Six Families, One Sunday, and a Hill Overlooking Rockford
Rockford Reformed Church has been a part of the Rockford, Michigan community since six families began meeting in the home of Ray and Thelma Kunst on May 31, 1957. A year later, on June 10, 1958, the group was officially organized by the Classis of North Grand Rapids as a congregation of the Reformed Church in America. The original families first worshipped at the American Legion Hall in downtown Rockford, then climbed the hill on Eleven Mile Road to break ground on their own building in October 1959. The first service in that building was held on May 1, 1960, and the congregation has been a neighbor on the same hill ever since.
The church describes itself today as "a community seeking to be visibly different with the beauty and love of Christ" and made up of "ordinary people serving an extraordinary God." It moved in 2023 from the Reformed Church in America to the Alliance of Reformed Churches, the same year it completed a major renovation of its sanctuary. Sunday morning worship is held at 10 a.m. and is livestreamed on YouTube for those who join from home.
Worship on Sunday Morning
The Sunday worship service at 10 a.m. is the weekly gathering point for the congregation. Each service runs through a printed order of worship that moves from a prelude and a call to worship into congregational singing, an offering, a time of prayer, and the sermon. Recent services have included songs such as "How Rich a Treasure We Possess," "Rock of Ages," "Revelation Song," and "In Christ Alone," with a closing benediction. An online bulletin with the full order of worship is published each week, and the lyrics introduced each Sunday are made available in a Spotify playlist.
The 10 a.m. hour is intentionally a single combined service. As one bulletin explains, the congregation moved to a single morning service in March 2018 to gather the whole church in one room for unified worship, prayer, and teaching. Teaching during the year traces a sermon series that often connects with the church's adult discipleship courses.
Children are woven into the Sunday morning rhythm rather than separated from it. On the second Sunday of each month, children in kindergarten through second grade stay in the sanctuary with their parents; children's bulletins, clipboards, and crayons are available, and the rustle of young ones is welcomed. On the other Sundays, two children's programs run during the service. The nursery, for infants through age three, includes a separate room with curtains and a live audio feed to the sanctuary for nursing mothers and parents who want a quiet space. KidLife Worship gathers three-year-olds through second graders for songs, a Bible story, a snack, and a conversation about where the gospel appears in the passage.
From the American Legion Hall to a Renovated Sanctuary
The first worship services in 1957 and 1958 were held in the Rockford American Legion Hall on the southwest corner of Courtland and Monroe. The hall was rented for fifteen dollars a week, and on Sundays when the Legion held ham dinners there, the congregation moved across town to the Rockford Library. Cleaning the hall before each service was part of the rhythm: members mopped up spilled beer, wiped down the piano keys, and sprayed air freshener before opening the windows. Two Western Theological Seminary students, Larry Doorn and Gordon Webster, spent the summer of 1957 knocking on doors around Rockford to invite neighbors to church.
Land on the Eleven Mile Road hill was purchased through the Classis of North Grand Rapids in August 1959, groundbreaking followed in October, and the first service in the new church was held on May 1, 1960. The original building was a poured-concrete, brick-faced structure with cedar and fir interior walls, designed under what the 1960 dedication booklet called a "Church in the Wildwood" plan, and built largely by the men of the congregation in evenings and on Saturdays. A steeple, donated by Leonard Maas, was added in 1961, and an organ was dedicated in November of that year. Subsequent additions shaped the building over the decades: a 1979 expansion reversed the sanctuary from facing west to east, a 1987 education wing added ten classrooms and an elevator, a 2000 office wing doubled administrative space, and the 2005 Family Life Center added the gym, kitchen, nursery, youth room, and second elevator that the church uses today.
A long-anticipated renovation of the sanctuary itself began with demolition in June 2023. Worship was held in the gym during construction. The renovation opened up the front of the sanctuary and created a large gathering space by removing several classrooms. The renovated sanctuary was dedicated on July 16, 2023, and the first worship service in the completed space was held on May 5, 2024. The stained-glass window visible from outside the building is a quiet relic of earlier decades, covered over in one of those renovations and now hidden but still lit from within.
Vision 2028: Someday Through Every Day
As Rockford Reformed approaches its seventieth anniversary in 2028, the congregation has set out a vision under the title "Someday Through Every Day." The vision statement reads as a confession that the kingdom of God has not yet fully come, and that the church's work is to take small and bold daily steps toward it. The vision names three concrete aims: raising up three hundred "gospel guides" equipped to lead others into the joy and contentment of Christ, planting two new churches in the greater Rockford area, and praying and working toward "the stunning renovation of marriages, families, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods for the glory of Jesus."
The vision is anchored in five marks that shape the congregation's life: Christ-centered worship, gospel-centered discipleship, organic outreach, intentional leadership development, and church planting. It is the throughline for the church's preaching, its adult education courses, and its local and global mission partnerships.
Children's Ministry: From Nursery Through Fifth Grade
Children's ministry at Rockford Reformed is led by Emily Cutter, who oversees three Sunday morning offerings and one midweek program. Nursery care is available for infants through age three during the worship service. KidLife Worship, for three-year-olds through second grade, walks children through a Bible story with songs, a snack, and a conversation point. On the second Sunday of every month, K-2 students worship alongside their parents in the sanctuary, with children's bulletins provided so they can engage with the sermon at their own level.
KidLife Club meets on Sunday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. during Focal Point. Families share dinner together, then move into a short time of corporate worship before children are dismissed by age into small groups for a Bible lesson, a craft, discussion, and prayer. The evening ends with a shared snack and time to play in the gym while parents finish their own classes.
Safety is a deliberate emphasis in the ministry. Every volunteer who serves in the nursery or classrooms is required to complete a background check, a reference check, and a Child Abuse Prevention training before being allowed to serve, and volunteers are re-screened every two years. An informed-consent form is filled out once per family per year and covers every program a child might attend, from Sunday School to VBS to Youth Group. Resources recommended for families include The Bible App for Kids, the Keys for Kids App, and a quarterly Keys for Kids devotional booklet that is available at the church at no cost.
Youth Ministry: Sundays, Retreats, and Mission Trips
Middle and high school students meet for youth group on Sunday evenings from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The youth ministry is led by Tim VanderZwaag and is shaped by the conviction, drawn from 2 Timothy, that youth is no barrier to growing closer to Jesus or to discipling others. The year includes weekend retreats, service projects, mission trips, fundraisers, and social events built around bonfires and shared meals. Students are encouraged to read through recommended devotionals and books, ranging from Kevin DeYoung's Crazy Busy and Habits of Grace to David Mathis's Habits of Grace and Francis Chan's Multiply.
Teenagers who want to go deeper have access to the church's RightNow Media library, which functions as a video encyclopedia of teaching from teachers such as Tim Mackie of The Bible Project, Matt Chandler, J.D. Greear, R.C. Sproul, and Francis Chan. The youth ministry's Instagram account keeps students and parents connected throughout the week.
Young Adults: Ages Eighteen to Thirty
The Young Adult Community at Rockford Reformed is a growing ministry dedicated to helping eighteen- to thirty-year-olds deepen their understanding of God's Word. The ministry is coordinated alongside the youth ministry by Tim VanderZwaag and centers on intergenerational relationships, intentional discipleship, Bible studies, and group events. Newsletters and event details are shared through email and the church's calendar. The ministry exists for young adults who already call Rockford Reformed home and for those who have a connection to someone there and want to explore faith in a supportive environment.
Adult Discipleship: Focal Point and Life Groups
Two complementary structures carry adult discipleship at Rockford Reformed: a Sunday evening program called Focal Point and a network of neighborhood Life Groups.
Focal Point runs on Sunday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. from late September through March. The evening opens with a shared supper, transitions into a brief time of corporate worship with the youth and children, and then breaks into age-appropriate classes. Adult courses have varied year to year. In recent seasons, Pastor Tim has led Knowing God's Truth, a twelve-week introduction to systematic theology organized around twelve topical categories, while elders and lay teachers have led Rooted & Ready, an eight-week journey through the New City Catechism designed to be talked over, taught to others, and applied during the week.
Life Groups are the congregation's primary engine for pastoral care and spiritual friendship. They meet in homes across the community and combine six elements: a shared meal, fellowship, study of God's Word, honest sharing of struggles, and prayer with and for one another. The leaders of Life Groups are not expected to be teachers or experts; training is provided, and the church's Life Groups coordinator, Melinda Moore, walks alongside each group. Life Groups are introduced to newcomers as the primary place where the congregation's mission of "disciples who make disciples" is lived out week to week.
Word and Prayer, Men's and Women's Studies, and Sunday Morning Conversation
Beyond Focal Point and Life Groups, the congregation meets throughout the week in smaller settings. On Mondays at 7 p.m., the church gathers on Zoom for Prayer Partners Online, an open prayer meeting where requests can be raised aloud or simply held in silence. On Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m., the Men's Devotional Breakfast meets in the Old Fellowship Hall, beginning with conversation and donuts and closing with open prayer led by a rotating volunteer. On Tuesdays at 9 a.m., a Seniors Exercise Class gathers in the gym for an hour of strength, balance, flexibility, and cognitive work led by a Certified Senior Fitness Specialist, with a five-dollar drop-in fee.
Women's Bible Study meets twice a week. On Tuesdays from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Joan Moore and Gail Wagner lead a study in the Lower Fireside Room that runs from the start of the school year through April or May. On Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m., Polly Johnson leads a study group in Room 250. Past studies have worked through Jen Wilkin's study of 1, 2, and 3 John, Cynthia Heald's Becoming a Woman of Prayer, Max Lucado's Tame Your Thoughts, and Kevin and Sherry Harney's 12 Women of the Bible. A Ladies Book Club meets on the last Thursday of each month to discuss novels and memoirs chosen from across genres, and a Single Ladies Lunch gathers on the last Saturday of the month, rotating between restaurants and the Lower Fireside Room. REAL Men, a Friday morning group rooted in relationships, encouragement, authenticity, and love, meets at 7 a.m. in the Fellowship Lobby. The Abide group meets the last Friday evening of the month. Bible Study Fellowship, an international four-fold study of Scripture, meets at the church on Thursday mornings at 9:10 a.m. and requires separate registration.
Worship Team
The worship team is overseen by Jeannie Remelts and is staffed entirely by volunteers. The team includes band members and vocalists who lead the congregation in song, sound techs who manage audio both in the sanctuary and on the livestream, video directors who handle camera work, camera operators, and ProPresenter operators who display lyrics on the screens. The music the congregation learns is fresh and varied: recent Sunday lists have included "Revelation Song" and "Just Because You Wanted Us." Volunteers interested in any of these roles are encouraged to reach out, and the church specifically asks the congregation to pray for and thank the worship team for the hours they put in every week.
Beliefs: Three Creeds, Two Confessions, and One Word
Rockford Reformed Church holds to the ecumenical creeds of the Christian church and to the historic confessions of the Reformed tradition. The congregation affirms the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed as expressions of the Christian faith shared across nations and generations. As a member congregation of the Alliance of Reformed Churches, it also affirms the Reformed confessions, including the Belhar Confession and the Great Lakes Catechism on Marriage and Sexuality, as expressions of the Christian faith whose teachings agree with the Word of God. The church's stated aim in affirming these creeds and confessions is that they shape how it reads the Bible and how it lives in response to the gospel.
Missions and Outreach
The mission verse of the church is Matthew 28:18-20, and the church operates under a commitments approach to its partnerships: the goal is to build relationships with missionaries and local organizations rather than simply write checks. The Missions Team meets several times a year to review partnerships and to pray for them; information about each partner is shared in the Sunday bulletin, and the congregation is encouraged to send emails, cards, and letters to missionaries.
Globally, Rockford Reformed supports Mark and Deb Wilson, who serve with the Reformed Church in America in Cambodia, where Mark teaches at Phnom Penh Bible School and helps train new church leaders. Adrian and Bernardeth Bobb-Kelly serve in Bluefields, Nicaragua, supporting families in two neighborhoods through medical clinics and Tabitha's House, a ministry offering healthcare, scholarships, shelter, nutrition, and spiritual care. Doug and Dianne McClintic partner with European church-planting networks, while Gary and Rachel De León disciple refugee and immigrant families in Málaga, Spain. Greg and Laura Yoder lead Christian World Outreach, which serves in Haiti, Burkina Faso, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and Mike and Sheryl Knox serve with Cru, with Mike assisting the president of Cru International and Sheryl helping to send high school and college students on short-term missions. The Haiti Foundation Against Poverty, founded by a former Rockford-area resident, provides education, child care, medical assistance, and small-business opportunities in Port-au-Prince through programs like Gift of Hope, Hope House, and Sponsor-A-Child. Words of Hope, a media-focused missions organization, is also supported.
Locally, the church partners with North Kent Community Services, The Other Way Ministries, Alpha Family Center, and a network of Grand Rapids-area ministries including Assure Women, theotherway.org, VisGR, and The Foundry. Volunteers In Service, or VIS, is a church-run platform that matches faith-based volunteers with people in the community who need practical help with projects and everyday needs. The deacons oversee a Helping Hands ministry and a Deacon Service Network that provide benevolence assistance to families inside and outside the congregation, supported in part by directed giving to the church's benevolence fund.
The Memorial Prayer Garden
In 2011, the congregation dedicated a Memorial Prayer Garden in memory of Audra Brownell. The garden was designed around 1 Corinthians 13:13 - "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." It is open to anyone, not only to those who attend the church, and is intended as a place for prayer, meditation, and reflection. A buy-a-brick program allows individuals and families to add inscribed bricks to the garden.
Governance: The Consistory
Rockford Reformed is governed by a Consistory that includes the Pastor, four Shepherd Elders, four Service Deacons, and the Administrative Board. Elders oversee the sacraments, discipline, pastoral visits, and membership, while Deacons handle offerings, the Helping Hands fund, the Deacon Service Network, and stewardship education. The four care groups pair an Elder and a Deacon and walk alongside families in a particular slice of the congregation. The current Elder team includes Lora Jenema, Scott Jacobs, Seth Clayton, and Shaun Moore; the current Deacon team includes Fred Bazen, Rob Bergman, Mike Klaasen, and Larry Sakala.
Administrative Board members include Pastor Tim Meendering as President, Craig VanderHeide as Vice President, Beth Triezenberg as Clerk, Nick Malone as Chair of Deacons, and Jerry Swett as Treasurer.
RightNow Media and the Bible Study Library
Every member of the congregation has free access to RightNow Media, a streaming library of faith-based video content the church describes as the "Netflix of Video Bible Studies." The library includes video courses from teachers such as Matt Chandler, J.D. Greear, Francis Chan, Tim Mackie, R.C. Sproul, and Tim Keller, as well as studies on books of the Bible, parenting, marriage, and leadership. Access can be requested through the church office or by texting the code ROCKFORDRC to 49775.
What to Know Before Visiting
Visitors are welcomed at Rockford Reformed. The Sunday service is at 10 a.m., and the building offers a single sanctuary service every week, with nursery and children's options during the service. Dress is casual; the people in the pews look like the people next door. Online guests can join the livestream on the church's YouTube channel, RRCMedia, and follow along with the bulletin posted before each service. For prayer requests, the church's connection card can be filled out online, and the staff encourages visitors and members alike to join the Monday evening Prayer Partners on Zoom or to stop in during office hours, which can be reached at connect@rockfordrc.org or (616) 866-2308.