History of Faith Bible Fellowship

Twenty years ago, there was no Faith Bible Fellowship, but there was a growing interest among several community members to find a Bible-believing church closer to home. With this interest, an arrangement was made for the group to begin meeting in the basement of a local agricultural business at no charge. For two years, we averaged 6-7 people a Sunday and had very little structure. In 2006, we were designated as an EFCA “Church Plant Project.” Over the next several months, a small group met with Kent McKinnon (a church planter for the Central District EFCA) to work through the details necessary to become an Evangelical Free Church. In 2011, we became an official EFCA Church Plant. Finally, on March 5, 2012, Faith Bible Fellowship was granted official membership as an EFCA congregation.

By 2014, the church moved from its meeting place of nine years to the library in the NFV High School. As the congregation grew, we moved from the library to the high school cafeteria. About this time, the congregation averaged an attendance of 30-35 people.

In May of 2015, the church, partnering with the EFCA Central District, was able to hire Dan Doebel as a part-time pastor. He and his wife Kim moved to West Union and became an active force in the community. During his time, the church was still looking for a permanent place to call home.

Five years later, in August of 2020, the church purchased the building where we currently reside as a body. The building was originally a hog barn and later became an auction house. It wasn’t new or fancy, but promised so much potential for a variety of ministry activities.

Two years later, after faithfully serving the church for six-and-a-half years, Pastor Dan departed from Faith Bible Fellowship. Tennis Heuton was appointed as interim pastor and the church began seeking a new, full-time pastor.

In mid-2023, the congregation voted to extend a call to Ethan Bogan for the position of Senior Pastor. He and his wife, Charity, moved from Kansas and began their ministry in October 2023. We are extremely excited to see what God has in store for our church body under their leadership.