As part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, Georgetown Christian Reformed Church is a caring and supportive congregation of more than 600 members that includes a good mix of young children, teens, young couples, singles, middle-aged and seniors. Regular Sunday services are at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. We’ve been in Georgetown since 1957 and are located at 11611 Trafalgar Road.
You are welcome to worship with us and experience the warmth of a Christ-centered community.
Our purpose is to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into the lives of people by preaching and teaching the Bible without compromise in such a way that they will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord of their lives.
We are a church that has its roots in the Reformation. The teachings of 16th century reformer John Calvin, who struggled valiantly to return Christianity to its Biblical roots, have been a strong influence in the formation of our doctrinal beliefs. Today the church is considered to be neither fundamentalist nor mainstream liberal.
Nearly a thousand churches are part of the CRC network in North America. The denomination was formed by Dutch settlers in Michigan in 1857. Since then it has grown to be a multi-ethnic denomination which, in Canada, includes more than 78,000 members from B.C. to Nova Scotia.
GCRC is currently served by two pastors, Rev. Gary van Leeuwen, lead pastor, and Rev. Ted Bootsma, associate pastor, and marked its 50th anniversary in 2007. Pastor van Leeuwen says that while the Georgetown church has been “a source of blessing” over the years for many people within the congregation and the wider community, the 50th anniversary should be viewed as both a joyous and humbling occasion. He adds, “Anniversaries are times to look back, to reflect on God’s faithfulness. They are also times to look forward. Our church will continue to impact this community.”
Rev. Gary van Leeuwen, is lead pastor at GCRC and came to the church in June 2006 from a church in Athens, northeast of Kingston, Ont. He has an interesting background in teaching English in Mexico, mission work in the Philippines and as a chaplain at the Seafarers Centre in Montreal. He wasn't ordained until he was 32 having earlier taken engineering at the University of Waterloo for two years before feeling "God's call for ministry.''
Rev. Ted Bootsma, is associate pastor having been ordained in June, 2004. He's a former Christian school principal, university English teacher and missionary teacher in Papua New Guinea with his wife Corrie. He works in a 50 per cent time post with his chief focus on pastoral ministry.
GCRC runs an extensive range of Christian education ministries, Cadets boys club and Gems girls club programs for youth, has special services for groups of mentally and physically challenged adults in their 30s to 70s and has run community programs such as Just Me and the Kids, a 10-week course that's designed to help single parents and children going through the trauma of separation and divorce. A very successful week long Vacation Bible School program for neighbourhood children was held during the summer. On Thanksgiving Monday, the church deacons host a free sit-down dinner for the lonely and hungry in Halton Hills. Many church members are also engaged in volunteer work with organizations such as the Georgetown Hospital, the Red Cross, the local Wastewise reuse centre, cancer support agencies, the Georgetown District Christian School and Habitat for Humanity. The church supports several missionaries and at least every two years sends work teams to help in poverty-stricken or disaster-stricken areas of the U.S., Caribbean or Central America.
Some space in the church basement is rented to the private Georgetown Day Care and Nursery School. The church is used for rehearsals and occasionally concerts too by the renowned Georgetown Children's Chorus under Dale Wood, partly because of its excellent acoustics and sound system within the enlarged sanctuary.
Management of the church is under an elected 21-member council of elders and deacons. One third of council changes each year.
After the Sunday morning service fair trade coffee, that's bought at a premium price to help developing world farmers make a better living, is served in the Fellowship Hall to all who wish to partake and enjoy a few minutes of social company. Juice is also available for children as they leave Sunday school. The morning service usually lasts about an hour. Sunday School begins about 15 minutes into the service.