Real faith, Real friends... Making a real difference
Real Faith...
We believe real faith is more than an emotional response or an intellectual agreement to facts. Instead, we believe it is an ever-deepening knowledge of, reliance on, and obedience to God as our true Father. This results in a daily striving to be like Jesus in all aspects of our life. As we wholeheartedly live for God, we experience the joy of a "life to the full" as He intends.
Real Friends...
We believe church should be a place where true friendships are built. Relationships that go beyond a handshake and greeting on Sunday mornings. Relationships that get past the surface issues and delve into what is real going on in our hearts and lives. Relationships that can both laugh and cry together. Relationships that last a lifetime!
Making a real difference...
We believe a church should imitate Jesus' heart to serve the poor and needy. We also believe having a relationship with God should make a real difference in our marriages, parenting, dating lives, finances, and daily life.
Our Story So Far!
In May of 2006 Joel and Christy Peed moved from leading a 100+ member church in Omaha, Nebraska to Eau Claire with their three young children to plant the Chippewa Valley Church. They were joined a few months later by Kenny and Laura Tubwell, also from Omaha, and Preston Peterson from Milwaukee. Our first service was held in the Peed’s home over the 4th of July weekend. Some of those early services were quite lonely, but we believed that where two or three (or five!) were gathered in the name of the Lord, He was there with them. And that by many or by few, nothing could hinder the Lord from saving! Randy and Tyra Perine were the first “locals” to come to church in our home, and are still with us today! Heather Meives was another who came to those early services, and her children instantly became great friends with the Peed’s, and thus our “kids kingdom” was born! Heather also “happened” to be a professionally trained soloist and added some much needed musical talent to our worship! She is currently being trained to lead our worship services.
After a few months of house church, a door opened to meet in a coffee shop adjacent to the UWEC campus. We’re still amazed how somehow that coffee shop was transformed into a sanctuary every Sunday morning!
By Easter of 2007 the coffee shop was becoming so crowded we knew we needed to find a larger worship location. Miraculously, a friend had heard of a vacant church in Altoona, and their leadership agreed to rent the building to us full time for $200 / month! Once again there were many services that felt a bit cavernous, but we knew that God wouldn’t have called us to plant His church if He wasn’t working in people’s lives, calling them to Himself. An example of this is Jeremy and Cary Stanek living right next door to the building. They not only came to church, but came to Christ!
By the spring of 2008, that cavernous feeling was replaced by a cramped feeling! We were bursting at the seams with people, especially downstairs cramming four Sunday school classes into one room. Once again we began to pray for a new door to open for worship. After knocking on numerous rental doors over seven months, a door opened, once again miraculously, for us to purchase a church building and parsonage! After two months of overhauling the sanctuary, we had the most people ever (72) at our worship service on Easter of 2009.
God has moved in ways that have been more than we could even ask or imagine. None of the people that have come to church were involved in any other church, w/ many considering themselves unbelievers, and have been baptized into Christ! Numerous projects for the poor, elderly, and needy have taken place as we’ve strove to make a real difference in our community. God has forged a precious unity as His church feels truly like a family. God’s faithfulness in His provision of resources has built all of our faith, as He has provided just the right amount at just the right time!
Will you join your story with ours? Please “come and see” what God is doing in and through Chippewa Valley Church, we’d love to meet you.
Joel and Christy Peed celebrated their 10 year anniversary in August of this year and they have 3 incredible children. Joel and Christy met in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Church of Christ. Joel had become a christian in 1992 while attending the University of Minnesota where he was pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After Christy graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1994, she moved to Minneapolis to teach kindergarten. It was during this time that she became a christian. While Joel was completing his degree he began training to be in the full-time ministry. He and Christy led the campus ministry and then singles and marrieds ministries in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Church of Christ.
In 2002 the Peeds were asked to move to Omaha, Nebraska to lead the Omaha Church of Christ. While they loved the church there dearly, they believed God was calling them to return "home" in 2006 and start a new church, the Chippewa Valley Church, in Eau Claire, WI.
Joel grew up in the small town of Plainview, Minnesota and lived there until he left for college in 1990. He has two older brothers and one older sister. Joel was recently certified as a USGTF golf instructor and has begun teaching golf here in Eau Claire. Besides golfing, Joel enjoys training for triathlons, playing basketball and all sports, and cheering on the Twins and Vikings (sorry Packer fans!).
Because of his belief in the need for continual learning and training, Joel is pursuing a Masters Degree in Biblical Counseling. He has already received an "Accelerated Bible Certificate" in 2005 from Grace University in Omaha, NE.
Christy grew up in a small town as well- Chetek, Wisconsin, and lived there until she left for college in 1989. She has five older brothers and numerous nieces and nephews. Christy right now has her hands full with 3 small children, but also enjoys working out, playing golf, reading, scrapbooking and playing the piano.
