Who We Are and What We Believe

Our faith formation is rooted in the premise that God loves us and calls us into relationship with Him. We seek to develop a desire to be actively engaged in God’s Kingdom by being Christian disciples.

We recognize that school is only one component of a faith formation process shared with the home and the church. While the home is the fundamental and most Biblical arena for faith formation, the Christian school bears an important responsibility in this process as well.

Forming faith can be described in a variety of ways – we have found it helpful to discuss it in the context of how we Know God, Love God, and Serve God. This three-fold focus shapes how we nurture faith in academics, worship and service to God.

For more information about our Faith Formation, please contact Aaron Winkle, Superintendent, or by phone at 616.574.6000.

We believe in one God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has revealed himself in the Holy Bible. This God is present today and controls both humankind and history. We believe and confess that:

• God shows himself through all he has made - for God has made everything
• God shows himself in justice and mercy over against the sin and evil which has invaded God's creation
• God shows himself and the way of salvation in his Word the Holy Scriptures
• God shows himself most fully in his Son Jesus Christ who, by a miraculous birth, became a human being for our sake, suffered, died and was raised to conquer the power of sin and the curse of death under which we all live

Further, we believe and confess that:

• Jesus Christ is now the Lord of all things, both in the created world and in the Church - the fellowship of the redeemed
• Jesus Christ is now gathering and preserving his Church so that her members may be his servants in this world
• Jesus Christ shall return on the day of the Father's choosing to judge all humanity, the living and the dead

This faith clearly has consequences for the church and the Christian home. It also has special consequences for those involved in Christian day schools, which exist in concert with the home and the church for the nurturing of Christian teaching and life. Because the Lord is Lord of all life, we profess and declare that:

• Our students will be presented with the basic message of Scripture and the redemption that has been given in Christ
• Our students will be instructed in Scriptural principles that will guide them in mature living - in its spiritual, intellectual, and behavioral dimensions
• Our students will be encouraged to recognize the greatness and the mercy of our Lord in every area of life
• Our students will be guided into a true knowledge of God's world, of its history, and its culture
• Our students will be enabled to assess the values of the age from the perspective of Christ's redemption and rule over all the world

Because our Lord is Lord of all life we further profess and declare that:

• Obedience to God involves us in a thorough investigation of all reality, and that students and teachers alike should seek to integrate their personal faith with all areas of learning
• Obedience to God involves us in an urgency to promote this Lordship of Christ within the communities of our schools and throughout the entire world through the agency of the schools as well as the church and family

All this we profess and declare in the sure and certain hope that as we nurture our children in the knowledge and love of the Lord, God himself will guide, preserve and bless these efforts through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Our World Belongs to God: A Contemporary Testimony (shared with permission by the Christian Reformed Church in North America) is the Christian perspective that guides Grand Rapids Christian Schools. The Contemporary Testimony provides biblical perspective for the entire curriculum. It also affirms that the purpose of education is to enable students to become spiritually wise, world-engaging citizens of God’s Kingdom.