Why Change our Name?

On April 5, 2015, our church was born as Harvest Bible Chapel North Muskegon. Our church was planted by Harvest Spring Lake in cooperation with Harvest Bible Fellowship (HBF) in Chicago. Every church planted through HBF adopted the name “Harvest Bible Chapel” for the purpose of clarity and alignment. We are grateful for the foundational distinctives provided by HBF which were rooted in Scripture and a vertical focus on the glory of God. In the summer of 2017, Pastor James MacDonald, the founder of Harvest Bible Fellowship, resigned from his position as president and HBF was dissolved. Then, from 2017 to early 2019, Harvest Bible Chapel Chicago went through a number of difficult transitions in their leadership that revealed multiple issues in the way their church was led. Given their church’s influence, our shared name started to create confusion.

Although we mourned the loss of HBF and the subsequent struggles at Harvest Chicago, our elders and pastors came to the decision to change the name of our church. In addition, the process of changing our name gave us an opportunity to clarify our church’s unique identity and purpose. Since our church’s birth, God has been writing a story through His work in our church. And we believe the next chapter of our story is filled with opportunity and continued Gospel ministry as we fulfill our mission. Choosing a new name for our church allows us to avoid confusion and be identified by our own character, values, and impact.

On September 8, 2019, Harvest Bible Chapel North Muskegon announced it will be called by a new name . . . Christ Church.

Why Christ Church?

Our new name was chosen with great intentionality. We wanted our new name to clarify both our mission and our message.

Church

Jesus said,“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:8

The original Greek word for church is “ekklesia,” meaning “to call out of”. The church is the gathering of those called out by God. We are called out with a purpose and a mission: to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The church is made up of disciples following Christ who are going into the world to make disciples. We are on a mission individually as disciples and together as the church.

Christ

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. — 1 Corinthians 2:2

We landed on Christ because we wanted our church, in its name, to highlight the only name we want people to know: Christ. We want to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified. He is the cornerstone. We are baptized into His name. The Gospel is His story. We are called to live by faith and grace, in Christ, as a new creation. No other name is higher. As a church, we are rallying together to make Christ famous to everyone, everywhere, everyday.

Our Symbol

At the center of our symbol are the first two letters of Christ in Greek, the Chi (X) and the Rho (P). This symbol has represented the name of Christ for centuries and represents our commitment to keep Christ at the center of our lives and involved in everything we do. This is our identity: Looking back to what Christ has done and pressing forward into what Christ continues to do.