What We Believe

The Bible: We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are given by God’s inspiration, and in the original writings they are without error.  We believe the Scriptures originated with God but were written by the instrumentality of people that speak with the authority of God while reflecting the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of the human authors.  They are the unique and final authority on all matters of Christian faith and practice.

God:  We believe in one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect and externally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ:  We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures.  We believe He was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now acts as the only mediator between God and people. 

Salvation:  We believe that Jesus Christ died as the substitution for the death penalty we owed.  No amount of good works or human effort can restore us from our state of eternal alienation from God.  It is only by God's free grace that we are saved from this state of alienation, and this grace is appropriated by a change of heart toward God's leadership in our lives by faith in Jesus as both our Lord and our Savior.

The Church:  We believe that there is only one true Church universal composed of all people who have asked Jesus Christ for forgiveness and made Him leader of their lives.  The diversity of all believers working together, using their gifts to build up one another, form the parts of the body of Christ, the Church.  The scripture commands believers to gather together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, the teaching of God’s Word, using our gifts to build up one another, outreach, communion, and baptism.  Wherever God’s people meet in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the Church.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Head of the Church, and that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs.

Sacraments: We hold two sacraments at Immanuel Community Reformed Church: the Lord’s Supper and baptism. We believe in the inclusion of all of God’s children who are aware of God’s saving activity in their lives regarding the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Immanuel’s view on baptism is influenced by two strong themes of scripture. First, we believe scripture teaches from a covenant standpoint, the inclusion of children in the covenant community. Second, we see scripture commanding those who receive Christ as Savior and Lord to receive this gift of God’s grace assuring them of God’s saving work in their life.

Reformed Church in America

We are part of the Reformed Church in America. For more information, check out the Reformed Church in America website: www.rca.org

Our History

Immanuel Community Reformed Church (ICRC) was birthed by the desire to expand the RCA presence to the Lansing area. In early 1955, with a list of 16 names of people, taken primarily from a Hope College alumni publication, living in the Lansing area, a team made a number of calls and immediate interest was discovered. At the initial meeting, on February 12, 1955, approximately 40 people enthusiastically showed up, which was confirmation that God had been working ahead of us! After much prayer, support and encouragement from churches in western Michigan, the Classis and Regional Synod, the first services of the very first RCA church in Lansing were held at the YWCA on April 17, 1955. Ultimately, land was purchased and structures constructed over the years for worship and ministry. 

The church’s name has served us well over the years. Reformed was included to indicate our denomination affiliation and ties to the past where the word references the historic reformation theme: “the church of Jesus reformed according to the Word of God.” Community was included, not only to distinguish the name from Immanuel Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI (our sponsor church in 1955), but also as an indicator that the new church included the surrounding community, as well as believers within the larger community of God’s Kingdom- our existence in the present. Immanuel was included to acknowledge all of the support received from our sponsor church, and also the powerful meaning of Immanuel, “God with us”, which represents the solid truth on which the church was founded and will continue to grow. 

We are thankful for the faithful pastors that have served ICRC throughout our history. They are:

Rev. Donald Boss 1956- 1960

Rev. Bernard Hakken 1960- 1964

Rev. Howard Schipper 1964-1969

Rev. John Butyen 1970- 1975

Rev. Lyn Post 1976- 1982

Rev. Edward Schmidt 1981- 1986

Rev. Robert Langenburg 1984- 1988

Rev. Richard Heusinkveld 1988- 2019