New City Fellowship Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) is a welcoming church that emphasizes the universal and profound comfort found in Jesus Christ. The church is on the corner of Burton and Martin and about ten minutes west from Calvin College. New City caters to Calvin students who may not have transportation by providing a van that normally leaves from the dorms at 9:50 a.m. for its 10 a.m. service.

The average service begins with a mix of hymns and praise songs led by either a worship band or the choir. Following the songs, Pastor Mika Edmondson, a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary, reads aloud a confessional text of the OPC, such as the Heidelberg Catechism, and explains its historical circumstances.

The center of the service is the reading of the Bible. Pastor Edmondson begins by asking if the congregation is “ready for the gospel,” to which the congregants respond with enthusiastic cheers.

Pastor Edmondson’s sermons are heavily based on the exegesis of a biblical text, but he always uses the text as a jumping-off point to talk about the life-changing good news of the gospel.

The congregants participate enthusiastically during worship and the sermon by clapping, cheering and praying out loud. This participation shows New City’s commitment to cultivating active faith and worship.

New City Fellowship is a unique congregation in the OPC, a generally socially conservative denomination, emphasizing the importance of unity in the church by cultivating multiculturalism and inclusiveness. A Spanish translation of the liturgy is included in the bulletin each week and Spanish language Bibles are distributed along the pews.

The diversity of the congregants and their hospitality can make anyone to feel welcome in the church no matter their ethnic, racial or religious background.