Graafschap Church is a Christian community in Holland, Michigan, where we have been since this area was settled in 1847.
We welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to join in the praise and worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We have seen generations of God's blessings and continue to be a vibrant multi-generational community yearning to be used by God to transform HIS world.
OUr Faith is...
We believe that the Bible-the Old and New Testaments-is the inspired Word of God. It is the complete and infallible rule for our faith and life, revealing God's character, His saving work in Jesus Christ, and His will for how we are to live. Everything we believe flows from Scripture as God's trustworthy and authoritative revelation. At the heart of our faith is the good news of Jesus Christ: That in love and mercy, God acted to rescue sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross provides atonement for sin, restores our relationship with God, and brings new life to all who trust in Him.
Our church stands in unity with Christians throughout history by affirming the three ancient ecumentical creeds: The Apostle's Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. These creeds faithfully summarize the central truths of the Christian faith held across denominations and generations. They reflect the foundational belief in one God in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and the saving work of Jesus Christ.
As a congregation in the Reformed tradition, we embrace three historic doctrinal statements that express the rich teachings of Scripture: The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, and The Canons of Dort. These confessions articulate our understand of God's sovereignty, human sin and need, salvation by grace through faith, and the life of gratitude God calls His people to live.
Our core beliefs
Graafchap is a member of the Christian Reformed Denomination. While the CRC shares core Christian beliefs with churches worldwide, it also emphasizes certian themes: God's Sovereignty, God's Covenant, and the Kingdom of God. These themes express how we understand and live out the Christian faith in continuity with the global church, yet with our own theological distinctiveness. Read more about each theme below.
As Reformed believers we place a strong focus on God's absolute sovereignty - His plan, will, and power over all things. Everything in creation, from world events to individual faith, is ultimately under God's control. This emphasis shapes our understanding of salvation: humans cannot save themselves because all human will and action are affected by the fall, so salvation is considered God's work from beginning to end.
We understand covenant as a binding set of promises from God to His people. Scripture portrays God as a covenant-making God who forms faithful relationships with individuals, families, and communities. The term "testament" itself - Old and New Testament - means "covenant," underlining how central this concept is to biblical faith and Reformed theology.
As Reformed Christians, we also place an emphasis on the kingdom of God - Christ's rule over all creation. This leads us to a worldview that sees every aspect of life (education, politics, work, justice, stewardship, etc.) as under Christ's lordship. While all Christians believe Jesus is Lord, the Reformed tradition places a particularly strong stress on this truth, shaping our commitment to Christian education, social action, and service.
