Kelloggsville Christian Reformed Church in Kentwood, Mich., is marking its 150th anniversary this year, with the theme “Footprints of Faith.”
The church hosted an anniversary worship service in February that featured a video depicting its history, communion, a mosaic project, and the ringing of the church bell.
Kelloggsville CRC began in 1875, as 13 families that had been attending First Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., started to meet as the new congregation. At the time, the community was agricultural, and the 13-mile trip to Grand Rapids could sometimes take parishioners up to two hours.
Early on the Kelloggsville congregation had its share of challenges. Their first building burned down, replaced by a second building dedicated in 1920. In 1954, responding to a growing community that was becoming more suburban, the increasing congregation dismantled that second structure to construct the current church building at 52nd Street and Eastern Avenue.
Along the way, Kelloggsville seeded other CRC congregations, including Princeton CRC in Kentwood, Mich., and First Cutlerville (Mich.) CRC.
In the early 1990s, the Kelloggsville congregation launched a ministry for people who enjoyed hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. That ministry eventually spun off into a separate nonprofit organization called Sportspersons Ministries.
In one of the expressions of "Footprints of Faith,” the congregation produced a video chronicling contributions of church members who served in the U.S. military. A total of 201 veterans who were members of the Kelloggsville church have served in the military, Pastor Martin Benckhuysen said.
Later this summer, church members will travel to western North Carolina for an intergenerational mission experience to assist people still recovering from Hurricane Helene that damaged that region last fall.
The Kelloggsville 150th anniversary celebration will continue in September, not only to celebrate the past and present, but also to have an eye toward God’s purpose for the congregation in the future.
“We will have stories of how God is at work in the lives of our people today,” Benckhuysen said. “We are celebrating the 150th ministry kickoff because God is still at work through those who walk by faith.”
Twenty-one congregations have been part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America for at least 150 years. Synod, the denomination’s annual general assembly, began recognizing such long-lived congregations with a plaque in 2018.