Our History
Ada Bible Church began in 1978 with the vision of eleven Christians who met at a home in Ada, led by the founding pastor, Joe Smith. Their dream was to bring Christ to southeast Grand Rapids, and help grow Christian people in their faith. By 1980 this new little church had grown enough to build a meeting-house on Alta Dale Avenue.
In 1983 Jeff Manion, with his new wife Chris, became the interim, then senior pastor. By 1989 the church, fluctuating at 50 people, decided to take a step of faith and sold the small church house. They moved Sunday services to a local high school and broke ground for a new building on three acres purchased on Ada Drive.
Approximately 100 people moved into the Ada Drive building in 1990, beginning a period of tremendous growth for Ada Bible Church. Soon three more church staff were hired and both the small group, youth ministries, and church office were launched. It was during the next eight years that ABC began to distinguish itself in dynamic ministry and small group ministry discipleship. Sunday morning grew to three services, with one service meeting off-campus at a high school near the church building.
In 1998, with an attendance of around 900, another step of faith was taken as ABC purchased 61 acres at the corner of Cascade Road and Quiggle Avenue to carry on the vision of reaching southeast Grand Rapids . The Ada Drive building was sold and once again services were moved to a local high school - Forest Hills Northern. Attendance numbers continued to grow, peaking at 1500 before the move to our new building on Cascade Road in July of 2000.
The first five years on Cascade Road have not only seen continued growth in numbers, but an overall expansion of small groups being an integral part of our church ministries, and growth of our entire ministry outreach. In 2002 we expanded our Sunday services to include an evening service at 6:00 P.M. In the winter of 2004 we added a video venue located behind the atrium called The Annex.
In September of 2005, Ada Bible Church once again expanded the facility God gave us to include two new video venues, children's classrooms, and new office space. Expanded parking and an additional entrance were added to provide a welcoming atmosphere for our guests. At the same time, our new video venues called The Studio and The Chapel opened for Sunday services and Discovery Village Uptown opened for grades K-5.
By God's grace, the vision of those 11 people who met at a house in Ada continues to this day. Our prayer is now to reach southeastern Kent County and beyond. We have partnered with churches in Ukraine, Africa, and China to bring Christ to a hurting and lost world. Yearly we send groups of ABC attenders to various places throughout North America to help others in need and be a witness of God's grace. Our hope and dream is to do even more.
Where do we desire to go from here? Our desire is to present Christ to anyone who will hear us and aid them in their journey toward God. We hope you will join us in completing the work God has called us to do.