"Another voice within the Iowa Association of Regular Baptist Churches"

IARBC.NET is a personal ministry of Pastor Kevin Subra intended to assist the pastors and congregations that make up the Iowa Association of Regular Baptist Churches.

What is my relationship to the Iowa Assocation of Regular Baptist Churches (IARBC)?

I have been a part of the Iowa Association of Regular Baptist Churches and its affiliate ministries for most of my life. I am no newcomer, having been extensively exposed to most ministries that affiliate or associate with the IARBC. I grew up in the IARBC churches in Fort Dodge (Faith Baptist) and Cedar Rapids (Galilee Baptist, now Blair Ridge Baptist). I have attended the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp numerous times over the years (21 family camps and 10 youth camps, as well as many state-wide and local church retreats) and I worked on the camp staff for four summers. I attended and graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny (B.A. in Biblical Studies), and I was also employed there as the bookstore manager there for over two years. I served as a pastor or on the pastoral staff of five IARBC churches for over 30 years. I most recently concluded serving over 23 years as the lead pastor at Northridge Baptist Church (an IARBC church) in Des Moines. I have served my entire ministry years in some form of bi-vocationaly ministry, serving churches that cannot afford full-time pastors. I am a big proponent of bi-vocational ministry and its many benefits for both churches and the pastors that serve them.

Why the IARBC.NET site?

I initially created IARBC.NET to assist IARBC pastors and churches because the "official" site was not being kept current with needed information. When the IARBC.ORG site was updated "under new management," the responsibilities of maintaining a current calendar, church list, and sending out weekly e-mail updates etc. reverted to them. When this change took place, I decided to retain this site, and use this platform in a more editorial fashion to encourage people to evaluate more closely their beliefs and practices by the Word of God. It is a ministry to encourage our association churches and pastors to think biblically.

What are you trying to accomplish?

I simply am one pastor desiring to encourage the IARBC to be biblically established, become more thoughtful in what they do, and more purposed as to why they do it. There is no historical mechanism of the Association nor of its affiliate ministries that allows much two-way communication. I hope to use this method of communication to allow pastors and churches to be stimulated to think beyond the official communications of these organizations, and reflect on the Word apart in addition to them. I do so with a mindset to strengthen the pastors and churches that make up the Association, and thus strengthen the Association itself.

My words and writings are my opinions. I believe that they are biblically-based opinions that will assist pastors and churches in evaluating their own positions and practices, whether they ultimately agree with my conclusions or not. I simply encourage you to read what I write with an open and discerning heart, as input of one pastor serving within the IARBC and who cares deeply for those within this dear association.

"Test all things; hold fast what is good."
(1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Thank you for reading. May this site and its contents challenge you to think deeply about God and His Word.

The IARB "Seer" (pardon the play on letters and words) is a new e-mail newsletter
of commentary and stimulating Bible study which will ask hard questions and address issues and practices that I consider worth bringing up for discussion concerning our Association proper, affiliated ministries, and the churches that make up the IARBC.
I would encourage you to at least sign-up and give it a try. Be stimulated!

This web site will provide a home for this information, and will provide a platform to help us as leaders and churches of the IARBC, to continuously re-evaluate what we do and why we do it.