Grand Rapids First

"My husband and I had the pleasure of attending service on 2/18 with our daughter that goes to Calvin University. We literally can not stop talking about how amazing it was to feel The Spirit of God from the time we walked through the door to the time we left. The WORD was so refreshing and on time. We definitely will attend again the next time we drive up to visit our daughter."

"I love this church from the pastor to the choir I always feel welcomed ive been honored to find such a great church to go to they even have child care for every age I'm happy I'm returning tomorrow"

"Can someone that heads up this church make an announcement to the congregation that the turn onto Forest Park drive is not a UTURN. There is a clearly posted sign yet every Sunday when I try to go to work I am met with people making ILLEGAL UTURNS and causing close to accidents for people who are trying to get out of their neighborhood. On top of that, the kind church patrons flip you off, angry that you are in the way making a LEGAL right turn. Three times now I have been blessed by the middle finger for doing nothing wrong. I have to say what a nice congregation you have."

"My husband and I started attending this church consistently about a year ago. I attended it about 20 years ago as a kid with my mom for a while as well. After searching a while for a church home, we landed on this church we decided to make our home. We felt welcomed from day one. The resources within this church is PHENOMENAL!! Their investment into their young people alone is amazing. I volunteer in the Kids First and Nursery twice a month and I absolutely LOVE their staff and the passion they truly have for our young people. Seriously, bring your elementary-middle school kids to just one Sunday school class and I almost guarantee they’ll be asking to come back. Plus the building(s) overall are BEAUTIFUL!! Paster Sam is great! You can tell that him and his wife really do adore the church and everyone in it. And every other pastor we’ve come across in his church reflects that. They also have small groups for just about everything. My husband and I now attend the Thursday “Young Couples” group (at 7pm if you want to check it out ;) ) It’s such a good time and so great to be amongst other couples on the same journey to God. I wish that I could say that I would invite anyone to check it out, but I can’t. This church can sometimes be extremely political and I am NOT a fan. I have SO many loved ones we support in the LGBTQIA community (some who are looking for church homes) and I would love to invite them to a service but they wouldn’t feel comfortable. Anti-homosexuality is mentioned sometimes more than once during services. They were also VERY vocal about their views and Roe vs. Wade being over turned. Pastor Sam has so many sermons that speak to me and my husband, but I wish that those views/stances were kept out of the message. “Come as you are” should be just as it says. I’m not behind making ANYONE feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in any church community. Being gay/queer is not a “condition” that needs to be prayed away or healed. I really do believe that political views should be left at the door when walking into any church. We should be more focused on what brings us together. ALL of us. It makes me really sad and I literally flinch every time these things are mentioned in a sermon. It is very distracting, making it difficult if not impossible to overlook while continuing to engage in said sermon. I would say “other than that it’s great”. But that would minimize the enormity of filtering out an entire community of individuals. With that being said…that really is the BIG downside for me. This church really is amazing. I can’t say it enough. My family and I love this church. We love the services they offer. We love all the people/servers we have encountered. I just wish that I could say “Join my church and come as you are because all are welcome!” I do not support political views being pushed in the House of God, but I also know that these aren’t the shared amongst all those who attend this church and I have never encountered these prejudices first hand. No church is perfect, just as no one is perfect. And I know for a fact that these views are pushed in most churches in this area. Nonetheless, this is our church home, and we don’t plan on leaving anytime soon :))."

"We have been invited here many times by different friends. The worship was really good and I was very impressed with Pastor Sam and his message. It was fresh and applicable and our entire family learned something from it. The church experience was great but they do not have enough cut outs for wheelchairs. Also, the cut outs should be for people in wheelchairs first. There was one lady with a walker sitting in one of them so I sat in the only other one in the middle section. The usher came and greeted us and told me that I was in someone’s spot who regularly attends there. She said “I don’t know what they are going to do if they come now“. She almost made me feel like I should move in case they come (which they did not). Also, when the pastor told everyone to say hi to those around them, nobody in the row in front of us turned around. They just said hi to the people they knew. I know that the church cannot control everyone but it would’ve been nice for the first time there to feel welcome by the congregation as well. I have always been one of the people in the first impressions ministry so I know how important those first visits are. Besides the lack of cut outs for those in wheelchairs and the experiences at our seat, I thought it was a great church. We would definitely visit again to get more of an overall impression. I do think there needs to be more cut outs though(Especially in the middle sections. I don’t want to always have to be in the back of the church)."