Who We Are

We are the Oak Harbor Christian Reformed Church, a small-town, family-sized congregation in the Oak Harbor community on beautiful Whidbey Island, Washington.

Going way back, the church was established in 1902 and has been faithfully serving the Oak Harbor community ever since! From founding the local Christian school in 1938, to serving the homeless community through partnering with the work of the Whidbey Homeless Coalition over the past few years; OHCRC has been faithful in living out the message of Jesus. We’re committed to keeping that legacy into our future.

Our heart as a church for our community is to live out the love of Jesus towards one another and most importantly in how we serve others. To know more about where we stand on faith, keep reading. For more on OHCRC’s history check out our story.

Denominationally, we are a Christian Reformed Church (CRC), part of the CRCNA. As a denomination, our joint mission is as follows:

We gather to praise God, listen to him, and respond. We nurture each other in faith and obedience to Christ. We love and care for one another as God's people. We commit ourselves to serve and to tell others about Jesus. We pursue God's justice and peace in every area of life.

Learn more about our denominational background and confessions here.

Kingdom Priorities

On a more local level, Oak Harbor Christian Reformed Church's mission and values all come from what the Bible has to say about the Kingdom of God. Our mission is to action that reveals God to the world, and displays the love, work, sweat, and tears of Jesus. To love and serve his good world following his example of denying ourselves and picking up our cross. We believe the church is called to these actions of redeemed, image-bearing humans for the sake of the gospel of the Kingdom. This mission will reveal who Jesus is to ourselves and others. And in knowing Jesus, we continually discover how to do church properly. We learn from the Bible that what makes churches work is an intimate understanding of their kingdom priorities. 

God’s kingdom grows and expands in response to how its people share the good news of its light to the nations. We grow as a body, we grow as individual believers, we grow as a church- when we ourselves walk in the light of the good news! So we value:

  • every human being as made in the image of God

  • community as a reflection of the unity of the triune God; thus, we value the diversity of God's family as an expression of God's image in human beings

  • scripture as a faithful revelation of God and his heart for his world

  • interpretation of scripture that is consistent with the message of the good news of God's Kingdom

  • faithfulness to our call as priests (1 Peter 2:9), shining the cruciform light of God’s love in our actions and decisions

  • feeding the hungry and thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the prisoner, protecting and advocating for the helpless, leadership through service

  • the fruit of the spirit as the evidence of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers

  • the love of God as his hope for the world and living out this love in sacrificial service for it and one another without conditions or restrictions

  • the continuing work of the Holy Spirit both in the individual believer and in the Church- ecclesia semper reformanda est - the church is always reforming.