History

In the late summer of 2007 five families began meeting together. They did not come together initially to start a church but rather felt a strong calling to follow God's leading in their lives. They met every week, usually on a Sunday afternoon. The meetings were long but very productive. They spent much time in prayer, laughed together, cried together, fellowshipped together and then prayed again! As time went on, these five couples felt more and more certain that God was leading them to start a church in the Grant area. Their hope was that this new church would be a place where all would feel welcome and able to worship together in an atmosphere of joy and acceptance. These five families eventually became the first Council of the church.

There was much planning and paperwork that needed to be done to launch a new church and this was undertaken with great enthusiasm. In December of 2007 the Council voted on a name - New Life Fellowship Church - and a trip was made to Lansing, Michigan to file the name and articles of incorporation. The first Sunday service as New Life Fellowship Church was on January 6, 2008 and was held at the Grant Elementary School. Ken Stults was the preacher and 96 people worshipped together that Sunday. Various preachers were hired to lead worship over the course of the next several months.

During 2008 the by-laws were written and the council filed for the church EIN number. During the first months of 2009 the process for the church's tax exempt status was started, and has since been granted. By March 2009 New Life Fellowship Church was ready to accept members! In June a Board of Servants was elected that consisted of both some of the original Council and some new members. This board stepped into the leadership position of the church.

A search team was formed in the summer of 2009 to begin looking for a full-time pastor. In November 2009 the search team recommended Mike Connell to the Board of Servants and he was presented to the congregation as a candidate for pastor of New Life Fellowship Church. The church members voted to call Pastor Mike Connell and he accepted the call. Pastor Mike began working as the first pastor of New Life Fellowship Church on January 3, 2010, the second anniversary of the launch of the church.