Stephen Moore – Lead Pastor
Stephen and his wife Ellen have been married and ministering together for 19 years. They have five children, Samuel, Benjamin, Jeriah, Isaiah, and Emma. Before moving to Huxley to plant the 7th church in the Engage Network, Stephen pastored two other rural Iowa churches for a total of 17 years. After working as a surgical nurse at the beginning of their marriage, Ellen has been a stay-at-home mom for the last several years. Stephen and Ellen are passionate about reaching their community in order to reach their world and desire to plant and lead Ballard Creek Church to do the same.
Erik Nilius – Part Time Staff/Elder
Erik and his wife Erica have been married since 2011. They have 3 growing kids which keep them very busy. Erik and Erica moved to Huxley in 2022 to be a part of the Ballard Creek Church plant. They are both passionate about serving in the church and reaching their new community with the Gospel.
Kevin Thomas – Elder
Kevin and his wife Jeanie married in 1983. They have 3 adult children and 8 grandchildren (so far!). They were members for 35 years at Saylorville Church in Des Moines, where Kevin was Family Ministries Pastor. After serving for several years as Executive Director of a crisis pregnancy center, Jeanie is retired and loving the extra time to help with those grandbabies! They moved to Huxley in 2022 to be part of the Ballard Creek Church plant, and are grateful for the opportunity to serve and see God at work in this community!
Bryan Carlton – Part Time Staff/Elder
Bryan and his wife Keri have been married since 2000 and enjoy spending time with their 4 kids. They were members at Lakeside Fellowship in Polk City for 13 years before helping plant Ballard Creek. Bryan and Keri look forward to seeing the Gospel go out in the Ballard community!
Erica Nilius – Office Administrator
Erica and her husband Erik have been married since 2011 and have three children. They enjoy being part of a small community and are thrilled to see their children grow up with all the other kids at Ballard Creek Church. As a family they enjoy traveling together and taking family bike rides. Erica enjoys serving the church on the worship team and being involved as the admin. She loves finding good books for the whole family to enjoy.
Peter Atwell – Ministry Intern
Peter’s favorite name of God is Jehovah Jireh, God who provides. The Lord has provided so much in his life; a beautiful wife, Clarissa, 2 incredible children (Noelle and Gabe), and blessings too far to count. Peter and Clarissa were married in 2014, and have gone through many good times with the Lord, but have had challenges along the way (feel free to ask about them!). He came to faith in Jesus at a young age and has desired to work in ministry since middle school. Peter is currently finishing his last few classes for a Masters of Divinity at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Peter and Clarissa are both passionate about helping people grow to become more like Jesus through discipleship.
James Busenitz – Ministry Intern
James and his wife Faith have been married since June of 2024. They currently live on the north side of Ankeny. James and Faith are excited to be a part of the Ballard Creek Church plant. They both desire to serve in the church and desire to see the gospel spread into the Ballard Creek community.