Ryan and Megan McVicar moved their family to Ann Arbor, near the Univ. of Michigan in August 2022. Having planted New City in Royal Oak, MI ten years ago, Ryan was ready to take on the challenge of church planting again. They began volunteering at Pioneer High School and in short order they are making a kingdom impact — doing gospel ministry and leading people to Christ. Red Tree held its first preview service in April 2023 with 120 people. The plant is gaining momentum towards launching in fall 2023!

Steve and Mandy Van Noort moved their family from Lynden, WA to Sterling Heights more than a year ago. Steve is a relentless evangelist and one of the hardest workers I know. And Mandy is a powerhouse of love and hospitality. They have opened their home week after week with much fruitful ministry taking place, including conversions and attracting many unchurched. They launched in Feb. 2023, at Stevenson High School Performing Arts Center with 60 people, and they have been steadily gaining momentum since!

Jerry and Katherine Riendeau moved their family from Harrisonburg, VA to West Dearborn, MI in June 2022. With years of experience with CRU, they are both evangelistic powerhouses and super hospitable. They are doing Bible studies on local campuses, evangelizing and leading people to faith in Christ, while beginning to gather their core team to help launch a faithful, gospel- centered community church in the very center of the largest concentration of Muslims anywhere in the world outside the Middle East.

Shiv Muthukumar and Namhui Kim moved their family from Seattle, WA to plant a church in the most international community in the entire Detroit area — Novi, a community that is home to people from 40 different nations, 25% of whom are from South and East Asian. Shiv and Namhui are first-generation immigrants from India and South Korea, respectively, with hearts to reach and gather the lost from all nations. They are currently networking and gathering, and expect to launch in the fi rst quarter of 2024.

Micah and Laura Jelinek coming out of a broadly evangelical mega-church, have taken up the call to plant in the Clarkston/ Waterford area. Micah is a gifted academic with a child-like faith. He has raised 80% of the necessary funding and expects to complete it by May 2023. Micah and Laura will be attending PCA’s church planter assessment in May after which Micah will work on getting ordained with the PCA. Alongside this they will move to the area and begin the work of evangelism and volunteering with an aim of gathering a group to launch a church.