Impact is a church plant that began public services in late 2003, after almost a year of preparation and vision-casting of the Wesleyan planting concept pioneered by Phil Struckmeyer. With the help of the Struckmeyer family, the Wesleyan denomination, area companies, key volunteers, and a special task force from Kentwood Community Church, Impact acquired a small building just north of downtown Lowell and began extensive renovations and improvements to get ready for Lowell's first church plant. The idea was crazy, the work was seemingly unending, but after months of labor October finally arrived and Impact was ready for its debut to the Lowell community. 

The first few months of services saw an average of 80 attendees, enjoying refreshing music led by Ryan Gerten, entertaining drama, and relevant messages that applied directly to the lives of grandparents, teens, and everywhere in between. A small but tight-knit group of high school students formed ISM, Impact's fist student ministries also led by Ryan Gerten and his wife, Angele. Elisa White, fresh from Kentwood's launch team that helped start Impact, took on the role of KidZone director, setting the bar high for what is today's the blessed and creative children's ministry.

From the get-go Impact was finding creative and fun ways to reach out to the community, participating annually in the Lowell Expo and Riverwalk Festivals, and establishing a relationship with the Lowell Chamber of Commerce. This opened doors to more community events sponsored by Impact, and by the grace of God the small church plant began to become recognizable in the Lowell area as a source of authentic love and community, not just a house of worship. 

As impact continued to grow, many were brought closer to Christ, even more for the very first time. Phil's upbeat, youthful nature had begun to spread among the church body, which by now the weekend experience could be described by many as "youth group for adults". November 2004 saw the arrival of Jason Holdridge, Impact's new Pastor of Teaching and Worship, who continued to raise the standard of excellence in the worship arts experience during the weekend and beyond around the church. Jason, his wife Heidi, and three daughters came to Lowell from Ohio to become a part of the crazy adventure that was Impact. 

Since 2004 Impact has been blessed to experience amazing growth and inevitably a little change, but still retains the same atmosphere of relaxation and 
Christ-centered relevancy to everyday lives. In February 2007 capital campaigns were initiated and construction was completed on Impact's new worship facility, annexed to the existing location. The new higher-capacity space features a roomy layout with state-of-the-art audio and video systems, and continues to compliment the warm, coffeehouse atmosphere from the color scheme to the coffee and refreshments itself.  

Impact's vision of planting other churches within ten years has yielded amazing happenings in West Michigan. In October 2006 Epic: A Community Church launched in Portland Michigan, impacting lives in that area headed up by lead pastor Ed Love and wife Emily. In October 2007, the Belding community was introduced to Encounter Community Church led by Jim Bowen. Impact retains a close, supportive relationship with both plants and has been blessed to see growth in both churches.

The current Impact plant project is Ignite, a church plant targeted at teens and families with teens right here in the Lowell area. Ignite plans to launch in late spring 2009. More Ignite info coming soon!

The leaders at Impact continually thank each and every person that had a hand in helping Impact get to where it is today, reaching almost 1,000 lives each weekend and continuing to be a resource of outreach for the Lowell community. We invite you to be a part of the adventure as we keep humbly pursuing the calling God has on our body.