Welcome to

Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church

It’s a long name, we know, but it’s packed with meaning.

Grace

We don’t deserve our Creator’s blessing because we break his laws, and would never have desired God, but God chose us before time began and saved us forever.

Immanuel

Literally “God-with-us,” it’s one of the titles for Jesus Christ, and reminds us that our one God and Savior is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God the Son became a man like us, died, rose again, and has joined himself to his people forever.

Reformed

Shorthand for our faith that God is always in control and he always wins–which is the foundation of our hope. Since he is the Lord, all our worship of him has to be just as he commands it.

Baptist

Says that everyone who has turned from breaking God’s laws to trusting in God’s Son should be immersed in water as a sign of being connected to Jesus Christ and should live as an active member of his church.

Church

Another way of saying that we cannot do the Christian life alone; we need the help of a spiritual family with whom we can worship, grow, and reach out to the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.

For a fuller understanding of our beliefs, please download the 1689 London Baptist Confession.

1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith

Meet our Pastors

Jeff Johnson
Jeff JohnsonElder
Pastor Jeff, otherwise known as “Pastor JJ”, is a full-time vocational elder, and received his Master of Divinity from Reformed Baptist Seminary. Pastor JJ, grew up in South Carolina with the blessing of two loving parents and was saved at the age of 17. For a few years, he served as an associate pastor in a Southern Baptist Church in SC. Becoming convinced of Reformed theology at 20 years of age, he joined Covenant Reformed Baptist Church in Easley, SC. In November 2005, after several years of being a member, he was installed as a non-vocational elder. In January 2008, he and his wife made the transition from the temperate climate of the Carolinas to Grand Rapids and was ordained as a pastor for GIRBC, where he has faithfully served ever since. Pastor JJ is one of our primary preaching pastors and is also intimately involved with our counseling ministry and our substance abuse ministry.

Pastor Jeff and his wife, Lisa, have been married for 14 years with two children, Jacob and Savannah. Pastor JJ likes to play golf, fishing, and he LOVES a nice-sized serving of mac ‘n cheese.

Matt Vincent
Matt VincentElder
Pastor Matt is a part-time non-vocational elder. He was raised with the blessing and influence of Christian parents, and at the age of 21, he put his faith in Christ. In 1980, he graduated from Cedarville University with a BA in Bible, and a minor in music. For a short time, he also attended Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary. Pastor Matt has been an elder for 6 years so far and has the joy of leading the music during the Sunday worship, as well as overseeing the Sunday School hour.

Pastor Matt is very grateful for his full-time work with the US Postal Service for over 33 years. Starting out as a letter carrier, he eventually entered his current position as Postmaster. He and his wife Diane have been married for over 33 years and have been blessed with five children and four grandchildren. In his free time, you might find Pastor Matt enjoying time with his physical and spiritual family, tinkering with cars, working on his yard, or playing golf.

David Woolin
David WoolinElder
Pastor David is a part-time non-vocational elder. After completing his bachelors degree in business he worked in the software industry for a decade, before moving into Christian publishing with Evangelical Press. During this time he became an elder in a baptist church in a small but famous tourist village of Haworth in the north of England (google ‘The Bronte Family’, or ‘William Grimshaw’). In 2012 he and his wife Sarah, and their three children, Benjamin, Samuel, and Amy moved to Grand Rapids so that he could complete an MDiv at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He graduated in 2016 and was subsequently called to serve at Grace Immanuel.

As well as being a pastor, he works full time as Chief Executive Officer at Reformation Heritage Books, while assisting Dr. Joel Beeke with a variety of projects. He enjoys football (soccer), lemon desserts, Indian food, and proper English tea.

John VonDoloski
John VonDoloskiElder
Pastor John is the husband of Jessica and father of 12 incredible children. Both John and Jessica are from MI and have been serving at Grace Immanuel since the beginning of 2021. Their family spent twelve years in Oregon pastoring two churches and starting and serving as the Executive Director of two charter schools. John is a graduate of Central Michigan University with a degree in Finance, a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies from Reformed Baptist Seminary, and is a certified biblical counselor through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).

Pastor John has a love for the church, missions, leadership development, discipleship, pastoral ministry, counseling and preaching. Their family enjoys the outdoors, sports, coffee, and a good home renovation project.

Recent Sermons

SERVICE TIMES

Sunday

9:30 am – Morning Worship

11:00 am – Morning Worship

5:30 pm – Evening Worship

Wednesday

7:00 pm – Evening Prayer Meeting*

*5th Wednesday of month, prayer meeting is held the following Sunday evening in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper