Where We Live
Montana … Big Sky Country

Bozeman is located in southwestern Montana in a high mountain valley. At 5,100 feet in elevation we are surrounded by mountains, and just 90 miles north of Yellowstone, our nation’s first national park.
 
We have a resident population of about 35,000 people.  As the home of Montana State University we also host a student population of approximately 11,500.  If you include the surrounding area, the population of Bozeman jumps to about 67,000. 
 
Bozeman is a friendly mix of the urban and rural.  The backbone of the Gallatin Valley continues to be its rural heritage.  The draw of our local landscape and MSU help to attract the trends and amenities of a smaller urban setting.  We do have a local symphony, opera, college sports, and a thriving arts community. 
 
If you enjoy the beauty of God’s creation then this is an ideal setting.  Bozeman is surrounded by blue ribbon trout streams and five beautiful mountain ranges, each filled with any opportunity you may seek for camping, hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, or just enjoying the surrounding beauty.  Our summers are filled with big sunny skies.  Temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s are the norm, with a couple of weeks that will creep up into the 90’s.
 
It does get cold here during the winter, however, so be prepared to layer up.  Although we typically experience at least one or two cold weeks in the -20’s, we are often rejuvenated with clear, sunny skies and winter temperatures that average between 30 and 40 degrees.  Many locals often head to one of three local ski areas to enjoy our winter wonderland, all within a one hour drive.

Our church community is supported by four Christian Reformed congregations within the valley. A great network of many other multi-denominational churches exists that support each other in multiple community outreach projects.  The four CRC churches together help to support a fully accredited, K-12 Christian school with bus service throughout the valley. 

We All Feel That Bozeman Is A Great Place To Live and Raise A Family. 

Bozeman Christian Reformed Church
Our Church Family

Our church offers warm fellowship to its own membership and also to its guests. Our average Sunday morning worship service has an attendance of approximately 105 people. In addition, a large percentage of our members are involved in the church’s activities beyond just the Sunday morning worship service.

We have 60 families represented, with 125 active confessing and 24 baptized members.

All ages are represented, with 26% under the age of 24, 34% between the ages of 25 and 49, and 40% above the age of 50. Our adults lean heavily toward occupations in the trades (28%), but also serve in business (11%), as homemakers (11%), in professional roles (10%), and in agriculture (6%).

Ministry Activities

Sunday

Sunday morning is kicked off with an adult prayer time at 9:15 am and the sounds of children singing songs and learning more about their Savior during the Sunday School time from 9:00 am until 9:50.  This year the high school students are helping to teach the younger students and are able to contribute to their church community in a very personal way. 

The morning worship service starts at 10:00 AM with some wonderful praise songs accompanied by drums, a keyboard, and a couple of guitars.  The children typically come forward for a children’s message that is given by one of the church members.  It is often a message of Jesus’ love that helps the kids to relate to the adults message.  You will usually find that the adults are listening just as intently, if not more, than the kids.  
 
You will see a variety of members doing their part to help out every Sunday morning.  There are greeters, ushers, sound and media people, nursery volunteers, and Sunday School teachers. You will typically see a whole bunch of people just milling around the lobby with smiling faces, catching up with one another and welcoming any new faces.
 
After the service you will find coffee, juice, cookies, and good fellowship.  The adults visit and discuss while the children run rampant downstairs.  The children’s population and camaraderie is a current blessing and brings much continued hope for the future of God’s church.
 
Sunday evening offers a small group meeting given at one of the leaders houses.  As of late we are pleased to have a local Presbyterian congregation utilize our building for Sunday evening worship.  A few of our members have also taken advantage of this time to further their Bible studies and to fellowship with others they might not normally get to visit with.
 
All in all, Sunday is a busy day filled with praise, worship, and learning, as well as rest, peace, and fellowship with God’s people.

Weekly Ministry Meeting Times

Sundays:

LIZARDS meet:  This is our High School Youth Group.  It stands for Living In  Zion As Real DiscipleS.

Mondays:

4th Monday of each month:  Local chapter of “Right to Life” meets.

Tuesdays:

1st Tuesday of each month: Council meets in the basement

2nd Tuesday of each month: Ministry Planning Group meets

3rd Tuesday of each month:  no scheduled meeting 

4th Tuesday of each month: Elders and Deacons meet separately

Friendship Class meets:  Two 6 weeks sessions--one in the fall and one after Christmas.  It is a Bible study for the mentally disabled in the Gallatin Valley, sponsored by the Gallatin Valley Diaconate.

Wednesdays:

G.E.M.S and Cadets meet: 6:30- 8:00 pm during the school months.

ALIENS  meet: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month during the school months. ALIENS is our middle school youth group.  It stands for Adolescence Living In Eager New Service.

Thursdays:

“Love In The Name Of Christ” linen closet is distributed from our church: weekly- as needed- 11:00am - 2:00pm.

Celebrate Recovery: Weekly- Meal served at 6:00 pm (provided by members of our church) - Meeting at 7:00.  Celebrate Recovery is a ministry to the community to help those who are suffering with any type of hurt, hang-up, or habit.

Praise Team and Media – Rehearsal for the Sunday morning worship service.

Friday and Saturday: Nothing scheduled.

Bozeman CRC:   Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Yesterday:

Bozeman Christian Reformed Church was organized in 1945 as a daughter church of the Manhattan Christian Reformed Church.  Although the church was started by Christian Reformed people for Christian Reformed people, the congregation soon developed a vision for outreach to the Bozeman community.

We see these early years as a time of preparation, of laying a foundation for the ministry of the church.  We now have a strong core of believers committed to Christ and to our church and the expanding of Christ’s kingdom.  We adopted our church’s motto about 15 years ago which is “Moving Forward – Following Jesus”.

Today:

The church is located in an established residential area of Bozeman.  It has served us well over the years but we have recognized the need to upgrade the facilities.  After studying our situation and options for several years, we are ready to move forward and pursue selling our current facilities and building a new one.  We are stepping forward in faith that God will open the doors that need opening and close the doors that need closing.  We look to Him for our direction.

It is our desire to reach out to the lost in the immediate area and beyond.  This desire has brought us to the decision to call our current pastor, Randy Van Osdol, to a church plant in the Gallatin Valley.  We look forward to the ministry he will bring to the lost who are not comfortable with the organized church.  We will continue to reach out from the Bozeman CRC to those that God puts in our path.

We have worked hard over the years to make our church a safe and welcoming place for visitors, guests, and seekers.  Our church is a place where they are warmly welcomed and given the opportunity to be involved in the life of the church.  Small groups are available to help incorporate them in the life of the church.

Our worship style is contemporary.  Our praise team is a very committed group of musicians that lead us both vocally and with instruments.  They incorporate various instruments including keyboard, guitars, drums, percussion, cello, and woodwinds.  We have a new and vibrate media team.  We use multi-media every week to enhance the worship time.  We display the words for the praise team as well as the hymns that are sung.  We put the message outline and the scriptures used during the message on the screens to help the audience follow along.  With this technology we are able to show audio and video clips of mission opportunities and things that are happening in the church.

We have a new and exciting website: www.bozemanchurch.com, where you can hear past sermons, check the church calendar, learn more about our church programs, and belief statements.

Tomorrow:

We are excited about the direction Christ is leading our church as we follow Him into the future.  We envision our continuing missions to be…

• Outreach:  To encourage and equip one another to share the Good News so our neighbors will be brought to Christ.

• Education:  To nurture and grow our members through education and the preaching of God’s Word.

• Care-Fellowship:  To minister to the spiritual, emotional, social and physical needs of our church family.

We sense specific ministry opportunities in several areas.  Some of the areas that we are excited about improving and implementing include:

• Media Outreach:  Continue to employ and improve on our use of audio and video equipment for the purpose of outreach and invitation.  Also continue to improve and utilize the church website, www.bozemanchurch.com, as a tool for reaching out to our local community. 

• Worship Opportunities:  We would like to develop a second praise team as a means of keeping our praise time current, purposeful, and fresh.  We are also excited about the joys and challenges associated with having called our current pastor to start a church plant in our own community. 

• Youth and Young Adults:  We would like to work at making our youth ministries strong and vibrant, in such a way that the retention rate of high school graduates would be noticeably improved.

• Small Groups:  Continue to promote the positive results of being involved in a small group.  We look forward to starting shorter term small group Bible studies, as a way to encourage involvement and promote community.

• Facilities:  Continue to move forward in the process of selling our current facilities and looking for new options to relocate and build a multi-purpose, warm and welcoming facility.