Join us for our official launch service on
January 12, 2020 at 4pm
3800 Puritan Avenue – Detroit
THE VISION
Our vision is to see Jesus rebuild our lives and the lives of the people in our communities of North Detroit. We want to see God’s Glory shine through His church and not be limited by division. We want to be a church that calls on the name of the Lord and is equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel in both word and deed to a new generation.
So there is a great opportunity for the compassion of the Gospel
to be put on display in a very tangible way.
OUR CORE VALUES
CHRIST-CENTERED
Jesus Comes First in Everything
(Col 1:12-20)
COMPLETE WORD
We Faithfully Hold to the Bible as God’s Finished Word
(Rev 22:18-19)
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WORSHIP-LOVING
We Were Made to Offer God Joyful Worship
(Ps 34:8, Heb 13:15)
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COMMUNITY-ORIENTED
We are A Gathered Family Serving Our Neighbors
(1 Peter 2:9, Deut 10:19)
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CROSS-CULTURAL
We Value Other’s Experiences & Reflect the Region
(Rev. 5:9, Matt 5:44)
DETROIT
The story of Detroit’s economic decline over the past fifty years is well documented while the causes remain highly controversial. Ask anyone around the world who has heard of our city and in the same breath they’ll tell you about Ford, Dianna Ross, and Coney’s along with crack, corruption, and post-apocalyptic landscapes. In 2016, Detroit’s estimated population was just above 677,000 inhabitants, a steep decline from a peak of over 1.8 million
in the 1950s. However, according to the US Census Bureau, Detroit’s population drop-off is at last ending, meaning its 25% decrease over the last 10 years may have bottomed out. Detroit’s economic return is well underway downtown and in a few revitalization zones that have been highlighted by Mayor Duggan. Livernois Avenue, the central corridor of the plant location, is one of these highlighted revitalization zones with many new businesses arriving in the past 2 years.
Unfortunately, not all residents have equally felt this rebound. The majority of neighborhoods in the city still reflect the oppression of drugs, poverty, broken homes, segregation, and a struggling education system. Detroit is still in the top 5 poorest cities in America. As believers, we know these ills are products of a fallen world. Thus, the problems of the inner city are primarily spiritual in nature and are therefore ones that only the Church, through the powerful name of Jesus, can rise to truly address. The legacy of Reformed Christianity is at stake in Detroit. Future generations will ask what our denomination did to minister to the “Renaissance City” when it was in the pains of rebirth. What story will we be able to tell the next generation?
THE PLANTING TEAM
The Speyers Family
Josh and Hannah have been heavily involved in urban church plants for the past 13 years. Josh grew up at a diverse Reformed church in inner-city Grand Rapids serving in the youth ministry there. The Lord has blessed them with many ministry opportunities to learn from in Chicago, Boston, and Taiwan. He has given them three amazing kids: Evangeline, Gideon, and Otis. Josh graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education in 2013 and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 2016. The Speyers love raising their family in Detroit and engaging in the life of this resurgent city.
