HARVEST’S LOCATION 

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Harvest Church is located on the south side of New Hampton, Iowa. New Hampton is located in Northeast Iowa and is the seat of Chickasaw County. New Hampton’s population is around 3,394 and as of the 2020 Census there are around 12,012 residents in Chickasaw County. New Hampton is centrally located within several larger populated communities, ranging from 20 to 75 miles away. Chickasaw County is primarily agricultural with several manufacturing businesses and shops located within the community that provide multiple employment opportunities, bringing people from all over Northeast Iowa. 

 

​   New Hampton is a wonderful place to raise a family. The community offers a hospital, medical clinic, three dental offices, three offices of chiropractic, an optometry clinic, a public library, a full-service grocery store, a wellness center, a swimming pool, and several other amenities. New Hamton has daycare options, a public Pre-K-12 school system with the option of a private Catholic Pre-K-8 school. 

 

   The community has five large ethnic groups, White (Non-Hispanic) (90.3%), White (Hispanic) (7.18%), Other (Hispanic) (1.22%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (0.985%), and American Indian & Alaska Native (Non-Hispanic) (0.29%) according to 2020 census data.  More information is available here: newhamptonia.com; new-hampton.k12.ia.us, chickasawcounty.iowa.gov; datausa.io/profile/geo/new-hampton-ia#

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   Germans and Scandinavians settled the area and this is still reflected in the population.  The Catholic church is the largest group in the area, followed by Lutherans. New Hampton has a Catholic church, a Congregational (UCC) church, a Jehovah’s Witness congregation, two Lutheran churches, a Methodist church, and two evangelical churches, one of which is Harvest Church.

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HARVEST’S HISTORY 

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The church was established in 1893 as the First Baptist Church and flourished with the American Baptist Churches USA until 2002. Membership increased the first 25 years due to the church being one of only two area churches conducting worship in English. The church struggled financially and spiritually through The Great Depression almost closing its doors. Through prayer, thanksgiving, and generous pledges, the church’s ministry continued.

  

   In 1965, land was purchased and groundbreaking began for a new church building. The first service in the current building was on May 29th, 1966. In 1968, the church purchased the lot north of the building to enlarge the church yard. On May 15th, 1977, the church held a mortgage burning ceremony celebrating that the building was free from debt. First Baptist Church built a new parsonage in 1977, having it paid off in 1980. An elevator was installed in 1989, making the building handicapped accessible.  

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   First Baptist Church celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1993. Fellow member Jeanette Kottke spent countless hours researching the history of the church and formed a Centennial book.  

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   Bible teachings are an important part of the church. Some examples of these ministries from the 1990s, some still utilized today, include VBS, Youth Group, Sunday school, Children's church, Olympic Club, and Triangle Class. The Amoma Circle Society (Amoma - Native American Language meaning Love) continued helping within the church and our community. Other societies utilized during this time period were World Wide Guild, American Baptist Women’s Ministry, and the Girls Guild (renamed the Sonlight Girls).

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   Because of growing liberalism in the ABCUSA, First Baptist Church began its affiliation with the Iowa Baptist General Conference, now Converge in 2002. In 2007, the church sold the parsonage, and the funds were used for local community improvement projects, updating the church building, and a church planting. In 2007 plans began to renovate the sanctuary. First Baptist Church changed its name to Harvest Church and the church began the building expansion. For a time, the church met in the New Hampton Middle School auditorium. 

   In 2015, the congregation voted to extend a call to Doug Harvey as a new pastor. During his ministry, the church’s affiliation changed from Converge to DHF (Disciple Heritage Fellowship). Harvest is currently non-denominational and is presently not affiliated with any conference. 

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   2017 was a turning point for our youth ministry.  Nate and Kristi Gillen joined the church and headed up the Youth Group, along with Rod and Lisa Reicks. Dare2Share and Lead the Cause conferences were part of the Gillen ministry with the youth. These conferences emphasized on teaching the youth how to spread the Gospel. October 13, 2018, the church hosted Dare2Share Live, a youth conference. Several area churches participated in the conference. 

 

   In March of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a great panic, and church leaders made a controversial decision to go to online services only. The worship team continued to come in and the worship and message were prerecorded or live streamed via Facebook. Sunday school and small groups were available online. Not everything about this time was bad. Covid forced us into the new world of live streaming or pre-recording. We have continued to utilize these platforms.  Having online services helped us be easily available to more people than we had been in the past.  Attendance was low following the post-covid restart. In the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021, outreach activity picked up. We added several new members to the worship team.  Live Sunday School classes resumed. A search team formed for the search of a new pastor as Pastor Doug was planning retirement. By the end of 2021, attendance was about 60% of pre-Covid numbers. Currently, Harvest church is active in many ministries and programs for the congregation and the community.  

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   Harvest extended a call to Anthony Harris in October 2022. During his ministry at Harvest, Anthony and his wife Erin have revamped the children’s ministries, started small groups, Wednesday night teachings for adults and children and prayer night. Anthony’s involvement in the community has helped bring many new families into our church.

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PASTOR TENURES

(30 since 1893)

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Last five pastors at Harvest Church

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                                                             •  David Lundholm     1985 – 1991

                                                             •  Jeffery Scherer       1992 – 2004

                                                             •  Rodney Ankrom      2006 – 2013

                                                             •  Doug Harvey           2015 - 2022   

                                                             •  Anthony Harris        2022 - Present

   

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HARVEST’S CULTURE

 

      The culture at Harvest could be described as a strong, loving, and family-like atmosphere. The members truly care for one another and are willing to go to great lengths to support each other and our community through outreach programs. Harvest is a nondenominational church seeking the lost and embracing the Bible as God’s Word. We seek to build a closer relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ who is the only way to salvation.

 

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DEMOGRAPHICS

Of 52 Members

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• Age 19-39 -18%

• Age 40-59 - 24%

• Age 60+ - 58%

• ​Male - 46%

• Female - 54%

• Single Adults - 10%

• Widowed - 10%

• Married Couples - 70%

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 WORSHIP AT HARVEST

 

   Harvest worships with a mixture of contemporary music and traditional hymns, with Bible-centered preaching. The church also has audio-visual equipment to convey its message. We currently have a worship team of 10 members, consisting of vocalists and musicians.  

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   Over the last couple years our weekly attendance average has grown from 45 in 2021 to our current weekly attendance averaging at 68 people. Service can be viewed via Facebook live stream and recorded on our website.

 

    Harvest currently has a children’s church program during sermon time. A curriculum that includes worship, teaching, and activities accomplishes most of what a traditional children’s Sunday school program would. The challenge to staff both a children’s church and Sunday school led to the decision to focus on developing a quality children’s church. We offer middle school programs during worship service. In the past, Harvest has had a successful youth program.

 

    Adult Sunday School has always been a positive ministry at Harvest. We currently have two groups. One group focuses on diving deep into the history and biblical attributes of the bible, while the second group focuses on how to apply the word of God to our lives and what it is to walk with God in today’s world.

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MISSIONS AT HARVEST

 

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 A portion of Harvest’s annual budget is designated to support several local ministries:

     

• Hope Family Resource Center in Charles City, Iowa provides pregnancy medical services, referrals, and education to women and families experiencing an unexpected pregnancy or in need of additional support.

• Midwest Mission Bible Training Center in Cresco, Iowa, a residential rehabilitation facility that helps individuals overcome substance abuse and addiction.

• Royal Family Kids Camp in Sumner, Iowa transforms communities by interrupting cycles of neglect, abuse, and abandonment of children in the foster care system.

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 Additional support is also provided to:

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• The Chickasaw County Social Concerns Committee

• A Trunk or Treat alternative at Halloween - a ministry put on by Harvest. 

• Military Bible Sticks through the outreach of the Faith Comes By Hearing organization 

• Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse

• Local Food Pantry

• Life Serve Blood Center- Blood Drive

• Local Giving Tree

• Paul Hassman Scholarship

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HARVEST’S STAFF 

 

 Current staff position  

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• Full-time pastor

• Church administrator

• Children’s ministry director

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