WHO WE ARE

WHO WE ARE

OUR RESILIENT STORY

Jake & Kasey

Thurston

Pastor Jake was on staff at his first ministry placement at Ransom Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from 2016-2019. Jake always had a passion for college students, the university, and the pursuit of learning. In the summer of 2019, Jake was offered a position to work for the School of Theology & Ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University, where he would teach theology, train ministry students, and assist with recruitment initiatives. Jake took the offer, and he and his wife, Kasey, moved to Indiana in the Fall of 2019.

Then the pandemic hit. In the midst of vast amounts of uncertainty and stay-at-home orders, this brought Jake into the worst season of anxiety and depression he ever experienced. It was during the early stages of the pandemic that led them to reassess their priorities. They were expecting their first daughter at the time, so moving back home to South Dakota to be near Kasey’s family became vastly important. Furthermore, Jake was deeply missing pastoring in the local church, a call placed on his life for 10 years at that point.

After a ton of prayer, discernment, and processing with mentors, it became apparent that God was calling Jake and Kasey to plant a church in Vermillion, South Dakota, home to the University of South Dakota. Through the entire journey, the concept of “resilience” stood at the core of everything: That even during the hardest season of their lives, God was still good, saw them through it all, and made them better people and followers of Jesus in the process. 

Little did they know that this season of hardship would be the basis of planting Resilient Church—a community passionate about forming vibrant lives in Jesus that can withstand all the hardship life throws at them.

Welcome to Vermillion

A VIBRANT, welcoming community

10%

increase in

population

from 10,000 (2010) to 11,000+ (2021)

📈

56%

don’t consider themselves “religious”

🚫

28.7%

live in poverty

🏚️

23

👨‍🎓

is the median age

46%

⏳

are under age 30

home of the university

of South Dakota

🏫

A VIBRANT COMMUNITY

For a small town like Vermillion (11,000 people) with a large university like USD (9,000 residential students), the unique energy the university brings is deeply infused with the community. In turn, Vermillion has a vibrant culture, where it’s known for the quality of its positive people holding an “open arms” posture to see that anyone, from anywhere, can come and make Vermillion home.
A TRANSIENT COMMUNITY = A SENDING CULTURE

As a college town, Vermillion sees thousands of people pass through its community every 4-5 years. This gives the opportunity to disciple the people who come through our in the way of Christ, and then send them out as missionaries to wherever God leads them next, be it Vermillion for the longterm or a city for their first job placement.

FORMATION POWERHOUSES

College towns are where young people discover who they are, what they’re called to do, and what they believe. The 4 years spent in college can set the trajectory of a young person’s life. This makes it all the more vital for a vibrant church community to be an additional voice in formation of the next generation’s identities, vocations, beliefs, and mission.

Meet the Team

  • Jake Thurston

    Jake Thurston

    LEAD PASTOR

    Email
  • Mason Buth

    Mason Buth

    WORSHIP + COLLEGE PASTOR

    Email
  • Kasey Thurston

    Kasey Thurston

    ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR

    email
  • Damian Kardas

    Damian Kardas

    RESILIENT KIDS DIRECTOR

    Email
  • Brandon Ahalt

    Brandon Ahalt

    RESILIENT COLLEGE CO-DIRECTOR

    email
  • Ledger Hannan

    Ledger Hannan

    RESILIENT COLLEGE CO-DIRECTOR

    email
  • Alan Perry

    Alan Perry

    MISSIONS DIRECTOR

    email
  • Hanna Delange

    Hanna Delange

    COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

    email

  • Isaiah Lee

    RESIDENT PASTOR

    EMAIL

  • Ann Waterbury

    HOSPITALITY DIRECTOR

    email

OUR MISSION

Resilient Church exists to form vibrant lives that withstand hardship. We believe a relationship with Jesus Christ and the transformation he brings is at the core of a vibrant life. A vibrant life in Jesus does not guarantee a life free of hardship, but rather gives the strength to withstand all hard things, which allows us to grow into more dynamic and mature followers of him.

We form vibrant lives through our 3 core values: 

  1. Worship – Live a daily life with God

  2. Words – Learn wisdom in community

  3. Work – Leverage your calling for ministry.

OUR BELIEFS

Resilient Church belongs to The Wesleyan Church denomination, and our doctrine is in line with the Wesleyan Doctrine. 


At our core, we believe in the One, Triune God: One God in the three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that God created everything to be very good, climaxing with the creation of humanity made in his Image. 

But, due to the Fall (Genesis 3), humanity is prone to wander in their sins, separated from God and his will, for now and eternity.

But the story doesn’t stop there.

We believe in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ—the incarnate Son of God, who is both fully God and fully man—to save us for eternal salvation, set us free from the sins that hold us down, and enables us to live a vibrant, holy life. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who was sent by Jesus to guide, teach, and lead his Church to be a redemptive, missional presence to the world through the hope of the Gospel.

We believe that a vibrant life comes not from a certain amount of material blessings or following a hard set of rules, but the freedom that comes from the saving grace of Jesus and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit living within us. 

We believe all this is laid out in the Bible, God’s authoritative, divinely inspired Word that reveals God’s nature and intentions to us. 

To read more about our beliefs as a church,
visit our denomination’s beliefs page
wesleyan.org/about/our-beliefs

Our Ministry Partners

Resilient Church is a proud member of