One of my concerns for the church in North America today is that local 
churches are too disconnected from one another. While there are several highly visible churches, many of the people in our local churches have relatively little awareness of what is going on in modest congregations like the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL.
In the coming weeks, I have asked several pastors to introduce us to their churches.
This week is one of my favorite pastors and church in my favorite place on planet earth (in the GSOI). This is the church my mother attends and Mike Mosier is one of the pastors I most look up to and aspire to be like. He is a faithful servant.
Make no mistake: faithful churches like this one are the backbone of our country.
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Tell us where your church is at geographically and give us your web site.
Zion Bible Church is located on Highway 16, about two miles northeast of Douds (a village of approximately 250 residents), Iowa. Our entire county (Van Buren) is very rural, very agrarian, and has a total population of around 7,500 people. We are situated in the extreme northwest corner of the county. What is a web site? (I intended that question to be funny–we don’t have a web site.)
How long have you been the pastor there?
This October I will celebrate my twentieth year as pastor of Zion Bible Church.
Tell us about your family.
In 1970, while serving in the military with the USAF, I received a duty assignment to Taiwan. That’s where I met my wife to be. We were married in 1971. We have a son who is thirty-four and married with two children, and a daughter who is thirty-seven and married with no children. My wife and I will celebrate our 39th year of marriage in March. Zion Bible Church has been a blessing to us. We love our church family and we both thank God for His work in our lives and marriage. In all honesty, we love each other, and we enjoy our life together.
What is the theological or denominational heritage of your church? Has that identity changed?
Originally, our church was a Lutheran Church. In 1963, the congregation decided that they wanted the authority to call their own pastors. Action was taken to sever ties with the Lutheran denomination, and they became a Bible Church.
There is no other pastoral staff.
Briefly, what is your approach to preaching? Do you topical series? Book by book?
I have done both topical and “through the book” preaching. Currently, I am preaching a series based on Galatians 5:22-26 I’m simply calling “The Fruit of the Spirit.”
What style of music do you use as a part of your worship service?
We take a blended approach to our music ministry. I usually play my guitar and lead the first song, selecting a fairly contemporary song. Our song leader then takes over and leads the congregation in a couple of hymns selected from our hymnal.
Why should someone who lives in your area and is looking for a church home think about visiting your church?
A person in our area should visit our church because we want to love them through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit of God. We want to speak the truth to them in love so that they can know the wonder of deliverance from the bondage of sin and the joy of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. Our mission statement is to love God, love others, and serve the world, and we welcome others to join us. The bottom line is this: we believe the Bible, and we want to live the Bible. Through God’s work in our lives, we want to show others who God is. We pray and believe that if a person visits Zion Bible Church, he or she will come into contact with God’s truth and God’s love.
Tell us about one memory or incident from your church in which you believe God was glorified and you and your flock experienced joy.
In regard to an incident when our congregation experienced joy, there are so many! One of our favorite memories is this: Lehr and Lola Nedrow, dedicated and delightful followers of Jesus and members of Zion Bible Church had two daughters. The older married and had a son and a daughter, and the younger daughter married and had a son and a daughter. The family was very close and gathered at their grandparents’ home quite frequently.
As the two sons grew into their teen years, they both made horrible choices. The son of the younger daughter gained a reputation for rampant rebellion–drinking, partying, speeding, womanizing, and all the rest–and was in trouble with the authorities frequently. The son of the older daughter following graduation moved to Florida, at least in part to put some distance between himself and those that he had so deeply disappointed.
The younger son continued in his immoral lifestyle…until the premature death of his father. That got him to thinking about the example of his grandfather and grandmother and what he had been taught in Sunday School as a little boy. Our church reached out to him and this young man repented of his sin and placed his faith in Jesus Christ. We immediately began to see the kind of change that one would expect to see in a true conversion experience.
Our congregation rejoiced–and we continue to rejoice. By the way, you might be wondering about the son of the older daughter. He turned to Jesus, too. Lehr and Lola Nedrow are now with the Lord, but during the time of their grandchildren’s rebellion, they prayed like crazy. Our congregation prayed like crazy (well, that might be a bit of an over-statement, but we prayed). All four of this dear couple’s grandchildren are now walking closely with the Lord. Praise God! Our Lord was glorified and we experienced great joy! And it continues.
God bless you and your flock at Stillman Valley!
Michael Mosier/Zion Bible Church
As a member of Zion Bible Church I can attest to the love we have experienced there from both the congregation and our pastor and his beautiful wife. I’m not sure how he manages to do all he does without even a secretary, but somehow he does. A birthday or anniversary never passes without a personal card and message. Teens get messages between weekly meetings, etc….We are continually thankful for such a faithful leader.