About Soteria
Join us this Sunday
8:00am, 9:30am, 11:00am
3250 SE Soteria Ave, West Des Moines, IA 50265
The Mission of Soteria Church is to make more and better disciples.
If you’re searching for a church home where God’s Word is at the center, Soteria is the place for you.
OUR PILLARS
Our pillars are our core convictions, giving shape and substance to everything we do in working toward our mission. The pillars define both who we are and what we’re striving to develop in our affections for God.
Soteria is a church that:
Loves God’s Word
Learn how to apply and engage with God’s Word in relation to our lives today.
Loves God’s People
Grow together as a family and in community with other Christ followers.
Loves God’s Presence
Encounter God through worship, prayer and spiritual disciplines.
Loves God’s Mission
Share the hope of the gospel with those in our local community and beyond.
Our Rhythms
We live out these pillars through our three rhythms of ministry: learn, grow, and serve. These aid us in fulfilling our mission of making more and better disciples:
LEARN in church
GROW in groups
SERVE the body of Christ
Our Team
Pastor Mike grew up in a pastor’s home in Denver, Colorado. In the summer of 2008, God called Mike to Soteria Des Moines as its Lead Pastor.
Mike has an exceptional gift for communicating the Bible. Paired with several degrees including a doctorate in preaching, Soteria is known for its excellence in preaching and teaching. Sunday mornings here are never dull!
Pastor Mike is also on the boards of several state and national organizations keeping us plugged in and influencing others for the gospel.
Mike is an avid Denver Broncos fan and loves to spend time in his home state.
Mike and his wife, Liz, have two sons and a daughter.
Pastor Cody has been at Soteria Des Moines since 2002. Cody led worship from 2002 through 2022 and now serves as the Executive Pastor, but he still enjoys contributing musically.
Cody enjoys sports, including baseball and basketball. He is interested in photography and always looks for the next lens to buy. Cody also loves the outdoors, specifically biking and hiking with his family. Check out his photos and writing at codycrigger.com
He is also really excited that the Cubs won the World Series before he died.
Cody and his wife, Londa, have four fantastic kids.
Among a myriad of other things, Zach develops the teaching curriculum for our many growth groups and coordinates Soteria University, our adult education program. Pastor Zach also provides oversight and vision to Soteria Kids Ministry.
If you pop into his office, he'll almost always be found drinking handcrafted coffee while reading or working. If he's not in his office, he's painting, hanging with his family, and throwing the meanest frisbee this side of the Mississippi.
Zach and his wife, Leah, have five kids.
Aaron is a lifelong member of Soteria and leader of a West Des Moines growth group. As a lay pastor, he is centering his efforts around encouraging and leading other growth group leaders in discipling their members. He loves getting to know more and more folks at Soteria so don't be shy!
Outside the church walls, he is an elementary school principal on the eastside of Des Moines and enjoys taking a grad class every now and then. He enjoys spending time with his family, watching soccer (even the MLS), reading (non-fiction), and drinking coffee. Aaron is married to Laura and has a son named Cohen and a daughter named Ellie.
Jared grew up in Waterloo, IA and started attending Soteria while in college where he volunteered in youth group. In 2016, Jared joined the staff and currently oversees the middle school, high school, and college ministries. Jared's passion is equipping students and their parents to love Jesus and love His Body, the local church.
Outside of church life, Jared loves to smoke meat, play nerdy board games, and listen to podcasts on 1.5x speed.
Jared is married to Nicole and is bonafide "girl dad" with three daughters at home.
Pastor Scott has been a faithful member at Soteria and a servant in the Des Moines community for over 20 years.
He serves as an unpaid pastor on our staff, helping with numerous pastoral responsibilities including counseling, prayer, and future planning for the church.
Scott is married to his wife, Lori. They have three adult children and several grandchildren.
Liz helps guide the "big picture" of ladies' ministry, ensuring that the Word is central and that we are teaching the ladies of our church to develop godly femininity. She manages a ladies' ministry team and coordinates classes, Bible studies, and events. Liz especially enjoys teaching ladies’ Soteria University classes and discipling ladies one-on-one.
Liz and Mike have been married since 2002. Liz taught middle school and high school English for their first 6 years of marriage, and she still enjoys reading good literature and diagramming sentences. She is also an accomplished pianist and plays side gigs for the Drake University music department. When she is not playing the piano or administering ladies' ministry, she loves to cook, hike, go on dates with her husband, and play games with her family.
Mike and Liz have 3 kids: Elijah, Judah, and Zoey.
Josh oversees the creative process at Soteria and directs our visual arts teams. He works directly with our communications firm to create all of the visual content you see and encounter around the building. He also oversees and produces our Livestream and other video content each week.
Josh has been on staff at Soteria since 2013 and loves the family he gets to work with.
When he’s not at the church he runs Visual Theology, a company that makes all sorts of creative content to help teach the Bible and theology. He is also a bestselling author and has written two books.
His passions and pursuits vary and change as time goes on but the things he is most consistently fond of are photography, playing Super Mario Bros. with his family, watching movies and prestige TV shows, the Denver Broncos, drinking way too much hand-crafted coffee, Arsenal FC, playing Carcassone, designing fun and beautiful things and stalking B&H Photo Video for any new gear he can add to his collection.
Josh and his wife Mickie have four amazing kids and live in Altoona.
JoyLynn keeps things organized and running smoothly behind the ministry scene. She maintains our database, creates, and organizes weekly staff sheets, creates and maintains event registrations, and serves as our church clerk.
Joylynn loves spending time with her family. They can often be found outside, playing games, or working on their latest house project. Joylynn also enjoys reading and spending time in her garden.
Joylynn and her husband, David, have three boys.
Alyssa grew up in southeastern Wisconsin before attending Bible college in Ankeny, IA. She loves music and the performing arts and is excited to use those skills to bridge her passion for connecting with people and working with children.
Alyssa enjoys spending time with friends, traveling, and discovering unique places around the country. She loves anything theatre-related and can more often than not be found with a bowl of ice cream.
Monty grew up in Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri before attending Bible college in Wisconsin. After serving as youth pastor in several local churches in Illinois and North Carolina, Monty and his family moved to Iowa in 2019. Monty’s passion is to see people of all ages discipled and growing in their love for God and His Word.
On any given day, you might find Monty enjoying a round of golf or playing the guitar (but not at the same time). Monty is always down for a cup of coffee or discovering the latest eatery in the Des Moines metro.
Monty and his wife, Linda, have 2 wonderful boys.
Alexander grew up in Earlham, Iowa, and earned his bachelor’s degree in music from Union University in TN. He lives and breathes music, whether it's singing, playing guitar, or audio production. At Soteria, he leads the band and congregation in worship.
He is passionate about the outdoors, lifting weights, and archery, but if you catch him doing one of those activities, it's likely that he will also be singing along to a song in his head.
Alexander has a gentle and compassionate spirit, and his goal is to use music to reach the hearts and ears of those around him. He lives to play skillfully and sing a new song to the Lord.
Kim has been working with children for over 20 years! Her heart is for children to come to know, love, and serve Jesus and to help parents fulfill their God-given role to be their children’s primary spiritual influencers. She provides vision, direction, and oversight for the various children’s ministries from birth through fifth grade.
Kim enjoys entertaining family and friends, road trips, gardening, and going on motorcycle rides with her husband.
Kim enjoys entertaining family and friends, road trips, gardening, and going on motorcycle rides with her husband.
Kim and her husband, Scott, have two adult children.
Caleb grew up Wisconsin before attending Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. He began attending Soteria in 2020.
You can expect Caleb to always be looking for new adventures. Whether it is a cave to explore, a mountain to climb, or a new restaurant to try, Caleb enjoys finding new experiences with friends and family.
Caleb is passionate about learning, growing, and serving alongside our Soteria students, parents, and leaders.
Josh grew up in Alton, Illinois before attending Bible college in Ankeny, Iowa. In 2018, Josh started attending Soteria. Josh's greatest desire is to teach other Christians how to apply the truths of God's Word to every facet of their life. You can often find Josh sitting at a good coffee shop with a good book and a good friend or playing board games with his growth group.
Josh is married to his wife Charity.
Ryan and his wife Liz joined Soteria in the summer of 2017. Together they serve as Greeters as well as members of the Prayer Team. They also lead the Young Families small-group that meets on Sunday during the second service. Their family includes two children that love the Middle/High School ministry which allows Ryan to also volunteer with the Kids-4-Truth program. When they are able to find free time as a family, they enjoy traveling, camping and other outdoor activities. Ryan is thankful for his opportunity to serve as a Deacon and is looking forward to his role on the Finance team.
Josh is a deacon on the Church Life Team. He and his wife serve as the Coffee Café coordinators, and they both have a passion to serve with the talents God has given them. He and his wife have been married for 23 years and have four children.
David DeFord is a deacon on our Facility team. David and his wife Joylynn have enjoyed being a part of the youth group as sponsors since coming to Soteria in 2015. He also enjoys serving as a member of the church safety team. David serves the metro community as a police officer. He and his wife have three boys.
David Fisk serves as a deacon on the finance team at Soteria. David and his wife Jessica met in 2016 on Soteria’s Egypt, Jordan, and Israel trip, and they had their first date in Jerusalem. They live in Indianola with their two beautiful daughters.
Cherian is serving in his second term as a deacon, and assists with budgets and finances for the church. He and his wife Betsy have 2.3 kids (if you've seen Evie, you know), and they've been members of Soteria for 10 years.
Kent Murphy is a deacon on the Prayer & Care Team at Soteria. When he’s not serving at church, he enjoys traveling and spending time in God’s creation. Kent and his wife Ashley have four beautiful children.
The Phillips family has attended Soteria since 2017. They teach in Soteria Kids ministries and also run the coffee bar on a quarterly basis. They reside in NW Ankeny where Derek works as a Branch Manager at Central Bank, and Aimee serves as the Office Manager at Ruth Harbor Ministries in Des Moines. They have three children: Damon, Daniel and Alyssa. The family enjoys eating out and playing disc golf together.
We have been serving in the church for 14 years. My wife, Katrina and I were newlyweds when we joined the church, and we have been blessed with four children (Hannah, Kay, Jackson, and Thomas) since then. I enjoy getting the opportunity to serve alongside my wife and children. We lead a small group, teach Sunday school, serve meals, help out with the safety team, and the building and ground maintenance team. Outside of church, I am a carpenter.
Matt Risberg is a newly elected deacon. His deacon role will be focused on Church Life. There are so many new neighborhoods building up around the church and he is excited about the opportunities to serve the growing community. Matt also has a passion for growth groups and wants to encourage growth groups to be actively involved in their direct communities.
Matt and his wife Melissa have been coming to Soteria for 11 years. They have 3 children Addison, Jedidiah and Brielle. Matt can often be seen hanging around the Welcome Desk on Sunday mornings as he leads this guest service function.
Stephen Roney is a deacon on our Missions Team and our Outreach Team at Soteria. He is grateful to be saved by faith and not by works, and his passion is to see the lost become saved and to help the church be united in truth. Outside of his role at Soteria, Stephen is an entrepreneur. He is married to his wife Ashley, and is a proud Dad of girls.
Adam has been attending Soteria since 2019 with his wife Jamie & 3 of his 6 kids, Elaina, Allison and Jackson. His 3 older sons attend other churches around the metro (Caleb, Cole, Noah).
Adam is currently involved in the Foster Adopt Ministry, hosting the Des Moines Young Adult small group & supporting the youth group S.W.A.T. team.
Adam is looking forward to serving on the prayer and care team & the building team as your deacon.
Nate has been attending Soteria since 2009. He serves on the Church Life and Missions team as a newly-elected deacon and has a passion to create Christ-centered community, particularly in men’s ministries. He and his wife Ashley have one son named Grayson and are about to welcome another in November.
Tony has been attending Soteria since 2013. Since then, he has served in our middle school ministry.
He met his wife, Kayla, in the young adults Sunday school class and they were married in 2016. They have one daughter, Jovie, who was born in 2019. Tony and his wife are currently pursuing adoption in hopes of growing their family.
In his free time, Tony enjoys disc golf, smoking meat, and traveling with his family. He is looking forward to continuing to serve at Soteria as a deacon.
Since 1980 I’ve been attending Soteria … Willow Creek Baptist … Airport Baptist. Kristy, my wife, has been attending even longer but I will leave it at that. We have 4 adult children and 5 grandchildren. We’ve served in about every ministry at the church, including cleaning the bathrooms. Currently I serve as crowd control and fill in table leader for Kids 4 Truth on Wednesday nights for the 3 and 4 year olds. Professionally, I’ve worked with church insurance programs for the last 40 years (I know, sounds boring) but I thoroughly enjoy working with every church tradition under the sun. Looking forward to serving at Soteria for the next 40 years.
Our Story
At Soteria, we have a passion for biblical teaching, and for people to learn about God’s redeeming love, grow in community with one another, and serve their neighbors.
Soteria Des Moines has a rich history that started over 50 years ago in a hair salon on Des Moines’ South side. There, Richard Mohr and a core group of 35 people planted Airport Baptist Church.
Through the next several decades, the church had a tremendous impact on the city and grew rapidly, introducing many people to Jesus.
The progress was seemingly halted in the mid 90s when the city of Des Moines acquired, through eminent domain, the land on which the church was located to expand the airport. This led the church to relocate several miles away in the Southeast corner of West Des Moines.
Today, with a renewed passion for the gospel and a foundation of solid biblical preaching, the church is reaching more people than ever from all over the Des Moines metro area. As a result, we are seeing many lives changed at a tremendous pace.
Through all the changing buildings, locations, and leadership, the mission of the church has stayed the same. We want to introduce people to Jesus and make more and better disciples.
Our Beliefs
THE BIBLE
We believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of the text of the original manuscripts of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, which alone constitute the inerrant Word of God.
We believe the Bible supports using a grammatical, historical method of interpretation in light of the progress of revelation. Thus, we believe that the Bible is the clear, sufficient, and supreme authority for all belief, life, and ministry.
THE TRUE GOD
We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead: one immutable and omnipotent God, omniscient in all things past, present, and future, who eternally exists in three equal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
JESUS
We believe in the deity, virgin birth, perfect humanity, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only means of salvation from sin and the sole mediator between God and man.
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, through whose ministry believers today are, at the moment of salvation, regenerated, baptized into Christ and His body, indwelt, sealed, gifted, and empowered for service.
We believe that gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to build up the Body of Christ. We believe that the sign gifts of the Spirit were temporary, providing revelation for the church and authenticating the ministry of the apostles.
ANGELS AND DEMONS
We believe in the personal existence of angels as created spirit beings. God’s holy angels are ministering spirits. Satan and other fallen angels can influence believers, but believers cannot be demon possessed.
CREATION
We believe that God created the universe (including mankind) in six literal, consecutive 24-hour days apart from the process of evolution. We believe that man was created in the image of God and retains that image after the fall. Therefore, we affirm the dignity of human life and affirm that all people are worth pursuing for the cause of Christ.
FAMILY
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church. Life begins at conception and children are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
HUMANITY
We believe that all human beings, except Jesus Christ, are totally depraved and guilty before God as a result of the fall of Adam. We commit acts of sin because we are sinners by nature.
SALVATION
We believe that the Triune God saves sinners by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. God secures their eternal salvation, having sovereignly elected them to be willing recipients of His grace in Christ, whose blood was shed for the remission of sins. We believe that salvation is evidenced through good works that are part of the pursuit of a holy life. We believe that every Christian has the joyous responsibility of making disciples in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission.
THE CHURCH
We believe that the universal Church is the body of Christ, comprised of all true believers from Pentecost until the Rapture. Jesus Christ is the sole head of the Church.
We believe that the local church is an assembly of immersed believers, led by pastors and served by deacons, independent and congregationally governed, in fellowship with other churches of like faith and order.
ORDINANCES
We believe that the only biblical mode of the ordinance of baptism is immersion; that baptism is for believers only; that it is a testimony of their identity by faith with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection; and that it is a prerequisite for local church membership. We believe that the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper is for believers only; is solely a memorial of Christ’s death; and that the body and blood of Christ are not present in the bread and cup.
PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS
We believe in the priesthood of all believers and that we have direct access to God apart from any mediator except Christ. We respect the God-given capacity of individual soul liberty through which each person will give account for living by the dictates of his or her own conscience.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government was instituted by God and is still His means of maintaining peace and order among men; that believers here on earth are responsible in the area of civil government and should participate in it to promote and preserve good order in human society; that civil governments and churches (and fellowships of churches) are distinct from each other, must be organizationally separated from each other and neither must seek to control the other.
RAPTURE
We believe in the pre-tribulational rapture and bodily resurrection of the Church at Christ’s imminent coming. Believers will give account for their works at the Judgment Seat of Christ, which will follow the Rapture.
ISRAEL
We believe that God will fulfill the biblical covenants made with the nation of Israel. Though they are now dispersed among the nations, they will be re-gathered in the land of Israel and saved as a nation at the premillennial coming of Christ to the earth. At that time, Christ will begin his Davidic rule over the world for 1,000 years and continue to reign in the eternal state.
RESURRECTION
We believe in the bodily resurrection and judgment of unbelievers after the millennial reign of Christ. We believe in the eternal existence and punishment of all unbelievers in the lake of fire and the eternal existence and blessedness of all believers in the new heavens and earth.
Affiliations
We maintain a close association with many local churches with whom we share a deep affinity in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of these churches include:
Saylorville Church
Lakeside Fellowship
Living Waters Fellowship
High Pointe Church
First Family
We also find significant affinity and fellowship with many ministries including:
The GARBC is an association of like-minded churches with whom we fellowship. When like-minded churches partner together, they can make great strides in global evangelism. The GARBC provides churches with services and the ministry network they need to pursue the Great Commission.
The Gospel Coalition is a group of pastors and churches that exist to promote gospel-centered ministry and biblically-faithful resources for the church. Soteria Des Moines shares the doctrinal convictions and theological vision for ministry as outlined in their Foundation Documents.
Desiring God Ministries has influenced Soteria Des Moines primarily through the writing and preaching of Pastor John Piper. Though we are not in formal affiliation with Desiring God, we share John Piper’s convictions on many topics like, God’s sovereignty, salvation, mission, suffering, and the way one should live the Christian life.
9Marks Ministries was founded by Pastor Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Their books and resources have helped shape our understanding of church function and goverance.