HISTORY
The Church of God was officially established in the city of Grand Haven in February of 1961. This was during a decade of tremendous Church of God expansion, both internationally and domestically. The backdrop of this decade was a scene of national turmoil and conflict across the U.S, later dubbed by
historians as a “decade of rebellion.” Liberalism, sex, drugs, and rock and roll was taking hold across college campuses and seminaries, coming to full-term in the 70’s and 80’s. Older generations were decrying the new cultural trends and pleading for a return to a more “sensible” time (often eulogizing the 50’s). It was against this radicalism and cultural divide that the Church of God saw a great urgency to bring the Pentecostal/Holiness message expeditiously across the nation; for they knew, only a baptizing move of the Holy Spirit can bring unity of the generations.
In the 1960’s, Grand Haven was also experiencing an inner turmoil of sorts. The early days of the railroads and ferries, bringing scores of tourists to the resort town was fading. Two major ferries went under, one to Milwaukee and one to Chicago from Grand Haven. No continuing ferry service has been available out of Grand Haven since then. A railway zooming along the Lake Michigan shoreline went under with only the downtown station surviving, remodeled, and now filled with shops. Railroads were replaced with automobiles, as the 50’s saw tremendous growth to the automotive industry. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 saw interstate highways created, though not one would make its way into Grand Haven effectively ending its designation as an easily accessible Lake Michigan resort town. With tourism waning rapidly, the city was in an identity crisis. Moreover, the 60’s saw a move to urbanization and rural towns were losing residents to metropolises. Would Grand Haven survive this transition or become like many other of the resort towns of the 40’s and 50’s?
IDENTITY
In light of all this, the Church of God saw Grand Haven as a city in need of the powerful message of hope in Christ and power for service through the Holy Spirit. It was these early church planters, who despite all odds, filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, established our church. This same tenacity and empowerment of Spirit continues to drive our church forward to greater Kingdom fulfillment and community impact.
The church was founded under the name ‘Grand Haven Church of God,’ which has remained the same till this present date. It was a customary practice for churches at that time to name the congregation after the city or street where the church was located. Many established congregations have changed or updated their congregational names through the years; some for contemporary relevancy, some for alignment to vision and mission, some under new leadership, or for varied other reasons. Our congregation has not changed their name since its founding.
Upon the appointment of the Reverend Nathan C. Strom in 2022, he knew there is more to the Grand Haven Church of God name than mere geography. The name may denote our city of residence yet, in that name also lies our identity. Our goals and ambitions, our vision and character, our culture and connections are all anchored in that identity. It is in this identity that we find our mission: To Be A Grand Haven in Community for Christ by His Spirit.
Grand Haven Pentecostals 