In the fall of 2009, Mark was approached by two of the pastors at Cornerstone Church in Ames with the idea… "What would you think about planting a church in Iowa City?"

After wrestling with God and ultimately being convinced from Isaiah 25:1 that God had already blazed a trail, Mark said "Yes!". Troy and Mark stood before 800 students at the Salt Company (Cornerstone's college ministry) and asked who would consider transferring to the University of Iowa. Over 100 students stood up. The same was done at Cornerstone Church two days later, and another large number responded. 

Immediately Mark began recruiting a partner and staff team to help plant the church. God re-united him with a life long friend, Jeff Thune, who joined four other staff members from Cornerstone to form the planting team. That summer of 2010, about 30 community people, 50 college students, and 6 staff moved to Iowa City to plant Veritas Church and the Salt Company, a college ministry to the campus.

Veritas was nameless for a couple months and met at Jason and Brenda Willis' home in North Liberty. After outgrowing their basement as students trickled into town, we moved to potlucks at parks in Iowa City. Veritas Church officially launched on September 12, 2010 at Hotel Vetro in downtown Iowa City.

We welcomed over 300 at our kick off service. Many of those were well wishers- friends from Cornerstone, family members, and others from the community. We were still uncertain about what the next weeks would bring, but we were pleasantly surprised to average around 200 regular attendees. By the end of the year we outgrew the space at Hotel Vetro, and have since moved to the Marriott off First Avenue. God has provided a more accessible location with more space, better parking, and a better price!

At the same time we planted Veritas, we knew that our ministry to college students at the U of I was at the core of our vision as a church. So we started the Salt Company in the back of a bar downtown. Over the course of the year, we outgrew the bar and are currently meeting in the Englert Theatre downtown.

We have about 20 connection groups with over 200 people that meet weekly in homes around the Corridor region. We know this is just the beginning and we look forward to seeing God grow Veritas as we focus on making disciples and planting churches regionally and globally. We currently have plans to partner with Westwind Church of Waukee and Cornerstone to plant a church in Warren county.