Cedar Valley High School

By Karen L. Willoughby

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah – Six years after Pioneer Community Church was started by Barry and Jennifer Smith, it moved from its location at a dance studio on Ira Hodges Blvd one mile north, to Cedar Valley High School.

In those first six years, the church grew from five people to about 85. The first service in the church’s new location was on March 2, 2025.

“Mostly, it (the move) was for the kids,” Smith told UI Connections. “We usually have 30 or so under 18 and needed another kid’s room. In the dance studio, they were split into two rooms, infant – 5 years old and kindergarten through fifth grade. Most of our kids are third grade and under.”

The Smith couple – who have five adult children – moved from Florida in 2013 to plant a church in Saratoga Springs. When it didn’t come to fruition, they helped at another church plant for two years before focusing on the rapidly growing Eagle Mountain community.

“We’ve always been about making the Word central in the service,” Smith said. “We preach the Word, sing the Word, pray the Word, and see the Word through the elements, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. We’re constantly going back to the scripture.”

“People tell us they love the fact the Word is so central here,” the pastor continued. “I try to pray scripture as much as possible. We also sing songs from the scriptures. People often tell us, ‘I’ve never heard stuff like this before.’” 

For the Smith couple to drive nearly 2,500 miles and not find a positive outcome at Saratoga Springs was humbling but didn’t deter them from their call from God to minister among the dominant religious system in Utah, Smith said. “God was growing and maturing us to be prepared for Eagle Mountain.”

Pioneer Community now has a worship center in the Performing Arts Building at the high school and three classrooms for better age-graded classes: birth to 2-year-olds, pre-K, and Kindergarten through third grade. Fourth and fifth graders remain in the main service. They listen to the sermon with the help of a “Big Kids Worksheet.” 

The youth group currently consists of three teen girls. A college student moved from northern Florida earlier this month to lead them in a small group. Smith said a youth game night on April 27 will help add teen boys and more girls to the group.

Pioneer Community has added to its numbers through a wide variety of people, the pastor said: Some searching for God, some moving to the area, some unchurched, some who had de-churched themselves, some Googlers, and some invited by friends.

The pastor said the growth—in addition to God’s providence—is that Smith and the church’s other elder ask follow-up questions of the questions asked to them.

“We always have many unbelievers asking questions,” Smith said. He prefers to respond to a question with a question to see where the person’s thinking is coming from. “Sometimes it’s a ‘gotcha’ question, but most of the time they heard something in the sermon, are going through something, or read something on the internet.”

Asking people questions and listening to their responses shows the pastor’s innate respect for all people, and that respect opens the door to building relationships. Coffee before and after services encourages people to arrive early or stay after so relationships can start building.

Two women came to Pioneer Community – one for two years; the other, four – who sat on the front row. One finally made public her decision to follow Jesus and was baptized. “That spurred the other,” Smith chuckled.

“We have men coming whose wives aren’t, or weren’t, [believers]” the pastor continued. “God has blessed us with men.  I don’t know why. I don’t think I’m doing anything special.”

“We get guys who left their religious background years ago,” Smith continued. “They tell me they want to hear the truth of the Bible. We’re walking through whole books of the Bible, and many of them are not used to that. It’s more in-depth than they’ve heard before, and it’s all Bible.”

But since several of the men seemed serious about deepening their faith, last fall Smith started a Pastoral Training Apprenticeship that includes weekly meetings and the discussion of five books each semester on preaching, church membership, theology, and practical ministry, including “Worship Matters” by Bob Kauflin, “Preaching” by Timothy Keller and “Dangerous Calling” by Paul David Tripp.

“The goal is to meet the biblical requirements of an elder and get to a level of a theological understanding to respond to people’s questions after the service,” Smith said. “An elder is a pastor and overseer. Some are better at sermons; some better at service.”

The pastor added that the men present sermons in class to prepare them to preach from the pulpit. Some in the class might eventually be called into the pastorate, perhaps to start a church, and others to a supporting role that strengthens a church or church plant.

A Tuesday evening “Home Group” predates the launch of Pioneer Community. A Friday evening Home Group was added this past January. For the last two years, the pastor’s wife, Jennifer Smith, has led a women’s Bible study on each month’s second and fourth Saturday mornings. 

Vital to the pastor: becoming known in Eagle Mountain. “I try to ensure that the service honors the Lord, and I attend as many community events as possible,” Smith said. “I show up, and God does all the work.”

A mission team from Corner-Stone Church in Jefferson, Georgia, plans to lead Vacation Bible School June 23-26 for the fourth year in a row for Pioneer Community, one of the church’s major evangelistic outreaches every year. Berea First Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C., plans to help with outreach during Eagle Mountain’s Pony Express Days May 28-31. This will be their fourth year as well. 

With help from its partner churches and the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention, Pioneer Community Church bought an open-air grill trailer to use on the final day of VBS, Pony Express Days, neighborhood block parties, lunches at the high school, and other outreaches throughout the year. 

“We’re in a season of encouragement right now,” Smith said. “We’ve had attendance in the 90s a couple of times, but I’m not a numbers guy. Seeing spiritual growth is more important and exciting.”