Churches in Carroll

Active churches in Carroll

801 E 18th Street, Carroll
stjohncarroll.org
1 sermon
24336 US. Hwy. 30, Carroll
yourcentralchurch.com
6 sermons
18632 HWY 71, Carroll
carrollfirst.com
1 sermon
1844 Highland Dr., Carroll
stpaul-ia.com
1 sermon

Types of churches in Carroll

Catholic Churches in Carroll

Carroll’s long-established Catholic parishes anchor community life with traditional worship, sacraments, and multi-generational involvement. Many families connect through the local Catholic school system, and parish fish fries and festivals draw neighbors from downtown to the U.S. 30 and 71 corridors.

Contemporary Evangelical Worship

Carroll’s contemporary evangelical and non-denominational congregations feature band-led music, practical teaching, and casual environments. You’ll often find them in newer facilities near shopping along U.S. 30 or in renovated spaces, with active youth groups and outreach that ties into citywide service efforts.

Lutheran & Mainline Traditions

Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations in Carroll emphasize liturgical services, choirs, and steady community service. These neighborhood churches—often along residential streets near parks and schools—host quilting circles, food pantry volunteering, and seasonal observances rooted in Upper Midwest heritage.

Spanish-Language Churches in Carroll

Some congregations in Carroll offer Spanish-language or bilingual services that serve the city’s Hispanic families and workers. Ministries often include ESL support, family programs, and cultural celebrations, with gatherings convenient to downtown and apartments near major routes.

Sermon clips from Carroll churches

77s
“``I was fighting god. I hated him too. And I told him, I said, you could come down here as a man, I'd beat your ass. I'm sorry. That's crude and mean, and you don't maybe don't understand that. Now I knew he couldn't do that. I mean, course, you know that. So I said, send an angel. Send me an angel. I said, I'll knock that stinking flaming sword out of his hand and throat punch him. That's how I've been praying. That's okay. We get mad at god. Life hurts. When I worked in labor and delivery and those young men would lose a child to fetal demise, they were furious at god. I would tell them, you need to go out and have it out with him. You need to let him know how you feel about this. Fight him. Fight with him. He's a big boy. He can handle it. And now I'm that's where I'm at and where I've been. but it's a beautiful fight because he's gonna win the fight. And when God wins the fight, then you win too. Right?”
77s
“And god's going, you do that. Stop polluting. You do the work to unpollute it. Oh god, make sure that the hungry are fed. And Jesus is going, you feed them. We treat god like a Sears and Roebuck catalog. Some of us are old enough to know what that means. What it is is it was a catalog that had all the toys. Remember the toy catalog that would come out? My brother and I would spend hours on that. And mom and dad would just smile because they weren't gonna pay any attention to what we wanted, but they did give us good gifts. And that's the thing. It's when we use prayer as a shopping list or a Santa Claus list, you know, he's making his list, checking it twice. Then we've missed the mark. We have sinned. Because we're treating god like a a giver of our our desires and not our needs. So in prayer, we we ask god to help us do these things that we're supposed to be doing.”
59s
“We get stuck wanting to still listen to him, still follow him. Even when we wanna do it our own way, there is something about God. He is the one we need. And so even when we try to step away from him, there is this fire in our bones that calls us back to him. And probably the best image of this is when you go to a Christian funeral where sometimes there are Christians going to this funeral and in the midst of that funeral, they are frustrated and angry with God because someone that they love, someone that they care about has been taken from them, and all they wanna do is scream and yell at God. How could you do this? And yet, there they come walking into the church, still praying, still singing, still looking to God because they can't seem to look away because he is the only person that we can look to in the midst of our deepest pain.”
54s
“Well, the angels have a place, and it's called the presence of God. And when we truly focus our hearts and our minds on the presence of God, worry and anxiety have no place to stand or sit or stay in our hearts and minds. Even for me, when I've gone through some of my worst battles, if if I could just get three minutes alone with a worship song and I could disconnect my mind from that worry and anxiety, sure slowly but surely, things begin to change inside of me. Now there's a man in the Bible named Isaiah who experienced the presence of God, and it messed him up. In fact, Isaiah, there was this king in Israel named Uzziah, and he had died. And Isaiah went off to church to kinda he was he he was upset. He was he was hurting.”
77s
“``I don't know how long I was out, probably not very long. I have no idea. But as I started to come to, I was in this twilight between unconsciousness and consciousness. I wasn't quite conscious, but I was cognizant where I was at. the only thing I felt as I was lying there on the ground with sixty percent of my skin gone, the bones in my fingers gone, my lungs burned, my eyes burned. The only thing I felt was peace. There was no pain, there was no fear, no anxiety, there was nothing. My body was at peace. My entire being was at peace. And I laid there in that state of peace for just a little bit, and this very quiet whisper inside of my mind said, everything's gonna be alright. I had no idea who or what that was. I wasn't serving God. I was already well involved, way involved in a life of pretty hardcore drug and alcohol abuse, which got even worse after the burn in it.”
67s
“``it it fell apart. She went her way. I ended up in a psychiatric hospital. I started to tell that story in there. While I was in there, I started going through a mental list of everything in life I had tried in order to find happiness, and every single thing had failed me. Every single one. And the last thing on the list was Jesus Christ. He had not failed me. I remembered that prayer and how I felt. And so I got on my knees, and I just said, Jesus, I just want you. My life radically changed. That was my sinner's prayer. Jesus, I just want you. I don't want anything else. I don't want girlfriends. I don't want nothing. I don't want anything. And I went home, I asked that girl, I said, what are gonna do with your life? She said, I'm gonna live with myself. I said, okay. Then pack your bags. You're gonna do it somewhere else. I kicked her out on the spot.”
51s
“``I was devastated. I had to do all my own wound care. I mean, it's ugly. Every day, unwrap it, debreathe the dead tissue, scrub it, all that, and rewrap it with no fingers. And but I knew how to do all that. I already had the supplies. I'd lived with this for so long. It's just crazy stuff. And I remember saying one day, and I did at the moment. I had no hope whatsoever. Absolutely void of hope. And I said it even though I didn't believe it. I said everything's gonna be alright.”
68s
“And that might be you. You might be talking to someone who's in the depth of sorrow or fear or guilt, and you come along and you pray with them and you give them a word of compassion, and you became an angel to them. Because angel just comes from the word, which means good news teller. It's why I'm angry that people who wanna speak hate on behalf of god who is love call themselves evangelicals, good news bearers. That's not good news if you're told god hates this. God hates you. God hates what you stand It's not how it works, brothers and sisters. It's not how it works. We're supposed to be good news tellers, which means that god loves you and is freeing you from the consequences of sin and death, and that's good news.”
70s
“Oh god, make sure that the hungry are fed. And Jesus is going, you feed them. We treat god like a Sears and Roebuck catalog. Some of us are old enough to know what that means. What it is is it was a catalog that had all the toys. Remember the toy catalog that would come out? My brother and I would spend hours on that. And mom and dad would just smile because they weren't gonna pay any attention to what we wanted, but they did give us good gifts. And that's the thing. It's when we use prayer as a shopping list or a Santa Claus list, you know, he's making his list, checking it twice. Then we've missed the mark. We have sinned. Because we're treating god like a a giver of our our desires and not our needs. So in prayer, we we ask god to help us do these things that we're supposed to be doing.”
48s
“But we are not enslaved to sin. And when we act as if we are, we completely negate the glorious truth of what God has done through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has defeated death and sin. And if we live in that perspective is that that it's okay to do whatever we want, then we get into trouble. Because then we're saying, no. We like that master better than the master of god. We don't want god mastering over us. We don't wanna have to be compliant to what god has envisioned for each and every one of us.”

Why Carroll churches are unique

Churches in Carroll reflect a family-centered culture shaped by strong local schools, youth sports, and close-knit neighborhoods, so weeknights and weekends often blend faith formation with community events. Many congregations emphasize intergenerational connection, pairing lively children’s and teen ministries with worship that keeps grandparents, parents, and kids together; look for strong kids programs for young families, youth discipleship and mentoring, and multi-generational worship gatherings.
Set amid western Iowa farmland, Carroll functions as a regional hub, and Carroll churches often welcome families driving in from nearby towns with rhythms that flex around planting and harvest seasons. That rural neighborliness shows up in potlucks, volunteer crews, and practical help for farm operations, as well as outdoor services and festivals when the weather cooperates; you’ll see rural outreach to farm families, seasonal schedules around harvest, and community meals and potlucks.
Historically influenced by German and Irish heritage, the area’s strong liturgical roots sit alongside vibrant evangelical and mainline traditions, offering everything from organ-led hymns to modern praise. As the community diversifies and a regional medical center draws healthcare workers and retirees, ministries increasingly include bilingual Spanish-English services, traditional liturgy with sacred music, and hospital and caregiving ministries.

Recent sermons from Carroll churches

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