OUR STORY

Here is a brief history of New Life Church:

THE EARLY YEARS

June 1979 — Pastors Jerry Holleman & Keith Tanis, in partnership with Home Missions, begin New Life Church. Worship begins in a school.
October 1980 — With financial help from Home Missions, ten acres of land are purchased on F.M. 2920 and a formal dedication takes place.
November 1981 — The church is officially “organized” as a self-sustaining church, and the first elders and deacons are installed.
April, 1983 — Keith Tanis takes a call to a church in Ferrysburg, Michigan, and Jerry Holleman remains as pastor of New Life Church.
July 1984 — Construction of the church building is completed, and worship begins in the new facility.

THE MATURING YEARS

February 1986 — New Life Church daughters Hope Church in Clear Lake, the first of four churches started in the next five years.
May 1993 — Pastor Holleman accepts a position with Home Missions as Regional Director for west-central United States.
July 1994 — The congregation calls seminarian Bob Lyzenga to become the next pastor of New Life Church, and he accepts the call.
June 2001 — Construction of the church fellowship hall and classroom building is completed.
July 2002 — Pastor Bob Lyzenga accepts a call to Sunrise Christian Reformed Church in Lafayette, Indiana.

THE MISSIONAL YEARS

March 2003 —John Medendorp accepts the call to be the next pastor.
August 2004 — New Life Community Christian School begins.
September 2005 — Table Fellowships begin.
July 2006 — Old Town Spring Heights Task Force begins.
June 2008 — Sister Church with New Life Church in Kathmandu, Nepal.
August 2008 — Pastor John Medendorp leaves to further his education.
July 2009 — Pastor Andy Sytsma becomes our Pastor and moves from New Jersey.
November 2011 — Casa de Oracion begins in Conroe, the first of six churches daughtered in the next six years.
September 2012 — Faithwalking and other missional discipleship training begin.
June 2013 — Houston SERVE begins, running for three consecutive summers.
September 2017 — Hurricane Harvey hits. New Life joins in relief efforts.
September 2019 — New Life Church celebrates 40 years of God's faithfulness.

Our story is part of our larger denominational story. New Life Church is affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). Here are some highlights:

New Life Church has as its foundation the Christian Reformed Church, a 170-year-old Protestant denomination that emphasizes the centrality of the Bible and the all-powerful care of God.
The word Reformed means that the church is aligned with that historic branch of Christianity called Presbyterian in Scotland, and Reformed in continental Europe. Both draw on the teachings of John Calvin.
Reformed churches flourished in the Netherlands and Germany. In the early 1800s, some of these Dutch Reformed people moved to the United States, and in 1857 they started the CRC.
The denomination has nearly 1,000 churches in North America. Many Christians are familiar with Reformed writers R.C. Sproul, Tim Keller, J.I. Packer, and John Piper. Reformed theology is popular today.
Today, the CRC is made up of many peoples: Korean, Hispanic, Navajo, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Anglo, and African American. We are praying that God will ignite a missional movement in the CRC and beyond.