Fun Facts & Interesting Bits

Finding Des Moines Presbytery on a big map? Follow Interstate 35 north from Kansas City and Interstate 80 west from Chicago. Where those highways meet is Des Moines and the presbytery office.Though the boundaries have varied through the years, there has been a Presbytery of Des Moines in Iowa since 1842 (New School) and 1851 (Old School).In its current form, the Presbytery of Des Moines covers 25 counties in south-central Iowa. Travel time by car between churches located at the diagonal corners of the presbytery is about three hours. (Bedford to Brooklyn, 186 miles; Ottumwa to Audubon, 167)

The Living Legacy Fund is a new effort by the presbytery to make wise use of proceeds from property sales. The Presbytery envisions grants for mission becoming possible through this fund.

The Presbytery of Des Moines has a long and continuing relationship with three mission projects: Our Sister Parish (OSP) is a partnership in solidarity with

our brothers and sisters in Berlin, Usulutan, El Salvador. For the past 25 years our work with the Pastoral Team, in Berlin, serves their fellow Salvadorans, mainly in communities of subsistence farmers, with project requests, education, food & clothing and improved health.

Cross Ministries is a homeless-prevention agency, since the mid-70s. Each year thousands of community members are helped with a range of services and school supplies.

Sudanese Ministries include the Arabic Outreach Center and the First Arabic Presbyterian Church. The church was organized in 2017 and uniquely brings together Sudanese immigrants and refugees from different tribes, along with members from Egypt, Syria and Iraq.

A four-year conversation among the presbyteries with a presence in Iowa has yielded an initiative for a shared mission focus on mental health in the state, and a proposal for staff sharing by three of the presbyteries (ours is one of the

three) which the presbyteries have approved.

www.dmpresbytery.org

With an unemployment rate of 2.4%, Des Moines is a great place to look for a job. A growing tech and start-up sector enhance long-time strengths in insurance, financial services, distribution, publishing, and health care.

Grant Wood’s American Gothic is a famous painting, but the current residents of south-central Iowa are a much more diverse bunch. For example, over a hundred languages are spoken in the homes of Des Moines school children today.

Three active community colleges within the bounds of the presbytery offer vocational and two-year degree opportunities. Ten colleges and universities reside here, and three of them start with the letter G: Graceland University, Grandview University, and Grinnell College.

400,000 years ago, the Presbytery of Des Moines was covered with ice-age glaciers. 400 million years ago we were under an inland sea. Today we are mostly covered with corn and soybeans, scattered woodlands and pastured hills, farms and towns and a metro area.

Wondering about the giant white towers topped with rotating blades? Those are wind turbines. Iowa leads the nation in per capita wind power generation capacity.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson, opera singer Simon Estes, movie star John Wayne and late-night entertainer Johnny Carson were all born within the bounds of our presbytery (Beaconsfield, Centerville, Winterset and Corning)

We boast a bank designed by Louis Sullivan (Frank Lloyd Wright’s mentor) in Grinnell, the sprint car capital of the country at Knoxville and the video game capital of the world in Ottumwa.

Looking for hot air and culture? Indianola is home to the National Balloon Classic and the Des Moines Metro Opera each summer.

In Des Moines the Art Center, the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden, the East Village and the Iowa State Capitol are free to visitors.

Other opportunities draw many from the surrounding metro area: the Des Moines Performing Arts venues, Des Moines Botanical Center, the nationally ranked Downtown Farmers Market and the Iowa State Fair

Rev. Ekram Kachu, pastor of First Arabic Presbyterian Church and the first Sudanese woman ordained by the Presbytery of Des Moines.