The Christian Reformed Church shares the same theological roots as Presbyterian churches. It receives the Bible as the Word of God and stands within Reformed theology, emphasizing God’s absolute sovereignty. Its church polity differs in some respects from Presbyterian structures: the CRC emphasizes active congregational participation and a council in which officebearers serve in rotating terms.
Reformed theology emphasizes God’s sovereign grace in salvation and receives Scripture as the supreme standard for faith and life. The Christian Reformed Church seeks not merely to preserve a doctrinal system but to form communities in which faith and life belong together.
The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) is rooted in the sixteenth-century Reformation and was organized by Dutch Calvinist immigrants in Holland, Michigan, in 1857. It began as a Dutch-speaking immigrant church and gradually grew into a multiethnic denomination welcoming believers from many peoples and cultures.
Today the CRC includes approximately 1,000 congregations and 230,000 members, with Korean congregations forming an important part of the denomination. It maintains its Reformed confessional heritage while embracing people from diverse ethnic and cultural traditions.
The CRC has a distinctive polity combining congregational participation with governance by ordained officebearers. Each congregation is led by a council composed of ministers, elders, and deacons, balancing accountable participation with biblical leadership.
The CRCNA serves the growth of God’s kingdom through ministries around the world. These include international relief and development through World Renew, Christian higher education through Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary, discipleship through Faith Formation Ministries, and domestic and global mission through Resonate Global Mission.
Having begun as an immigrant church in North America, the CRCNA has developed practices of biblical church governance over more than 150 years while learning to welcome congregations from many cultures. Its immigrant experience offers valuable resources for churches of varied backgrounds to grow together.
Hahn-In Christian Reformed Church belongs to the CRCNA. We follow the Reformed theological tradition while cherishing the particular gifts of a Korean immigrant community. Our ministry emphasizes God’s Word, the integration of faith and life, participation in mission and mercy, the active service of all believers, and the formation of the next generation through Christian education.
As a Korean church, we seek both to serve the spiritual needs of immigrants and to prepare a spiritual inheritance for the next generation. By bringing together the rich theological resources of the Reformed tradition and the vibrant faith of the Korean church, we hope to nurture spiritual growth and community among Koreans in greater Grand Rapids.
