The Des Moines Register
Traveling ministers preach Bible
December 4, 2008
Donna Smidt likes to keep religion simple.
So simple that it's not religion, "it's a way of life," the Waukee resident said after attending a Bible meeting on Sunday in the community room at The Village at Legacy Pointe.
The meeting was led by traveling ministers Anita Forsberg and Jennifer Bartels.
"The purpose of life is to live like Jesus," Smidt said. That's exactly what this group tries to accomplish. It doesn't have a name or a headquarters like traditional churches.
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Instead, the ministers act as the apostles did. They travel around preaching the Bible and staying with group members.
Forsberg and Bartels stayed in Urbandale on Sunday.
This is what has appealed to Hilda Smith, 100, of Urbandale, since 1924.
"By hearing it from a homeless stranger who came to tell the story of Jesus," she said.
The group holds two events. Sunday morning worship services are held in private homes like Smidt's and led by elders. Smidt's husband, John, is an elder. Traveling ministers hold Bible meetings when they are in town.
Dec. 14 will be the last meeting in the Des Moines metro area, but Forsberg and Bartels said they hope to return soon.
"Once they've given the message here, they move on to some place that hasn't (heard it)," Smidt said.
The Village at Legacy Pointe lets the group use its community room free of charge. In addition, the women don't pass a collection plate during service.
Most members have always attended meetings rather than visiting a church.
Tom Belling of Urbandale said his parents introduced him to the group.
"It's total satisfaction," Tom said, who attended Sunday's meeting with his wife, JoAnn. "When you find it in the Bible, it gives you total satisfaction."
The meeting has some similarities to a traditional service. The members sing hymns and pray, but the ministers also interact with the audience. When they were discussing the parables, the minsters called on the children by name.
The ministers share their thoughts on the Bible passages rather than reading them. Most members bring their own Bibles to follow along.
However, it isn't totally unscripted.
"We pray about it before we speak," Bartels said.
But while other churches have pews full of song books and prayer books, the group only uses one.
"We only have the Bible," said Norma Vlieger of Norwalk.
Members chat after Sunday's bible service on Nov. 30 in the community room at Legacy Point in Waukee. The women also host fellowship meetings in their homes on Sunday mornings. A no-name Christian group holds a bible meeting on Nov. 30 in the community room at Legacy Point in Waukee. The group uses traveling ministers and private homes to educate people about the bible.
Members who helped the group acquire the space at Legacy Point, and the senior community does not charge the group for use. A no-name Christian group holds a bible meeting on Nov. 30 in the community room at Legacy Point in Waukee. The group uses traveling ministers and private homes to educate people about the bible.
