our story
Early Years...
Grace Bible Fellowship (GBF) began as a church planting effort by Grace Gospel Fellowship Regions 9 and 10 in Michigan. A church planting committee was established in 1985, and in July of 1986 a call was extended to Pastor
Steve Hartman. Pastor Steve began extensive research in October of 1986, and by January 25 1987 , the church (formerly called Christ Church ) held its first worship service in the Jenison High School auditorium. Five years later, the church needed to move and began holding services at Bauer Elementary school in Hudsonville.
Within a year of the move, Christ Church purchased its current facility located on Chicago Drive and 12th Avenue in Jenison and remodeled it to adapt it for church use. And shortly after, the name was changed from Christ Church to Grace Bible Fellowship because our people thought it was much more descriptive of who we are.
Growth...
When it became clear we were running out of room in our facility, a committee was established to find a new location. Eventually, God made it clear that our best option was to add on at our current location. So in the fall of 2003, we embarked on a “Together We Build” stewardship campaign and began construction in 2004. The result was a tripling of our square footage, adding a beautiful auditorium, small gymnasium and kitchen. The original facility was completely remodeled and converted to classrooms, offices, and a beautiful, designated Youth room. God continued to bless financially, and we were able to completely pay off the bank mortgage in 2017. As a
result, we have been able to redirect funds for both church ministry and foreign and local missions. In the fall of 2019, we were able to add two more church staff positions – our first ever full time youth director, and our first ever full time worship director. We are currently waiting on a Religious Visa to bring Alejandro Gonzalez to our church staff as Worship and Spanish Outreach Pastor. The church is led by senior pastor, Caleb Befus, who grew up in Costa Rica as a missionary kid. Pat McGillicuddy is our teaching pastor (a full time Bible teacher at Grace Christian University), and Angie Martin is our communications coordinator. Cindy Carmichael handles our custodial duties.
