On the main road that runs through Byron Center, Michigan, the Christian Reformed congregation known as First Byron gathers twice each Sunday - at 9:30 in the morning and at 5:00 in the evening - for blended worship that pairs contemporary praise songs with traditional hymns. The church sits at 8541 Byron Center Avenue, and its reach extends well beyond the building. From infant nurseries and Vacation Bible School in the summer to Stephen Ministers who sit one-on-one with hurting neighbors, First Byron CRC has built a network of ministries that has shaped the town for years.
A Reformed Philosophy of Worship
Worship is the centerpiece of life at First Byron. The congregation belongs to the Reformed tradition, and its stated philosophy of worship flows from the conviction that God is sovereign and that his Word sets the boundaries for how he is to be praised. Members read this philosophy on the church's own pages, where they are reminded that "the perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God." Worship is shaped as a dialogue: God calls, the people respond with praise, sins are confessed and forgiveness is announced, and the sermon brings the conversation to a climax.
First Byron describes its services with a series of single-word commitments: God-centeredness, Bible-saturated content, expectation of God's presence, climax in the preached Word, a dialogue between God and his people, head and heart working together, reverence mixed with joy, active rather than passive participation, songs that both exalt God and edify one another, an attitude of love that values unity over uniformity, and a striving for excellence that is also inclusive of imperfect people. Music draws on both newer praise songs and older hymns, and the church's highest priority is the public reading and preaching of Scripture. The Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort - the three confessions of the Reformation the congregation affirms - are woven into teaching and preaching.
What Sundays Look Like
Greeters welcome visitors at the door, and ushers hand out an Order of Worship and help people find seats. The morning service runs about an hour. Near the beginning of the service, four-year-olds and kindergartners are dismissed with adults to a Children's Worship Center on the upper classroom level, and nurseries are open for infants and toddlers throughout the morning. An offering is gathered for the church's operating expenses and a designated cause, and visitors are invited to sign the Fellowship Folder so the congregation can acknowledge their presence. After the service, coffee and cookies are served in the Fellowship Hall just off the lobby.
The evening service at 5:00 PM follows a similar shape but is described as somewhat more casual. A nursery is again available. The congregation is well-blended by age - many young families, single adults, middle-age empty nesters and a sizable group of seniors - so newcomers tend to find others at a similar life stage.
Services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel on Sunday mornings and evenings, and audio recordings of sermons are posted to Spotify as a podcast.
Children's Ministries
First Byron has built a layered program for the youngest members of the congregation. Nurseries for infants and for toddlers are provided at both Sunday services, although in the evening the two rooms are sometimes combined. Children who are two years old meet in the nursery area as "Little Lambs" during the morning service, while three-year-olds and young fours gather as "Wee Worship" in a room downstairs. Both programs include singing, prayer time, Bible stories, crafts, playtime and a snack.
Children in Worship is a separate option for four-year-olds (by September 1) and kindergartners who leave the sanctuary during the service to worship together in the Children's Worship Center. Sunday School follows the morning service from 10:45 to 11:45 AM and runs from Pre-K through fourth grade, with singing, Bible stories, memory work, crafts and giving projects. Catechism classes for fifth through twelfth graders meet on the upper level from 11:00 to 11:45 AM and teach the basics of the Christian faith from a Reformed perspective. Vacation Bible School takes place each summer and draws volunteers from teenagers to "Prime Timers" who serve alongside the regular staff.
Students in Middle School and High School
The student ministry is led by Josh Cnossen, the Director of Youth Discipleship, whose own faith was shaped at Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper College) and who has spent more than twenty years working with young people. Middle School Live meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, and seeks to bring middle schoolers together for fellowship and growth. The High School Youth Group gathers every other Sunday after the evening worship and combines small groups, large group teaching, service projects and leadership development.
Two long-running parachurch programs for young people are also sponsored by the church. GEMS - Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior - is a Christian girls' club for fourth through eighth grade that meets on the first and third Wednesdays from September through March, 6:30 to 8:15 PM, with praise, prayer, age-appropriate Bible study, crafts and seasonal retreats. Cadets is the parallel program for boys in the same grade range, meeting Monday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in the church basement from September through April. Cadets closes each meeting by singing "Living for Jesus" and praying together.
Adult and Family Life
Music remains central to the life of the adult congregation. A choir rehearses each Sunday morning after the service in the Choir Room from September through April and sings one or two Sundays a month. A separate group of Praise Teams, open to anyone high school age and older, leads singing on other Sundays. T'NT is a discipleship-training group that meets in the sanctuary after the morning service on a three-weeks-on, one-week-off rhythm, following the discipleship curriculum taught by Senior Pastor Jean Gomes.
Small Groups are a backbone of the congregation's adult life. Each group covenants to meet at a set time, usually once or twice a month, for a couple of hours of study, prayer and fellowship, and chooses its own study material. A Dining Out Group gathers in clusters of eight people - a mix of couples and singles - for four months at a time, twice a year, to share meals and build friendships. Church Life is the umbrella for the many social activities that happen throughout the year, and a Young Adults team plans events for those in the 19 to 29 age range.
Men's and Women's Ministries
The women's program is anchored by Reaching Women, a Bible-study and fellowship group that meets on the first and third Thursdays from 9:15 to 10:45 AM, October through April, with childcare provided for infants through kindergartners. Ladies Fellowship, typically meeting the first and third Tuesdays from October through March at 10:00 AM (with coffee at 9:30), offers Bible study, prayer and conversation. Helping Hands coordinates meals for members who are ill, recovering from surgery, grieving or welcoming a new baby, and arranges rides, cleaning help and childcare as needed. Prayer Shawl Ministry knits shawls for those facing a life challenge, with some shawls sent to the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Center Pavilion and Lacks Cancer Center. Ladies Lunch meets on the third Tuesday of each month for food and fellowship, the Women's Early Morning Study gathers at church on Tuesdays at 6:00 AM, and the Women's Slowpitch Softball League plays Tuesday evenings in Moline from early May through August.
The men's ministry includes a Thursday Morning Bible Study at 6:00 AM at the church, a Discipleship Group for men seeking to grow together as brothers, and Men's Leisure Golfers, who play nine holes on Wednesday mornings at the Pines Golf Course from April into early autumn. Men's Retreat Golf is held periodically as an overnight gathering for men 18 and older.
Stephen Ministry, GriefShare and Member Care
One of the defining ministries of First Byron is Stephen Ministry, a one-to-one caregiving program in which Stephen Ministers walk alongside people facing grief, hospitalization, terminal illness, separation, divorce, unemployment, relocation and other life challenges. Each Stephen Minister completes fifty hours of intensive training and offers confidential, Christ-centered care. The program is supervised through Stephen Ministries, a respected national organization. A separate Member Care Ministry organizes men, women and couples who visit shut-in members so that those unable to attend are reminded they remain part of the church family. Caregivers Support Group offers a safe place for those caring for loved ones, and GriefShare runs a thirteen-week cycle of support for those walking through grief.
Kids Hope and Outreach
Through Kids Hope, adults in the church are paired one-to-one with children at Brown Elementary School for an hour a week of mentoring. Prayer partners support each mentor, training and materials are provided, and no prior teaching experience is required. The church's Director of Missions and Outreach, Pastor Karis Mpindi, also serves as the Associative Executive Director of Mission French Africa Ministries and is currently completing a Th.M. at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He describes his calling around preaching the gospel and helping people know Jesus and grow to be more like him.
Helping Hands coordinates care within the congregation, while the church also supports a RISE group that meets twice a month at 6:30 AM, for which volunteers prepare breakfast.
Marriage Mentors
First Byron offers a Christ-centered Marriage Mentors program for engaged or pre-engaged couples. Each couple takes the Prepare/Enrich assessment and is paired with a mentor couple who walks alongside them through about eight meetings of marriage preparation and accompanying homework. The fee for the assessment is $35, and the program is designed to help couples see marriage as God designed it to be lived.
The Pastoral Team
Senior Pastor Jean Gomes was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and served as a minister of the Word for ten years in the Presbyterian Church of Brazil before moving to Grand Rapids to earn a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary. He accepted the call to First Byron in 2022 as Pastor of Discipleship and in 2025 became Senior Pastor. He lives with his wife, Gesie, and their two children, Valentim and Julia. Pastor Jordan Nickell oversees worship services and music ministries, having graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary before embracing fully Reformed theology in 2017 and moving from Kentucky to serve the church. He is husband to Ashley and father to three young girls, and he roasts coffee in his spare time.
Steve Elenbaas, a Calvin University graduate who worked as a mechanical engineer for twenty-eight years before joining the staff, serves as Director of Ministries. Lindsay Vander Ploeg, a Cornerstone University graduate in Worship Arts who grew up in Byron Center, is the Director of Children's Discipleship. Chris Kruithof, the Kid's Hope Director since 2006 and a Grand Valley State University graduate, runs the mentoring program with her husband Kurt and their three daughters.
What We Believe
First Byron summarizes its convictions simply: belief in God the Son, who came as Jesus Christ, died on the cross for sin and rose again to give new life; belief in God the Holy Spirit, who lives in the believer and nurtures growth; belief that God works through the ministry of the church in both Word and Deed, faithfully teaching Scripture and reaching out in compassion; and belief that through faith in Jesus Christ believers receive forgiveness of sins, resurrection from the dead and a share in eternal life.
As a Reformed congregation, First Byron stands on the five great doctrines of the Reformation: Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone and the Glory of God Alone. The Heidelberg Catechism is used in both teaching and preaching, the Belgic Confession is honored as a 1561 statement written to defend Reformed Christians against persecution, and the Canons of Dort articulate the five points of Calvinism. An Elder Covenant, last revised in 2023, governs the office of elder in the congregation.
A Building Project and a Continuing Story
The church is currently in an ongoing Building Project, described on its site as "The Building Project," which points to a page hosted through thehubproject.net. Visitors who want to follow along can find details there. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Friday from 8:00 AM to noon, and the office can be reached at 616-878-9768 or at office@firstbyroncrc.org. Online giving is available through Easy Tithe, the church's livestream is on YouTube, and sermons are available as a podcast on Spotify.
For a first-time visitor, First Byron is the kind of place where greeters will know your name after a single Sunday, where your children will be cared for in a nursery or a Sunday school classroom staffed by people who love them, where the sermon will open a passage of Scripture and apply it to daily life, and where coffee in the Fellowship Hall after the service is the start of many friendships that follow.