’s word. A bus was purchased so that those who had no means of transportation could become a part of our church family. Our Sunday School grew steadily, faltered for a time and then became revived and has become a vibrant part of our church with dedicated teachers and helpers.
Tuesday nights are designated as “calling night” which means we do whatever we feel called by the Lord to do.Supper is served to all by a team of ladies.After supper, some go out calling on the sick, those who have no church home, or those who have missed being in church for a few Sundays.Some of the Elders take communion to the shut-ins. Many other projects have been completed during this time.The fellowship is special.
Wednesday night is Bible Study at 7:00 pm with choir practice following. Our Sunday morning Sunday School is at 9:30 with Church at 10:30. Evening service starts at 6:00 pm with choir practice following.
Through prayer, donations and much hard work, we have progressed to the point of undergoing a new building project to the Glory of the Lord. Our new permanent church home will be located about two miles north of Indianola on Highway 65-69. We have a variety of activities at Chapel of Faith which includes something for all ages. Our calling is to serve the Lord by serving people, whatever the need.
For the people of Chapel of Faith loved God so much that they gave their lives to Him, through their love shown to each other, through their tithes and offerings, through their service to other people, through their prayers of thanksgiving, and through their faithfulness, so that God would never feel discouraged, but could live eternally in His people’s love.