allegedly shot dead two Iowa State University students Vivian Renee Flores of West Des Moines and Eden Mariah Montang of Boone, ages 21 and 22 respectively, outside the church and attempted to kill a third woman who escaped unharmed before he killed himself in a murder–suicide. Beliefs Cornerstone Church and its affiliate ministries adhere to a complementarian viewpoint on gender roles, which in practice precludes women from taking up certain leadership positions within the community, and relegates women to assist in decision-making while ultimate authority in marriage, courtship, and church politics is retained by men. As of 22 May 2019, the church noted on its website that “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of elder is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” In the Salt Company ministries of Cornerstone Church, aimed towards younger people and university students, it has been noted that campus group(s) would restrict leadership positions to people who concur with the Church’s belief that sexual activity should be restricted to married men and women exclusively, and that LGBT students have felt “ostracized and demonized” on the basis of their identity within the Salt Company. An online sermon from Veritas Church in Iowa City, a “plant” from Cornerstone Church in Ames, argued that homosexual behavior in animals goes against the “original nature that God gave us”, ultimately describing same-sex sexual attraction and behavior as “desires that are wrong”. References Evangelical megachurches in the United States Baptist churches in Iowa Buildings and structures in Ames, Iowa Christian organizations established in 1994 1994 establishments in Iowa