“To know Christ and make Christ known, with heart, head, and hands.” These are lived words. Words that find their roots in John and Acts. Words of relationship and action.
They’re ministry words, discipleship words. No mere motto for countless churches around the world, these words shape the heart and work of the Church. They are the words central to the mission of Third Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. They embody our vision and our values. They fill our hearts, frame our thinking, and compel us to action.

Learn more about Third Church:

The Vision and Values of Third Reformed Church
Our mission, “To know Christ and to make Christ known with heart, head, and hands,” drives our vision and values. “To know Christ” implies an inward journey of worship and discipleship, expressed both individually and corporately. “To make Christ known” implies an outward journey expressed through acts of justice and active engagement in outreach in our community and around the world.
We are a thoughtful and joy-filled community of committed Christ-followers, diverse in gifts, passions, and perspectives, held together by the Holy Spirit in our shared love for God and love for neighbor. In seeking to discern the Gospel’s call and listen to the needs of our community, we are increasingly becoming a bilingual congregation that looks to remove the dividing lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, language, age, and ability that tear at our community and nation.
As people of the Word, we believe God continues to “reform” us, and we believe God calls, shapes, and prepares us to live out our faith in the following ways.
As people of the Word, we believe God continues to “reform” us, and we believe God calls, shapes, and prepares us to live out our faith in the following ways.

We are a congregation being transformed by the Holy Spirit to do the redeeming work God calls us to. We acknowledge that we face the complex task of honoring our past 150 years while still moving forward into the future in hope and through grace. We recognize that things are changing around the world and know that while we remain steadfast in our commitment to intentionally express God’s love and care for all people and all creation, the context in which we do that work may be different. But our dedication is, and will be, to know Christ and to make Christ known with heart, head, and hands.


A HISTORIC CONGREGATION
Third Reformed Church was organized on September 9, 1867, under the leadership of Dr. Albertus C. VanRaalte, founder of the city of Holland, Michigan, and pastor of the First Reformed Church. Although this new church was Holland’s second Dutch-immigrant congregation affiliated with the Reformed Church, it was called “Third” Reformed Church because Hope Reformed Church, a non-immigrant English-speaking congregation, had been founded in 1862.
Certain characteristics and attitudes have prevailed in the life and work of Third Church through the years. The congregation has developed an avid interest in both the foreign and the home mission endeavors of the Reformed Church in America. It has participated in a great number of benevolent programs, and, in particular, has faithfully supported the local educational institutions of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary. Many members of the church have assumed responsibilities in the political, educational, and business life of the city. Isaac Cappon, who served on the first consistory, was the first mayor of Holland in 1867 and the first president of the school board in 1874.
The congregation is rooted in the Reformed tradition, tracing our roots back to the theology of John Calvin. In recent decades it has lived with an ecumenical ethos, working extensively with faith-based and community partners. Reformed and continuously reforming, Third Church is always adopting new procedures and methods in church life and witness. This congregation, for example, was the first Dutch immigrant church in the city to use English exclusively in its worship services and is now seeking to serve its neighborhood with services in English and in Spanish. Having solid roots yet continually reforming is a key element in our DNA.
The congregation is rooted in the Reformed tradition, tracing our roots back to the theology of John Calvin. In recent decades it has lived with an ecumenical ethos, working extensively with faith-based and community partners. Reformed and continuously reforming, Third Church is always adopting new procedures and methods in church life and witness. This congregation, for example, was the first Dutch immigrant church in the city to use English exclusively in its worship services and is now seeking to serve its neighborhood with services in English and in Spanish. Having solid roots yet continually reforming is a key element in our DNA.