#153 Grace Church

When I was in seminary, Tess and I went church shopping. We were new to Grand Rapids and wanted to settle in with a church for the three years I would be in school. We hoped to find a congregation where we felt like we belonged, where we could get involved, and where we could hopefully grow and learn and even be challenged. We visited half a dozen churches or so over the first few months we were in town. There was a lot we liked, but we didn't feel like we'd found the place for us to be yet. There were so many churches around. Then I met a woman named Pat, who invited Tess and me to come to the church she attended: Grace Christian Reformed Church.

The next Sunday Tess and I went to Grace Church. When we were driving home after the service, we looked at each other and said, "This is the one." We never thought about looking for another church again.

For a little less than three years, Grace Church was home for Tess and me. There were a lot of things I loved about Grace Church. It began as an African-American church plant, and it grew into a church that was passionate about people from different backgrounds coming together in Christ. The congregation at Grace Church was more diverse than any I'd been a part of before. We celebrated black history month with an amazing dinner each year. We sang a whole variety of songs from different traditions. Lots of different people participated in worship, and children were intentionally included in children's messages and communion celebrations and waving streamers. Grace Church felt very intergenerational. It certainly wasn't perfect, but I learned and experienced a lot there.

I'd say there were two main things I loved about Grace Church. First, worship at Grace felt real. Sometimes churches (wrongly) make you feel like you need to get your life together before you come to church. Grace didn't feel that way to me. In sermons and prayers and fellowship, we talked about the tough times in life, about our weaknesses and struggles and need for God. Our worship (very appropriately) reminded us that we are all sinners saved by God's grace. The second thing I loved about Grace Church was communion. At Grace we truly celebrated communion. We gathered together at the front of the sanctuary in groups to share the bread and the cup. While we waited before and after our turn, we sang. Often we would begin quietly, even somberly, reflecting on Christ's sacrifice. But we would often finish with loud, joyful, triumphant songs, celebrating that Christ has triumphed and is with us to strengthen our faith and will come again. I firmly believe that communion is more than just remembering Jesus' death (though that is certainly necessary); it's also seeing how God is feeding us now and looking forward to what God will do. Grace Church helped me understand that.

I've been back to Grace Church a couple times since Tess and I left Grand Rapids and I became a pastor. Grace still feels like home. The worship is familiar and challenging and varied and points us to God. The congregation welcomes me like family, eager to hear about what I've been doing and how God is working in my life. I hope that I'm able to apply the lessons I learned at Grace Church in my ministry. I hope that a person who comes to a church I serve feels welcome, feels like worship is real, feels like there's reason to celebrate, and most of all, feels drawn toward Christ Jesus and His grace.

Grace and peace,
BMH