By the sheer grace of God, we are able to say that God is truly present and powerfully at work in our midst. He is doing what he promised to do - making us more like Jesus! 

Thank you for your willingness to consider supporting this ministry. Our current location is at capacity. With our current rate of growth through new members, we have prayerfully considered expansion along with church planting in order to contain what God seems to be leading us to in the future. 

Please consider how you might offer your support whether it be through prayer, giving, or participating in fundraisers.

In His Service | Pastor Dale Van Dyke

Timeline 

FAQS

Why does Harvest think we should get bigger?  

Our desire is not to be a bigger church. Our desire is to be a healthy church, which we believe entails that we must be clear on and engaged in the mission that God has given to his church. After surveying the key biblical passages concerning the mission of God’s people, Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert conclude: “The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship the Lord and obey his commands now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father."    

• B. Kuiper quote: “The church must maintain a proper balance between the task to the inside and its task to the outside. But this does not mean that it should do a little of each. It rather means that it must do much of both. As proper balance is essential for architectural beauty, so this particular balance will greatly enhance the glory of Christ’s church. Each of these tasks is glorious; combined in proper balance they are supremely glorious” (162).

What are specific priorities that Harvest’s Session would like to see addressed in our ministry facility?  

In the summer of 2018, AMDG, the architectural firm we’ve been working with, met with Harvest’s various ministry teams to discuss what physical features would best facilitate gospel ministry that Harvest is engaged in and aspires to. Based on the information AMDG assembled and subsequent discussions had by the Session, the following items were identified as our priorities and preferences for a ministry facility: 

• Worship Space: easily accessible from outside of the building, vibrant, warm, inviting, open; worship space close to fellowship space; a capacity for more people; space that creates a sense of expectancy, height (maybe not lower than what we have in current location), acoustics
• Fellowship Space: multiple types of fellowship space; fellowship space close to worship center and adjacent to kitchen facility; a kitchen that can accommodate (both in size and function) larger congregational events
• Classroom Space: 16-18 classrooms, 3 nurseries
• Accessibility within facility: accessible for those who have mobility requirements, bathrooms up to code for those with disabilities
• Office Space: dedicated counseling spaces that are easily accessible from outside and discreet
• Other important issues: easy and natural flow, parking space for more people, exterior aesthetics, at least 54,000 SF

At the beginning of 2021, we began to reevaluate our masterplan in light of current ministry goals and ministry growth. As we seek to plant more churches, grow in evangelism, and train members in discipleship, it became clear that we need to have a building that can best facilitate these things. This led to the updated masterplan of 2021.

[1] DeYoung and Gilbert, What is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission, 62. 

[2] https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/12/ranking_michigan_counties_by_a.html