At 1120 11th Avenue in Baldwin, Wisconsin, one block west of BTI (Baldwin Lightstream), First Reformed Church is a Reformed congregation known for English-language worship, discipleship across generations, and mission work that reaches from Baldwin to other parts of the United States and around the world. Organized in 1905, the church is a community of faith committed to living and loving like Jesus.
English Worship at 1120 11th Avenue
Sunday morning worship begins at 9:30 a.m. The congregation worships the resurrected Christ through praise songs, hymns, and relevant biblical teaching each week. First Reformed Church has a Dutch-language heritage, but its services are now held in English. The weekly gathering brings praise songs and hymn singing together with recurring biblical instruction, while keeping the resurrected Christ at the center of its worship.
The welcome is direct: come as you are, not polished or perfectly presentable. People are invited whether they have followed Christ for many years, recently started the journey, or are considering what a relationship with Jesus looks like. FRC wants people to grow in their relationship with God and encounter the resurrected Christ in worship. It describes the church as brothers and sisters, young and old, journeying together and helping one another along the way.
The weekly service is also available through the church's YouTube worship channel. An online sermon archive includes messages attributed to church leaders and other speakers. The gathering takes place in an ADA-accessible facility. The church office can be reached at (715) 684-2901 or firstref@baldwin-telecom.net. Office hours are Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Mail may be sent to P.O. Box 155, Baldwin, Wisconsin 54002.
A Multigenerational Church in Baldwin
FRC describes itself as a group of Christ followers worshiping and walking together. It works to be faithful and live out the gospel in daily life, while openly acknowledging that it is not perfect and continually needs the grace, mercy, and salvation of Christ. That confession shapes the church's welcome. People who have followed Christ for years, those beginning to follow him, and those considering a relationship with Jesus are addressed as part of the same congregation.
Following Jesus is not limited to attending a Sunday service. FRC's phrase for this calling is Everyday, Everywhere, Everyone. Members are encouraged to be on mission in every relationship, situation, and place, living and loving like Jesus. Mission means proclaiming Christ in word and deed across the local community, the region, and the world. The church connects worship with the way people are called to live beyond it.
First Reformed Church was organized in 1905. Across more than a century, the congregation has changed with the times, grown and shrunk, and grown again. It now worships in English rather than Dutch and has been welcomed into the Alliance of Reformed Churches. The church remains grateful for the Lord's faithfulness through more than a hundred years of congregational life.
The church's vision comes from Ephesians 4:11-15. In that passage, Christ gives apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for ministry and the building up of his body. FRC emphasizes unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, growth toward maturity and the fullness of Christ, and no longer being children tossed by false teaching. The vision concludes with speaking truth in love and growing into Christ, who is the head.
Generational language shapes the church's life. One commitment invests in children, youth, and young adults, with a desire that they become passionate followers of Jesus. The other values and cares for the many generations who call FRC home. The collective wisdom gained through decades of faithfulness is considered a valuable asset. This attention to both younger and older members gives the church's present work a long horizon: it cares for what has been learned over time while forming the next generation.
Fruit Bearing Through Scripture and Prayer
FRC's discipleship teaching uses the image of bearing fruit. The church says fruit does not simply happen; growth takes intentional work, just as fruit requires sunlight, rain, and nutrients. Fellowship, worship, time in Scripture, and prayer all contribute to fruit that lasts. Colossians 1:10 frames the aim as bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. Separate ministries for different ages and groups make that formative work concrete.
Sunday School Begins After Worship
Sunday School is for children in 4K through fifth grade. Classes begin immediately after the 9:30 a.m. service, starting with music and then moving into Bible stories. Children participate in the Sunday gathering before continuing into age-specific learning. The church is passionate about growing faith in these younger years and longs for its young people to become passionate followers of Jesus.
One Chapter at a Time
Men's Bible Study meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. The group walks through Scripture one chapter at a time, discussing what each passage means and its implications for the individual, the church, and the world. Members also share experiences, weaknesses, hopes, and blessings. The study joins careful attention to the biblical text with the realities and stories of those in the group.
Women's Fellowship, Study and Prayer
Women's Ministry meets at 9:30 a.m. on the third Thursday from September through May. Women of all ages gather in the Friendship Room on the church's lower level for fellowship, Bible study, and prayer. The group sponsors a child in Haiti and supports other organizations related to Christian service. Its gathering brings together friendship, Scripture, intercession, and care for needs beyond the church.
Teens for Christ and Youth Group
The younger-congregation rhythm includes Teens for Christ on Tuesdays and the Youth Group on Wednesdays. These gatherings are part of FRC's deliberate investment in youth and young adults. At the same time, the church values and cares for the many generations who call it home. The wisdom accumulated through decades is treated as a church asset, while younger people are being formed for lives of faith and mission.
Mission That Begins in Baldwin
FRC's mission starts in Baldwin through partnerships with the Baldwin Food Pantry, Christmas Gifts for Children and Families, Backpack Buddies, BW School Mentoring, Tuesday Community Suppers, and the Baldwin-Woodville Ministerial Association. These partnerships touch food access, gifts for children and families, school mentoring, a shared supper, and cooperative ministry with other local organizations. They keep mission tied to ordinary community life, with food, children, families, school, shared meals, and cooperation among local ministries.
Support for mission includes both finances and people. Teams have traveled to Malawi, Haiti, and Texas, and FRC encourages members to join mission trips far and near. Those journeys extend the same outward focus seen in Baldwin, where the church partners with ministries serving food, children, families, students, and people in need. The result is a mission identity shaped by practical service, shared learning, and direct participation.
Partners Across Regions and Continents
Beyond Baldwin, FRC partners regionally with Salvation Army, Union Gospel Mission, Grace Place Shelter, Urban Ventures, Feed My Starving Children, and Operations for Women. Global partners include Operation Christmas Child, The Gideons International, and Words of HOPE. The range is wide, but the purpose remains coherent: proclaim Christ in word and deed, share Christ's love, and work in the many contexts to which the church is called to serve and partner.
The Van Es Family in Kenya
Rowland and Jane Van Es serve in Kenya through St. Paul's University. Their service gives them opportunities to influence Christian leaders whose effects may extend through Kenya and other African countries. St. Paul's prepares people for service in the kingdom in both church and business settings. Founded in 1903, the university is two years older than First Reformed Church, connecting two institutions founded within a few years of each other.
Long-Term Care in Canada
Jennifer Lucking is FRC's Canadian ministry partner. As executive director of Restorations Second Stage Homes, she works with women who have experienced human trafficking and the sex trade. The ministry provides long-term care for victims and survivors exploited in the commercial sex industry. This partnership brings FRC into support for a ministry focused on women who have suffered exploitation and need sustained care.
Health and Education in the Amazon Region
The Amazon Medical Boat Team is another global connection. Teams from Medical Ministry International typically provide medical, dental, audiology, and preventive-health education for Indigenous populations around Leticia. This work adds health care and education to the church's global partnership network and gives mission a distinctly practical form.
The Exchange Co-operative in Rochester
In Rochester, Minnesota, Josh and Nikki Johnson founded the Exchange Co-operative on the premise that everyone has something to offer. They seek to reach people who live on the margins and to invite them into new life in the rhythm of Jesus. Their partnership reflects a local form of mission that values each person's contribution and seeks to include people often overlooked by the surrounding community.
Mission Personnel Leadership
Mark and Jodi Bosscher are part of the global network. Mark serves as Director of Personnel for SIM USA and is responsible for missionaries sent worldwide. This relationship connects FRC to an international mission organization and adds personnel leadership to the forms of partnership already represented in Kenya, Canada, the Amazon region, and Rochester.
Taken together, FRC's partners span leadership education, long-term care, medical and dental services, hearing care, preventive-health education, neighborhood inclusion, and mission personnel. The variety gives broad shape to a church that wants to live and love like Jesus in many settings. Its mission remains connected across distance, from Baldwin to places in the region, Minnesota, Kenya, Canada, and the Amazon region.
Grace, Formation, Worship and Service
FRC's staff includes Senior Pastor Josh Lucas and Music and Worship Coordinator Cassie Lokker. Music is woven into the weekly rhythm through praise songs and hymns, while biblical teaching remains a regular part of the gathering. Across worship, discipleship, and mission, the church keeps several commitments in view: confess its need for Christ's grace, welcome people at different stages of faith, form younger and older members through Scripture and prayer, value the wisdom of past generations, and live and love like Jesus.
At First Reformed Church, those commitments come together in Baldwin at 1120 11th Avenue. The church is rooted in a history that began in 1905, worships the resurrected Christ in English, welcomes young and old as brothers and sisters, and carries its mission from local relationships to partnerships across the nation and the world. It is an established Reformed church whose ongoing identity is one of grace, formation, worship, and service.