06/08/2026
This week, Alyssa Bergantzel shares how Central has impacted her life...
My whole life, I was raised in church, and honestly… I hated it. I was an angry and lonely kid, and church felt like a place where perfection was expected. I never felt like I measured up, so as soon as I could, I stopped going.
In April 2023, my husband, kids, and I moved to Scranton, Iowa. Deep down, I wanted so badly to get right with God. My kids deserved a healed mom, and I knew I had healing to do.
Around that time, I went back to the church I was raised in. The pastor came up to me and said he was happy to see me back. I looked at him and said, “I just wanted to know if I’d start to burn,” because I truly didn’t believe God could forgive my anger.
By June 2023, my husband wanted our kids involved in church. We didn’t know many people here, and he has always been a strong believer. So I started searching for a church with a great environment for kids, a place to meet people, and most importantly, a place that welcomed imperfect people exactly as they are.
Central was recommended to me.
The moment I walked in, met Pastor Gary, and heard Pastor Ryan speak, I knew something in my heart was changing. For the first time, church didn’t feel like a place of judgment—it felt like home.
In December 2023, I was baptized at Central. My family and friends cried because they couldn’t believe the transformation they were seeing in me.
Then in April 2024, I ended up in the hospital in Iowa City for over a month. Pastor Gary came to see me, and when I got home, the church stepped up with meals and support. That kind of love stays with you.
Central Church has truly changed and blessed my life and my family.
Every sermon speaks to me—not to some perfect version of who I should be, but to the real me, imperfections and all. Through every worry, every struggle, every season of being broken, lost, happy, angry, or confused, I know I am not alone and I am not judged.
I am accepted exactly as I am.
And every time I walk out those doors, I feel like I can breathe again.
