March 21 Today in OPC History

On March 21, 1997, New Life Fellowship Chapel in Holland, Michigan, was organized as a particular congregation in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The previous year, the Rev. Martin Novak had attended a OPC Committee on Home Mission's Readiness for Church Planting seminar in Philadelphia. With a goal of planting a church in Holland, Michigan, Mr. Novak moved his family there and put an ad in the local newspaper. Two families responded, and together they started worshiping on Sunday evenings as a mission work of the Presbytery of the Midwest.

The group continued to grow and moved into an office building before they started meeting in the Rose Park Christian Elementary School, where member Sally Van Hemert served as principal. New Life Fellowship would experience slow but steady growth in the years that followed under Pastor Novak's ministry, which has continued to the present day.

Picture: Martin and Bonnie Novak