Worship in Eastown at Ten on Sunday Mornings
Calvin Church gathers each Sunday at 10:00 am in the Eastown neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 700-block of Ethel Avenue SE is a quiet residential stretch that frames the church's brick building and a solar-paneled Fellowship Hall next door. Members and visitors are greeted at the door, handed a bulletin, and invited into a service that follows a printed liturgy without prompting. Greeters stand ready to answer questions, point first-timers to the nursery or restrooms, and offer a warm welcome that the congregation takes seriously.
Services blend the old and the new. Music is led primarily by organ, piano, and choirs, with handbells, guitarists, and occasional guest musicians adding variety. Prayers, scripture readings, and musical gifts are often carried out by members of the congregation, embodying the church's belief that worship is something the whole body offers. After the service, the Fellowship Hall fills with coffee, cookies, and conversation.
A Faith Shaped by Eight Historic Creeds
Calvin Church is a congregation in the Christian Reformed tradition. The shortest summary of its beliefs, drawn from 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, is this: "In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, and the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God." The congregation anchors its teaching and worship in eight historic creeds and confessions of the Reformed and broader Christian tradition: the Apostles' Creed, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Nicene Creed, the Canons of Dort, the Athanasian Creed, the Belhar Confession, the Belgic Confession, and the contemporary testimony Our World Belongs to God.
The congregation emphasizes that belief and life are inseparable: what is confessed shapes how members walk together in faith, and the way members walk with one another in turn shapes what is believed. Biblical preaching, drawn from Reformed theology, is intended to challenge and refresh listeners for the week ahead, with sermons described as "biblically sound and shaped by a Reformed theology."
Family Assistance: 55 Years of Clothing Care
The longest-running local ministry at Calvin Church is Family Assistance, a clothing program that began in 1969 when a group of women in the congregation started distributing shoes, outerwear, and other garments to families in need. The work has grown into a year-round operation housed in a specially designed building in the church's parking lot, where volunteers staff the program four days a week.
Requests come through school social workers and local agencies including Head Start, Bethany Christian Services, the Women's Resource Center, and the Kent County Health Department. Items are sourced from clothing donations, which are laundered on-site, from goods purchased with member offerings, and from items sewn or knit by volunteers. Family Assistance has long partnered with In the Image, a Grand Rapids nonprofit whose truck arrives every two weeks to pick up clothing the program cannot use and make it available at In the Image's free store. The volume of need is steady; in some years, more than 275 orders have arrived by mid-October alone, prompting the program to add Mondays to its schedule to keep up with winter preparation requests.
Nurturing Children and Youth from Cradle to High School
Calvin Church describes itself as kid-friendly and follows through on its baptismal promises to younger members through programs that stretch from nursery age through high school.
For infants and toddlers, parents can drop children at the nursery near the entrance. Preschoolers may sit with their parents or begin in a classroom off the nursery for a Bible story before joining the younger kids downstairs. During the service, children are invited forward for a brief children's message and a congregational blessing; K-2nd graders are then dismissed to Worship Center downstairs for the remainder of the service. Older children participate in Worship & Wonder, gathering after church to sing praise songs, ask three "wondering" questions about the sermon, and pray together.
Middle schoolers meet as the 678ers twice a month for faith exploration and games. High schoolers form the Youth Group, which gathers most Sundays for Bible study and fellowship and takes an annual summer service trip. In 2026, the high schoolers and their leaders drove to Philadelphia to serve with The Philadelphia Project, partnering with neighborhood ministries, helping at a memory care floor at Saint Joseph Villa, and leading Vacation Bible School at a local park.
Kids Club, for 2nd through 6th graders, meets about twice a month on Wednesday evenings for hands-on activities such as rocket launches, campfire starting, egg drops, and an annual pinewood derby race. Catechism, taught by Pastor Lisa Meyer across four years, draws high schoolers into the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, the Belgic Confession, the Belhar Confession, and Our World Belongs to God. In 2025 the church launched an annual Catechism Retreat weekend to go deeper with high school students; the second retreat, held in March 2026, focused on the Canons of Dort and used the film Minority Report as a launching point for conversations about predestination and free will.
Through the Faith Friends program, children in third grade and older are paired with an adult member who regularly checks in, prays for them, and offers faith and life mentorship. The church also offers tuition assistance to member families whose children attend K-12 Christian schools, with a flat per-child amount plus additional income-based support.
Wednesday Nights: Dinners, Rehearsals, and Kids Club
Wednesday evenings are a busy hub of the church's week. During the school year, volunteers serve Wednesday Night Dinners from 5:00 to 6:30 pm, providing a meal before rehearsals and youth programs begin. The dinners are a practical ministry to busy families, and they help make the rest of the evening accessible for kids and parents alike.
After dinner, the Sanctuary Choir rehearses every Wednesday and helps lead worship several Sundays per month. Junior Bells (5th-8th graders) and Covenant Choir (K-6th) meet on Wednesday evenings too, with Covenant Choir helping lead worship about once a month and a special focus on Advent singing. Allegro Ringers, the adult handbell ensemble, also rehearses weekly during the school year and participates in about eight services annually. Kids Club, the 678ers, and other youth programs fill out the rest of the Wednesday evening schedule, giving many members several reasons to be at the church in the middle of the week.
Music That Welcomes Every Voice
Music is one of the most visible expressions of the church's liturgical, participative worship. Alongside the Sanctuary Choir and the youth choirs, Calvin Church also gathers a Festival Choir at Christmas and during Lent and Easter for special services, and once or twice a year members dust off instruments old and new to play together as the Church Orchestra.
Both experienced and novice ringers are welcome in the handbell choirs. Members of all ages and stages are invited to use their musical gifts in worship, whether through choir membership, handbell ringing, occasional instrumental playing, or leading congregational singing.
Discipleship and Fellowship Across the Week
Beyond Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, Calvin Church offers a range of small-group and study opportunities designed to help members grow as Christ-like disciples all week long. A Women's Bible Study typically runs from October through April, led by Pastor Rebecca Jordan-Heys. The church maintains a free lending library of fiction and non-fiction shaped by volunteers, and the Colossian Forum groups bring together members with different views on challenging topics for open, empathetic conversation supported by curriculum from the local Colossian Forum organization.
Fellowship groups add a social layer. Book clubs meet about once a month, and Bon Appetit groups gather a few times a year around shared meals. A Men's Breakfast Club meets monthly before the workday. Senior Fellowship Hour gathers retirees, widows, and widowers monthly for coffee, cookies, and games. The Connections Club brings together post-college young adults through mid-life for fun outings about every other month. Movie groups also meet monthly to discuss a film together.
Being a Good Neighbor in Eastown
Calvin Church takes seriously its identity as a neighbor in Eastown, a walkable Grand Rapids neighborhood. The church employs a Community Connector, Heather Conklin, whose work is to be present within the congregation and the surrounding blocks, listen to neighbors, and create connections where they fit. That work has grown from a small patio happy hour into a partnership with neighbors from Clark Retirement and other Eastown households, including a joint exploration of re-wilding the water swale between the church and Clark Retirement.
The church's solar-paneled roof and a native plant garden on its grounds are visible signs of Creation Care ministry. Beyond Eastown, the church partners with local and global organizations including Together West Michigan (a non-profit that unifies faith organizations to address neighborhood challenges), In the Image, The Philadelphia Project, and the Colossian Forum. Local mission focus areas include refugees, education and Christian leadership training, hunger and food shortages, homelessness and housing, social and criminal justice, and creation care.
Free community events held throughout the year - Game Day in winter, Spring Fun Day, and Summer Splash - draw church members, neighbors from Eastown and King Park, and residents of Clark Home together for crafts, food, and games. Members describe these events as one of the simplest ways the congregation lives out its call to be a good neighbor.
An Open Welcome
"All are warmly welcome" is a phrase Calvin Church uses often. The congregation's welcome extends across age, race, ethnicity, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. In March 2024, the congregation adopted a written position called "Loving and Learning Together," which states that LGBTQ+ persons, including those in same-sex relationships, are welcome to participate fully in the life of Calvin Church. People of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and marital status are equally welcome to full membership, and the welcome extends to full participation in leadership as pastors, Elders, Deacons, and worship leaders, as well as to the institutions of marriage and profession of faith and to the sacraments of communion and baptism.
The church has also long welcomed and supported immigrants and refugees. A published immigration statement outlines the congregation's commitments: making the building a safe place, expecting authorities to follow proper procedures when entering, encouraging members to stay informed, and supporting equal justice for all.
Accessibility Built Into the Building
Accessibility is treated as a practical expression of welcome. The church offers several handicap parking spaces, a sidewalk wheelchair ramp, a covered drive-up entrance, and a valet car service on request. Inside, an elevator connects floors, wheelchair-accessible pews are available, and large-print bulletins are offered. A hearing loop system supports those who need audio assistance, and activity bags help young children stay engaged in the service. Communion includes gluten-free and non-alcoholic options.
Giving and Getting Connected
Visitors are not expected to give. Members and friends who wish to support the church's ministry can place a gift in plates near the sanctuary exits, give online through Vanco, or set up direct deposit through forms in the Member Portal. Beyond financial gifts, the church's regular prayer of offering asks God to bless "our gifts of time, our selves, and our possessions."
Anyone curious about volunteering, joining a fellowship group, or learning more can reach out to the church office. The Community Connector is also a natural first point of contact for neighbors who want to get to know the church beyond Sunday mornings.