Worship, Welcome, and the Heights of Holland
Holland Heights Church sits in the Heights neighborhood on the east side of Holland, Michigan, a city on the Lake Michigan shoreline, at 836 East 8th Street. Members describe the congregation as feeling like family, with a wide mix of ages, singles, couples, students, and longtime attenders sitting, serving, and learning together. The church is part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the denomination whose historic confessions give shape to its teaching and identity.
Sunday morning is the heart of the week. The worship service begins at 10 AM and includes Bible reading, congregational singing, prayer, and a sermon from Lead Pastor Ralph Beidler. The music blends traditional hymns and modern worship songs. Visitors who walk in the main door under the covered carport on the south side of the building are met by a welcome kiosk attendant and roving greeters who point them to a seat, a Sunday school classroom, or a cup of coffee at the coffee kiosk. Dress is casual. A cry from a baby in the sanctuary is part of the welcome.
After the Service: Coffee, Prayer, and Sunday School
Following the service, the fellowship hall fills with coffee, cookies, and juice as people linger. Trained prayer servants stand near the organ and are available to pray with anyone who would like it. A standing-room discussion group called "What's Next?" usually meets in the gym, talking through the morning's sermon and praying about how to live it out in the week ahead.
Children have a full morning. Infants and toddlers can be left in the screened nursery, located just past the restrooms on the main floor hallway. Children 3 years old through kindergarten are invited to Children's Worship during the service: they sit with parents at first, then are dismissed with their teachers during the offering to head downstairs for a Bible story, a simple craft, prayer, and singing. After worship, students in 1st through 5th grade meet in the All-Purpose Room downstairs for Sunday school, with age-level breakout time. Middle schoolers meet in the downstairs youth room, and high schoolers gather in the upstairs Discipleship Center. Sunday school for all three groups begins at 11 AM and lasts about 30 minutes.
Heights Nights on Wednesdays
From September through May, Wednesday evenings follow a rhythm the church simply calls Heights Nights. A free dinner is served at 5:30 PM in the fellowship hall, prepared each week by a volunteer cook and served by a rotating group of helpers. Anyone is welcome; guests are especially encouraged to come as they are.
At 6:15 PM, classes and programs run until 7:30 PM. Children 3 years old through 1st grade join Young Explorers in the downstairs Blue Room for singing, games, crafts, and Bible stories. Students in 2nd through 5th grade gather in the All-Purpose Room for Discovery Kids, a program that includes songs, devotions, games, crafts, service projects, and occasional hands-on building. A staffed nursery is open for infants and toddlers. Middle schoolers meet in the downstairs youth room for Rooted, a program of lessons, service, and fellowship. High schoolers, who gather separately on Sunday nights, are welcome to drop into any adult class on Wednesdays.
Adults choose from a rotating slate of classes that changes each year. Recent offerings have included a Nehemiah Bible study, an Esther Bible study, an Everyone in the Word discussion group built around daily Bible Recap readings, a book club on The Good News We Almost Forgot, and a class called One Anothering from the Colossian Forum on choosing one another across political differences. Yoga is offered in the Discipleship Center as a way to breathe, move, and meditate on Scripture.
Reading the Whole Bible Together in 2026
In 2026 the whole congregation is walking through the Bible chronologically using the Bible Recap reading plan. The initiative, called Everyone in the Word, is a church-wide effort to deepen engagement with Scripture. Members can sign up to be part of an email group, an app-based small group, or an in-person group for shared reading and discussion. Pastor Ralph and other leaders have highlighted how the project is shaping the church's life together in prayer, study, and conversation.
Children, Middle School, and High School Discipleship
Discipleship for young people runs through the week, not just on Sundays. Nursery care and Children's Worship serve the youngest children during Sunday morning worship, while Sunday school and Wednesday night programs offer graded teaching for elementary students. Every adult volunteer working with children or youth has passed a background check, and the church keeps a written safety policy on file.
Middle schoolers (grades 6 through 8) are part of Rooted, meeting on Wednesday evenings after the Heights Nights meal from September through March. The group also meets for Sunday school at 11 AM. Beyond the regular schedule, Rooted builds in service opportunities, lessons, and social events in a warm, accepting environment.
High schoolers (grades 9 through 12) are part of Summit, which meets on the first, second, and fourth Sunday evenings of the month from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, September through May. A meal, prepared by a member of the congregation, opens the evening, followed by fellowship and a Bible study. Throughout the year, Summit adds retreats, service opportunities, and a one-week summer trip that is either a service-learning experience or a spiritual growth retreat. Sunday school is offered at 11 AM for high schoolers as well. Summit is led by Kevin Anderson and can be reached at summit@hhcrc.org.
Adult Discipleship: Women in the Word, Men's Prayer, and Life Groups
Women have two options for studying the Bible together through Women in the Word. The Tuesday morning group meets from 9:30 to 11 AM in the fellowship hall, with childcare and a preschooler program offered at the same time, so mothers with young children can attend. A Wednesday evening option meets at 6:15 PM, lining up with Heights Nights. Each winter the group digs into a book of the Bible, with the current study running through the book of Esther.
Men meet Wednesday mornings at 8:30 AM for a prayer group that covers the community, the church, and one another. Women also gather for a separate prayer group on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 10 AM at a home near the church; those interested can contact the office for the address.
Life Groups are the small-group backbone of the church. Each group of adults meets at least once a month in homes or at the church for food, Bible study, and prayer, and many add family gatherings and service projects. Life Groups are the place where the body of Christ becomes a place to share joys, struggles, and ongoing prayer requests.
Loving People Locally
Holland Heights partners with several local organizations to serve the surrounding community, giving both financial support and volunteer time. The church works alongside Heights of Hope and other neighborhood churches to support youth mentoring, community events, and a 5K run, with a focus on bringing out the gifts of the Heights neighborhood. The church also points members to the Eastside Food Pantry at Calvary on 8th Street, where food is distributed to families struggling to put meals on the table.
Michigan Fosters uses the church's parsonage as a home-like setting for foster families, including supervised family visits, a place for social workers to bring children awaiting placement, family team meetings, foster parent support groups, and storage of first-night bags and freezer meals for foster families. Kids Life Bible Club is a K-5 after-school program for students at Holland Heights School that meets on Tuesdays from October through April. Doors of Hope helps individuals and families work through financial crises with budget coaching and coordinated assistance through area churches.
Loving People Globally
Around the world, the church supports a network of missionaries and Jubilee partners. Missionary connections include the Chambillas, who serve with Wycliffe Translators, along with partners engaged in seminary training in India, creation care in Hungary, leadership support in Mexico, and other ministries in the United States and abroad.
Through the Jubilee Fund, the church has committed to three ongoing global partnerships. Loving Shepherd Ministries in Haiti focuses on orphan care. Journey Home, a Michigan Fosters initiative, supports foster families in Michigan. Yezelalem Minch in Ethiopia walks with vulnerable children and invests in community development. Members pray for these partners, give financially, and look for opportunities to serve alongside them.
Beliefs, the Catechism, and the Christian Reformed Family
Holland Heights stands on the Bible as its firm foundation and identifies with the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The congregation holds to the historic confessions of the Reformed tradition: the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, the Belgic Confession, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. In its own words, the church understands itself not as an isolated congregation but as part of the church universal, the body of Christ around the world.
The mission is simple to remember: Love God. Love People. Be Jesus Disciples Who Make Disciples. The deeper version of the mission spells out what each phrase means. Loving God means putting Him and His Kingdom first and obeying Him. Loving people means displaying God's love through humility, kindness, compassion, patience, and generosity, and pointing others to a Savior. Being a disciple means following Jesus through Scripture and prayer day by day. Making disciples means walking alongside others in the truth of Scripture and being in prayer for and with each other.
Visitors, Giving, and Getting Connected
Anyone is welcome at Sunday worship at 10 AM. The church livestreams each service on its YouTube channel at 10 AM, and the same channel hosts recordings of past services. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 3 PM; the office is closed on Friday. Visitors with questions can email office@hhcrc.org or call 616-396-5988.
Online giving is available through the Church Center app and the church's giving page. Members can also give by envelope during the service, by stock or other non-cash gifts arranged through the Barnabas Foundation, or by contributing to one of several designated funds: the Ministry Fund, the Missions Fund, the Benevolence Fund, the Jubilee Fund, the CETAP Fund for Christian school tuition assistance, and weekly special offerings. New visitors who want to learn more or get connected can sign up through the Church Center forms linked on the church's New Here page.