Reach Church Des Moines: In the City, For the City
For over 20 years, 60 acres of land in Des Moines sat untouched. It was originally purchased in 1997 by First Assembly of God, with dreams of future expansion. But the land remained unused — until God’s timing unfolded.
In 2019, a year after Cullen Allen’s arrival as lead pastor, the church leadership team committed to a time of prayer and fasting, meeting every Saturday morning — not for business, but to listen for God’s direction about the church’s future, as well as best use of the acreage.
“We needed to lay aside our opinions about the land and the future and seek God’s opinion about it,” says Cullen, 52. “Because His is the only opinion that matters.”
After several months, the team, comprised of pastoral staff and board members, gathered to share what the Lord had placed on each person’s heart. Cullen listened in amazement to the statements that all aligned with what he felt the Lord had impressed upon him but had not yet shared with the group.
“As each person shared what God had spoken to them, it was clear — we were all hearing the same thing. We weren’t meant to build a large suburban campus. God called us to stay in the city. He stirred in our hearts that our church is here for Des Moines.”
In unity, the church sold the land and turned their focus to renovating their existing facility — an aging, oversized building with untapped potential.
A NEW VISION EMERGES
By August 2019, Cullen says he felt that the Holy Spirit had etched the words of Amos 9:13-15 on his heart — a passage that speaks of restoration, growth, and acceleration. He presented these Scriptures to the church’s leadership team, and again, there was unanimous agreement. The Scripture passage became their guiding vision.
Although they were unsure how it would look in their context, Cullen says, “All we knew was that God called us to our city for a reason.”
Driven by this mission and a renewed calling to “reach the one who is disconnected from God,” the church rebranded to Reach Church. In 2023, they began a major building renovation with the intention that the church was not just a place to meet on Sundays, but also a place to serve the city Monday through Saturday.
When the architectural plans for new offices were revealed, Cullen says he felt the Lord impress on him that the best parts of the building were to be used for the community rather than church staff. So, the offices, including Cullen’s, were installed in a less prominent area, leaving the premium spaces available for ministry.
DREAM CENTER DES MOINES
As construction continued, a new idea began forming: a Dream Center — a community-focused outreach hub. In September 2024, Dream Center Des Moines was officially established as a separate nonprofit, housed on the north part of the church campus.
“We didn’t just want to do good things, we wanted to do God things,” Cullen says. “We went through another significant time of prayer … We wanted to hear from God.”
During this season, God miraculously and sovereignly brought people and partnerships together quickly, while providing added clarity for the Dream Center.
According to Cullen, ministry and programming began immediately, despite not yet having signage, a website, or even a grand opening.
“It felt like the prophecy in Amos was happening right in front of us,” Cullen says. “We were building the bridge while walking on it.”
“We began with rolling into the Dream Center three of the church’s existing ministries — a food pantry, medical clinic, and Celebrate Recovery,” explains Jeff Ostrander, executive pastor, and executive director of Dream Center Des Moines. “We now have a total of nine ministries.”
Additional services include a prayer ministry, pregnancy care center, respite care for foster families, faith-based counseling services, sports clinics for children and teens, as well as partnerships with local public schools.
Even as Dream Center Des Moines continues to form, word has spread, with hundreds of families and individuals being served weekly.
“We’ve grown so rapidly, we’re almost outpacing our resources” Ostrander says. “Yet God has assured us He has the provisions … the remodel was never intended just to have nice facilities; it is about transforming our city.”
Cullen agrees, and points out one more miracle, “Despite the scale of the project and launch of the Dream Center, Reach Church and Dream Center Des Moines are both debt free.”