A Calvinistic Family on Eight Mile Road
Just east of the I-275 interchange, in a stretch of western Wayne County where Livonia meets Northville and Farmington Hills, Berean Baptist Church has gathered for worship at 38303 Eight Mile Road since 1940. The congregation calls itself "a family of worshipers united in Christ who strive to love God and love people," and that framing shapes everything from the pace of a Sunday morning to the rhythm of midweek Bible study. An independent Calvinistic Baptist church, Berean is governed by a plurality of elders, served by a body of deacons, and led day to day by a teaching pastor supported by a team of lay pastors.
Berean's voice for more than three decades has been Terry McIntosh, who began his ministry there on October 25, 1992, after pastoring churches in Columbiaville and Walled Lake, Michigan. His hallmarks are "relevant, verse-by-verse Bible preaching, personal discipleship and Bible teaching," and he has preached the majority of the recorded sermons in the church archive. Surrounding him are lay pastors, ministry directors, and congregation-led small groups that together cover the work of shepherding, teaching, missions, and counseling across the community.
The Three Loves: God, One Another, Neighbor
Berean organizes its life around a single mission: "to make disciples of Jesus Christ who love God and love others," drawn from Matthew 28:19-20 and Matthew 22:37-39. From that mission the church derives its "three loves" framework. Love flowing upward to God takes shape in submitting to Scripture as authoritative and sufficient, preaching expositionally, singing and praying in gathered worship, celebrating the Lord's Supper, baptizing believers, and stewarding physical and spiritual resources. Love flowing inward to one another shows up in Christ-centered teaching and counseling, equipping the saints for ministry, fellowship and encouragement, church membership and discipline, pastoral care, and meeting physical needs within the body. Love flowing outward to neighbors takes the form of gospel witness, biblical counseling offered to the wider community, partnerships with missionaries and mission agencies, and encouragement of good works among the congregation.
The church's faith statement covers the Bible as the inerrant written Word of God, the Trinity, the person and atoning work of Jesus Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, salvation by grace, divine election, baptism by immersion and communion as ordinances, the two offices of pastor and deacon, the bodily return of Christ, and the Lordship of Christ over every area of life. Elder position papers spell out additional convictions on creation, biblical sexuality, miraculous gifts, predestination, principles for teaching, the problem of evil, and the Christian and debt. Berean describes itself as independent rather than aligned with any denominational convention, situating it within the wider world of Reformed or Calvinistic Baptists.
Two Sunday Services and a Livestream
The Sunday rhythm centers on two in-person worship services and a church-wide Sunday school hour. The first service begins at 8:30 AM; the 10:00 AM hour offers Sunday school for every age group; the second worship service begins at 11:00 AM. Both services follow a similar pattern of singing, prayer, Scripture reading, expository preaching, and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper as the church celebrates them.
For first-time visitors, two parking lot entrances off Victor Parkway lead to either the front or the back lot. Greeters wait at the front building entrance nearest 8 Mile Road to help newcomers find their way. A back entrance opens directly into the sanctuary for anyone who prefers a quieter arrival. The church office can be reached at (248) 477-6365 or contactus@bereanlife.org, and a full visitor's welcome is available through the church's online get-to-know page.
The 11:00 AM service is also livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot attend in person, and the service recordings join a sermon archive that reaches back through more than four decades of ministry.
A Teaching Pastor and a Team of Lay Pastors
Berean's pastoral structure reflects the conviction that shepherding is a shared work. Terry McIntosh, the Teaching/Preaching Pastor, leads the preaching ministry and oversees the staff. Joining him are six lay pastors, each with a specific area of oversight. Rich Cork, a Berean member since 2010, oversees Children's Ministry and Missions and has been on the full-time staff since January 2017. Mark Passow, a Pastoral Studies graduate of Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, has been part of Berean since 1999, was affirmed as a lay pastor in 2012, and oversees the deacons. Terry Bixler, an Eastern Michigan University graduate and the owner of ROC Real Estate, oversees safety and Men's Ministry. Brad Sechrist, a Wheaton College graduate in Biblical Studies and Business/Economics, leads the Small Groups Ministry. Jacob Krizan, an engineer with degrees from Bucknell and Purdue, oversees worship and joined the pastoral team in 2019. Aaron Miller, who holds a PhD in physics from Stanford and joined as a lay elder in 2021, oversees Women's Ministry and technology.
George Moore, who served as Berean's first non-vocational pastor and lay pastor for nearly fifteen years, now holds the title of Elder Emeritus and continues as a faithful member with his wife Jacquelynne in Plymouth Township. The full-time ministry staff also includes Zachary Favazza as Youth Minister and David Kolic as Children's Minister.
Children's Ministry, from Nursery Through Fifth Grade
The children's ministry describes its purpose as "to love children by teaching the Gospel and making disciples" through "the whole counsel of God in a safe and loving environment." Children from potty-trained age through fifth grade attend Sunday School at 10:00 AM. A staffed nursery for infants and toddlers is available during Sunday School and the 11:00 AM service. During the 11:00 AM worship service, Children's Church welcomes children for the opening portion of the gathering before dismissing them to their own program; parents may also choose to keep their children with them through the service.
A Wednesday night program at 7:00 PM runs during the school year, building a biblical worldview through Scripture memory, Bible study, a missionary emphasis, and recreation. Vacation Bible School, summer camp, and Christmas programs fill out the calendar across the year. An Access ministry serves children with special needs during the 11:00 AM service, with trained leaders offering purposeful physical activity, communication and self-discipline skills, supervised free play, music, snacks, and a Bible lesson. The program takes its name from Jesus' words in Luke 18:16: "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them."
Revere & Recharge: Wednesday Nights for Youth
Middle and high school students gather on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM for Revere & Recharge, led by Youth Minister Zachary Favazza. Favazza, who joined Berean with his wife Selecia in 2021, holds a Bachelor's in Biblical Studies from Great Lakes Christian College and is a seminary student at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. He aims to support families in raising disciples and to spark a love for theology among students. The program runs through 8:30 PM, and students are welcome to linger afterward.
Revel: Mondays for College and Young Adults
College students and young adults meet on Monday nights at 7:00 PM at the church for Revel. The evenings alternate between fellowship on the first and third Mondays and Bible study on the second and fourth Mondays, with additional activities scattered through the year. The ministry is led by Connor Riley, reachable by email at connorriley.ftp@gmail.com or by text at (734) 673-7222, and connects with students on Instagram at @revel_bereanbaptist.
Men's Mondays, Fireside, and the Annual Conference
The Berean Men's Ministry exists to help men "become more like Jesus" and to help one another "know his word, walk in his ways, experience his love and worship him together." A monthly Men's Mondays gathering centers around a shared meal and a time of teaching, testimony, and prayer, with occasional Friday "Fellowship Friday" events emphasizing relationships. Three annual touchstones shape the year: a Men's BBQ in mid-July, an outdoor Fireside Fellowship on the church grounds in mid-August, and the Men's Conference in late September. A Wednesday Evening Bible Study, part of the broader Wednesday program, runs from September through May at 7:00 PM. The ministry is overseen by lay pastor Terry Bixler.
Women's Bible Study and the Priscilla Program
The Women's Ministry invites women to a Wednesday Bible Study that typically meets September through April, with one gathering at 9:30 AM in the morning and another at 7:00 PM in the evening. Teachings from those studies are posted to the Berean Women's YouTube channel so that women who cannot attend can still follow along. A women's ministry Facebook group keeps the conversation going throughout the week.
The Priscilla Program, offered twice a year (September and January), is a deeper dive into the next book of the Bible that women will study together. Modeled after The Charles Simeon Trust, the workshop pairs encouragement talks from experienced teachers with small-group study, with an auditing option for women who would rather listen than present.
Small Groups in Living Rooms Across Metro Detroit
Berean encourages every member to be plugged into a small group. Groups typically meet on the second and fourth weeks of each month in homes across Livonia, Northville, Novi, Farmington Hills, Canton, Redford, and Westland. Most include a meal, and either provide childcare or arrange for children to be part of the gathering. The current rotation includes Denis Carroll (Tuesday evenings in Livonia/Northville), Ben Bartlett (Friday evenings in Farmington Hills/Canton), Joshua Doredla (Sunday evenings in Novi), Tony Conti (Saturday evenings in Livonia), Jonathan Brown (Sunday afternoons), and other groups led by De'Juan Artley, Rich Cork, Elias Musallam, Jacob Krizan, and Brad Sechrist, who oversees the ministry as a whole.
Local and Global Missions Conferences
Berean calls itself a missions-oriented church, and a pair of annual conferences keeps that focus front and center. Each March, a Local Missions Conference invites guest speakers and focuses attention on ministry across metro Detroit. Each October, a week-long Global Missions Conference brings nightly messages from missionaries serving around the world, a guest speaker who challenges the church, and a closing international dinner that the church describes as one of the highlights of the year. Recordings from the 2021 through 2025 Global Missions Conferences remain available on the church's YouTube channel. Lay pastor Rich Cork and the missions team oversee these partnerships.
Verse-by-Verse Teaching Beyond the Building
Teaching extends well past the walls of the sanctuary. The sermon archive on the church's YouTube channel works through books of the Bible including Matthew, Acts, Genesis, Isaiah, Romans, Leviticus, the Minor Prophets, the Pastoral Epistles, and many more, in series ranging from "The Fifth Gospel" and "Belief That Behaves" through "Who Shall Dwell With the Holy?" and the extended "For King and Kingdom" walk through Matthew. Pastors and lay pastors also publish a regular series of Pastoral Encouragements, short letters on subjects ranging from AI and the future of work, to praying through Psalm 139, to the hardship of Job, to lessons learned from 65 years of marriage.
Giving to Berean is available online, with one-time, weekly, or monthly options that can be designated to the tithe, missions, children's ministry, women's ministry, the deacon fund, and other funds. The sermon archive, audio recordings from past men's conferences, the women's Bible study channel, and a calendar of upcoming events are all available online. After more than 85 years on Eight Mile Road, Berean Baptist Church remains a family of worshipers preaching one book of the Bible at a time, preparing the next generation to follow Jesus.