Trinity United Reformed Church sits along Kalamazoo Avenue SE on the east edge of Caledonia, Michigan, where it has long served as a confessional Reformed congregation in the rural community south of Grand Rapids. The building is best known for two Sunday services whose order follows the historic pattern of the Protestant Reformation: a reverent gathering in which the law is read, sin is confessed, pardon is declared, and the Word of Christ is opened and proclaimed. Around that weekly rhythm the church has built a full program of Sunday school, catechism, youth clubs, women's and men's Bible studies, and a wide network of mission partnerships stretching from West Michigan to Myanmar.
The Pastor and the Family at the Pulpit
The congregation is shepherded by Rev. Jacob London, who was ordained in December 2022. He is a May 2022 graduate of Mid America Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Indiana, and before that he pastored a Reformed Church in America congregation in Whitby, Ontario, for nearly five years while completing studies with the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Jacob and his wife Lisa were both raised in the Free Methodist Church of Canada and met at an FMCC campground; the couple has been married since 2016 and has three children. The Londons moved to the United States in July 2020, lived in Indiana during seminary, and are now settling into Michigan.
Serving alongside the pastor is intern Mr. Joel Haan, and Rev. James Admiraal continues in the life of the church as Pastor Emeritus. The session includes seven elders and a board of deacons responsible for everything from benevolence and building and grounds to seminarian assistance, Christian education, and congregational life. Together they oversee the work of the church under its Reformed confessional standards.
The Reformed Faith and the Three Forms of Unity
Trinity holds to the historic Reformed Faith as summarized in the Three Forms of Unity: the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), the Belgic Confession (1561), and the Canons of Dort (1619), together with the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed of the ancient church. The congregation teaches that Scripture alone is the guide for faith and life, that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and that the Christian life is now lived to the glory of God alone. The word "Reformed" is essentially a synonym for "biblical," pointing back to the great reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when the Western church was brought back to the standards of Scripture.
Trinity belongs to the federation of United Reformed Churches in North America and joins in the work of URCNA Missions, supports URC church plants, and contributes to the support of URC seminarians.
Worship: A Law and Gospel Dialogue
The most important thing the congregation does is gather for public worship on the Lord's Day. Services are held in a dialogical liturgy that alternates divine speech and congregational response. God opens the service with a Call to Worship drawn from Scripture, often a Psalm. The people respond with an Invocation, confessing that "our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." God then greets the assembly through the minister's announcement of His grace and peace; the people respond with a Song of Praise. After the Reading of the Law and a corporate Confession of Sin, God declares pardon through the Gospel. Pastoral prayer, the giving of offerings, and a song of preparation follow, and then comes the Ministry of the Word, the reading and exposition of a passage of Scripture. When the Lord's Supper is celebrated, it is administered as a covenant meal confirming the promises of the preached Word. The service closes with a Song of Response, a Doxology, and the Benediction in which the triune God speaks the final word to His people.
The morning service begins at 9:30 am, and the evening service opens with a song service at 4:50 pm followed by the service itself at 5:00 pm. Services are also broadcast on Sundays from 3:00 to 4:00 pm on WFUR, 92.9 FM and 1570 AM, and a livestream is offered, with audio sermons archived as well. Trinity's worship is reverent, simple, and biblical, gathered not to be entertained but to meet with God and receive from Him.
The Two Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Trinity observes the two sacraments Christ appointed for the new covenant church. Baptism is administered both to adult believers and to the infants of believers, on the basis that the children of Christians are members of Christ's visible church and covenant people. The Heidelberg Catechism's Question and Answer 74 teaches this practice: infants belong to God's covenant and are His people, and baptism, the sign of the covenant, marks them off as part of the Christian church just as circumcision did in the old covenant. The church explicitly does not teach baptismal regeneration and does not presume that every baptized child is elect.
The Lord's Supper is observed as a visible sign and seal of the gospel promise that Christ gives His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Visitors who are not members of Trinity are welcomed to the Table if they can sincerely affirm that they have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; have publicly professed their faith as summarized in the Apostles' Creed; and are presently members in good standing of a Protestant church that preaches the gospel faithfully, administers the sacraments as Christ instituted them, and is governed by elders who exercise church discipline. Those who are not yet accountable to a local church are asked to abstain and to speak with the pastor or an elder afterward.
Children Welcome in the Worship Service
Trinity teaches that the children of believers are part of Christ's visible church and believes they should be included in the worship service rather than removed to a separate children's church. Children of all ages are welcome in the sanctuary. An optional nursery is offered for children aged two and under, and a cry room is available for parents who want to train little ones in participation without fear of an unexpected meltdown. The cry room is equipped with Bibles, hymnals, and a window into the sanctuary with the worship service piped in.
Sunday School meets after the morning service from 11:00 to 11:45 am, September through April, for children ages 3 through fourth grade, using study materials from Answers in Genesis. Catechism meets at the same hour for students in fifth through twelfth grade, working through materials from Reformed Fellowship Publishing. Both programs welcome visitors.
Cadets, Kingdom Seekers, and Special Friends
Two long-running clubs extend the church's reach into the community for fourth through eighth graders. Cadets is a club for boys that meets on the second, third, and fourth Wednesdays of the month, September through April. Meetings include Bible study, games, crafts and projects, and special events throughout the year such as camping, a Pinewood Derby, service projects, and a Snow Derby. Trinity's Cadet ministry belongs to the Thornapple Valley Council of the Calvinist Cadet Corps, an independent non-denominational youth ministry founded in 1952 with more than 600 clubs across North America and partner programs in Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, and Uganda.
Kingdom Seekers is the parallel club for girls in grades four through eight, meeting on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Like Cadets, the program combines Bible study, games, crafts and projects with a merit badge system.
Special Friends is a ministry dedicated to including the special-needs members of the church in the life of the body. Meeting from 11:00 to 11:45 am during the Sunday school hour, September through April, the group uses materials from Friendship Ministries and the book "I AM" by Diane Stortz, and gathers once a month on a weekend for an extra activity to build friendships beyond the classroom.
High School Youth Group
The Youth Group exists to aid parents in guiding, encouraging, and counseling their high school teens toward lives of godliness and service to Christ and His church. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings, September through April, and include fellowship, supper, singing, discussion, and games. Discussion time is designed to help teens understand their life before God and develop a deeper relationship with Him, cultivate a Christian worldview, instill a desire for outreach and community service, and encourage friendships within the covenant community. Bi-monthly service projects, fun outings, and a soup supper round out the year, and the group participates each summer in TASC (Teens Actively Serving Christ) through Reformed Mission Services and/or the RYS Convention.
Adult Fellowship and Bible Study
Adults are well cared for as well. Faith and Fellowship gathers adults from post-high school through age forty on the third Sunday evening every other month, September through May, for a meal and fellowship at 6:30 pm, with fun outings on the opposite months. The Men's Bible Study meets on the first and third Saturday mornings, September through April, at 7:00 am at the church, drawing men of high school age and older to study together. Two women's Bible studies run on Wednesdays: a morning study on the first and third Wednesday at 9:30 am, and a weeknight study on the second and fourth Wednesday at 7:00 pm for women of post-high school age and up. Ladies Fellowship meets once a month on the second Thursday from 10:00 to 11:00 am, October through April, with time to knit or crochet items for the community and the congregation, work on personal projects, or simply enjoy coffee and fellowship. Sisters in Prayer, known as SIP, is a ministry of prayer and encouragement that draws women together to bear one another's burdens and seek the Lord's will.
Missions: Near and Far
Trinity supports a broad slate of missionaries and causes, treating world missions as part of the congregation's calling. Missionaries include Dave and Mary Meengs with Biblical Counseling Worldwide; "Katie" serving in Europe and Asia; Rev. Chan Thleng of the Luke Society in Myanmar; Dr. Neal Hegeman with Miami International Seminary; Reformed Mission Services; and Kevin and Michelle Suwyn with Young Life in Costa Rica.
Among other supported causes are the Biblical Counseling Center, the Calvinist Cadet Corps, CLIR (Reformed Missions), Crossroad Bible Institute, Divine Hope Reformed Seminary, Forgotten Man Ministries, the Gideons, Guiding Light Mission, Mid America Reformed Seminary, the Middle East Reformed Fellowship, the Pregnancy Resource Center, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Reformed Youth Services, Reformation Italy, URCNA Missions, various URC church plants, and various URC seminarians.
What to Expect on a First Visit
Worship at Trinity is reverent and liturgical, and visitors will hear the law read, sins confessed, pardon declared, and an exposition of a passage of Scripture. Dress is appropriate for a traditional Reformed congregation; children are welcome in the service. The morning service begins at 9:30 am and the evening service begins at 5:00 pm, preceded by a song service at 4:50 pm. After the morning service, Sunday school, catechism, and Special Friends run from 11:00 to 11:45 am, September through April. A nursery for children two and under is available, and a cry room offers a quiet place for parents of small children. The church building is located at 7350 Kalamazoo Ave. SE in Caledonia, and the church office can be reached at 616-554-5763 or info@trinityurc.net. The pastor's office line is 616-554-5510. Services are livestreamed online and aired on Sundays from 3:00 to 4:00 pm on WFUR 92.9 FM and 1570 AM, with audio of recent sermons also available online.