Envisioning a community of transformation: seeking Christ’s kingdom, loving God, and loving our neighbors.
-Servant’s Community Vision Statement
In this community, we live out a mission of love for God and neighbors through a commitment to Gospel-centered postures: we trust each other’s stories, we take up each other’s causes, and we welcome transformation.
Our Welcome Statement
In response to the invitation from Christ to live in love and freedom,
We welcome all people to fully participate in this community:
At Servant’s Community Church, we believe each person is wonderfully made in the image of God, with distinctions and unique attributes that make the world more beautiful. Every person is beloved, gifted, and called to serve. Therefore, when it comes to participating and leading within this community, we make no distinction on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, or social and economic class. In this community, all people are encouraged to live fully into their created goodness.
To help encourage this authentic invitation, we work to practice the following postures:
We trust each other’s stories:
We are each a work in progress with varying perspectives on important topics. We seek to follow Christ’s command to love God and neighbor and do our best to be well-informed; yet we are each still learning. We trust that, apart from God, each person is the best source of knowledge regarding their own stories. We trust and encourage each other to listen to the Spirit, and we commit to a learning posture when personal stories are shared.
We take up each other’s causes:
When a member of this community suffers, we all suffer. When one of us celebrates, it is cause for all of us to celebrate! Therefore, we dedicate ourselves to one another’s well-being; offering support, showing care, and creating pathways toward a bright, just, equitable future.
We welcome transformation:
By committing ourselves to follow Christ's teaching, and living into these promises, we anticipate reflecting God's image even brighter than before as we continue growing into the people God has created us to be.
Our Beliefs
We are part of the Reformed Church in America. We believe Scripture is the highest authority on our faith and practice. We confess the three ecumenical creeds (The Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed) and the Reformed confessions (the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort, and the Belhar Confession). The creeds bind us to every other Christian tradition, the confessions say what is distinct about our particular Christian practice. They are not Scripture, but we treat them as faithful witnesses to what Scripture teaches; they are conversation partners in our spiritual development.
Our Staff & Leadership
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James Earley
Lead Pastor
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Kearsten McCoy
Pastor of Family Ministries
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Caitlin Perkins
Ministries and Operations Coordinator
Our History
From those earliest days Servant’s has existed for the sake of our Westown neighborhood. We are a church of and for our community that longs to make the hope we have experienced a little more present in our city and our world. We long to see reconciliation, justice and peace in our own lives and in our community.
Servants’ began with twelve people gathering weekly for prayer, Bible study, and informal worship. The first meetings took place in homes. On January 20, 1980, the group began meeting in a vacant church building in the heart of the Grand Rapids Westside. On January 21, 1981 Servants Community Church was officially organized by the North Grand Rapids Classis of the Reformed Church in America. Leaders were chosen. Assignments were accepted. Twenty three adults and nine children stood on an exciting new frontier.
There have been a lot of changes over the years, both for Servant’s and Grand Rapid’s Westside, but some things never change. One of those things for Servant’s is the belief that Jesus’ call to love our neighbors starts in the neighborhoods we find ourselves in.
