History of AACRC
History of AACRC
The Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church was organized in 1955. From the beginning there was a desire to be a witness to the university community, particularly to the many internationals here. When land was purchased it was intentionally located to be accessible to the university community — and, thus, today we are still located on Broadway adjacent to the North Campus of the University of Michigan. The congregation has always been international and ecumenical in character, adding a unique flavor to the ministries of our church. Many of our members came to Ann Arbor because of the University. Many have stayed, but, many more have left for a variety of work opportunities across the country and around the world. Thus, we have always been blessed with diverse resources for our ministries to draw upon.
The sanctuary and a few classrooms were constructed in 1962, with expansions added in 1967 and 1992. In 1990, the congregation provided space on church property to a group of young families for a Christian school. Modular classrooms purchased by the school with a connecting hallway to the church that provided shared rooms for the classes of both the church and the school. In 2003 the Ann Arbor Christian School moved off site at which time the church purchased the modulars from the school. In 2013, when the modular reached the end of their life cycle, we decided to build a new two-story addition to replace those classrooms and to renovate the existing educational wing of the church. Construction started in 2014 and was completed in 2015.
In 1991 we began a second morning worship service to offer a more contemporary style of worship as well as make more space available for a growing number of worshipers. This allowed us to accommodate more worshipers without expanding the sanctuary and has also given us the opportunity to use a diverse set of talents in two Sunday morning worship services. In the Fall of 2013, Sunday evening services were discontinued in favor of gathering for periodic special event services and programs on Sunday evenings. More recently we have transitioned to one worship service at 10:30am, with an eclectic mix of instrumentation and music.
Twelve pastors have served the congregation. Pastor Noah Livingston, Pastor of Worship Arts and Digital Presence, and Pastor Kristen Livingston, Pastor of Congregational Care and Connection, both joined us in early 2019. Pastor Mike Hoogeboom, Pastor of Mission and Discipleship, joined us in October 2022.