About Us

who we are

We are a new church on the NW side of Grand Rapids committed to helping the next generation fall in love with Jesus.

When Jesus was baptized, beloved was the identity the Father spoke over him. Our hope and prayer is that God would use our church in people's lives to see heaven opened to them and to hear God's voice pronouncing God's heart for them: beloved.

Lead Pastor: Austin Presnell

  • From 2018-2024, Austin served as The Pastor of Local and Spiritual Engagement at The Local Church in Grand Rapids. He played a huge role in facilitating the ways we love and serve our city and creating pathways to help deepen our relationship with God. Austin enjoys learning, stories, teaching, and mobilizing others. He loves the way of Jesus and is passionate about showcasing the beauty of Christ to others in our City, and inviting others to do the same. Before serving at The Local Church, Austin spent time working with churches across the city with the Luis Palau Association as part of the CityFest movement. Austin earned his undergrad degree in Ministry and Bible and Theology from Huntington University.

    Austin lives near downtown Grand Rapids with his wife Olivia and son Emmaus. They love going to the beach, exploring downtown and delicious meals with friends. Austin is a movie and music buff who also loves a good book. Originally from Indianapolis, he’s a huge basketball fan and is fanatic about the Indiana Pacers. Also while growing up in Indianapolis, Austin may have been part of a bible quizzing team…that won nationals…when he was 12…(although rumor has it that he was the weak link).

    Contact him at austin@belovedgr.org


Director of Worship Culture: Freddy Hewitt

  • Freddy is passionate about seeing the next generation grow passionate about following Jesus. He was born in England and moved to the US when he was young, and graduated from Grand Valley with degrees in Marketing and Music, and he has worked and volunteered in the worship ministry space for over 10 years at numerous different churches around the country.

    Freddy and his wife Elise in Grand Rapids with their dog Roa. Together, they like to drink copious amounts of coffee while watching the world go by from their window. In his free time, you can find Freddy playing video games, reading a book, or hiking across the country.

    Contact him at freddy@belovedgr.org


Social Media and Communications Admin: Mya Maloley


Kids Ministry Coordinator: Deanna Marcotte

What do we believe?

  • We believe there is one divine being who has existed eternally. He exists and reveals Himself to man in three distinct, equally divine persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the beginning of time, God created the entire universe and all its creatures. He continues to exercise His supreme power to sustain His creation. Throughout history, He has expressed His desire to be our God and to have a personal, eternal relationship with us.

  • We believe that Jesus is the eternal divine Son of God. He chose voluntarily to be made in human likeness and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Although He lived a sinless life, He allowed Himself to be executed by crucifixion. However, as prophesied, He rose from the dead three days after His execution, securing salvation for all who will believe.

  • The third person of God is the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit dwells in every Christ-follower. His indwelling presence gives spiritual life to believers and distinguishes them as children of God. The Holy Spirit guides Christ-followers in applying God’s principles and equips Christ-followers with talents and abilities for the purpose of building up God’s kingdom. The Spirit is an advocate for us, helping us, defending us and empowering us.

  • God created mankind to live in relationship with Him. However, the first man and woman were deceived by Satan. They rebelled and chose to be wrongfully independent from God. We all fail to live up to the perfect standard God desires and are open to Satan’s deception. Unless a relationship is re-established with Him, our failure to please God results in condemnation under God’s judgment and would cause us to spend eternity in hell. Furthermore, there is nothing we can do on our own (we can’t be “good enough” or do “more good deeds than bad deeds”) to re-establish our relationship with God.

  • Our inability to re-establish our relationship with God leaves us dependent on God’s mercy. God graciously provided the means to reconcile this relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. Our relationship is re-established when we make a commitment to accept Jesus as God’s son and our Savior and Lord. We demonstrate our commitment privately by faith (acting upon our belief that God has the power to save us) and repentance (turning back to God and depending on Him to direct our lives). At the same time, we publicly express our commitment by confessing our acceptance of God’s salvation and submitting ourselves in Christian baptism.

  • Once our relationship is re-established with God, we naturally want to spend time with Him and know Him better. The Holy Spirit enlightens us as we read God’s Word (the Bible), as we communicate with Him in prayer, and as we enter into loving relationships (Biblical community) with other Christ-followers. In this way, we begin to know God more intimately. The process of spiritual development motivates us to seek ways to serve God and prepares us to spend eternity in fellowship with Him.

  • The word church literally means assembly or gathering. It is the gathering of Christ-followers around Jesus and was created by God for our benefit and His glory! The Bible speaks of the church as Christ’s body. It compares it to a living organism, where Jesus is the head. He gives each Christ-follower special functions to perform for the good of the body. To remain healthy, the body’s members must work together. Each part contributes to the growth and maturity of the body. For this reason, it is important for Christ-followers to regularly gather together for the purpose of celebration. Celebration in this way enables believers to serve one another and neighbors in their sphere of influence.

  • God divinely inspired human authors to write the sixty-six books of the Bible. He communicated through these writers the values, principles, and ideals which please Him and are in our best interests. We believe the Bible is entirely accurate, complete, and reliable. It can be trusted and it reveals who God is to us and how we can be reconciled to Him through Jesus.