Pastor Seth Channell was raised in Newburg, Alabama and educated at The University of North Alabama, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He spent the first years of pastoral ministry serving three congregations in Northwest Alabama. In 2012 he became the Senior Pastor of Grace Life Church of Ankeny. Grace Life Church of Ankeny started in 2010 with four families and today is a growing congregation of 73 members with 88 children and a number of full-time attenders. Seth resides in Ankeny, Iowa with his wife, Debbie, and their five children.

Update from Pastor Seth Channell (May 2021):

AIT Family,

The last month has been a great month. We had two new members join our church this past Sunday. In addition, we are still working with five others concerning baptism and church membership. Pray that these folks choose to be obedient to Christ and get baptized.

We had four new guests to our church in April. One couple are neighbors to a family in our church. This family had been praying for and engaging with their neighbors for three years and then this past month they showed up to church without even telling anyone they were coming. It is encouraging to see the Lord use their efforts of faithfulness over time. Pray these guests come to repent of their sin and trust Christ for salvation.

We currently rent an auditorium from a Christian school in town. The seating, sound & video system, and lighting in the auditorium need to be updated. We are currently in talks with the school about what projects to address first and who should be responsible for covering what remodeling costs. Please pray these conversations go well. We do need to update, but we don't want to sour our relationship with the school by what suggestions we make or through the negotiations over the cost of projects. Pray we continue to keep favor with the school and the Lord would supply the financial resources we need to cover our part of the costs.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our ministry here in Ankeny!