Who We Are

We are people from different places, with different stories, who are being rooted in the truth of the gospel and changed by the power of the gospel in order to reflect the beauty of the gospel to each other, our city, university, the nations and generations to come.

While we are certainly a young church, we are not new in our beliefs and practices. We wholeheartedly embrace the historic Christian faith as it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and expressed in the ancient creeds of the universal church (e.g., the Apostles' and Nicene creeds). We are also committed to the rich heritage of the Protestant Reformation with its emphasis on God’s sovereignty and grace. A helpful summary of these views that we subscribe to can be found in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

In addition to these historical ties, Red Tree is connected to the church regionally and nationally as well. Nationally, we are a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). This connection provides us with partnership in mission, accountability, and support. We live out our ties regionally through our membership in the Great Lakes Presbytery, which includes every PCA church throughout Michigan and northern Indiana.

Why did we name our church “Red Tree?” It begins with the name Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor derived her name when the village founders connected a name to the trees. The two founders wives’ were both named Ann. The Latin word for tree is “arbor.” Thus, they landed on the name Ann Arbor.
  
Ann Arbor is appropriately nicknamed “Tree Town USA” since you would be hard pressed to find a city with greater foliage.
  
The prominence of trees in Ann Arbor is second only to the prominence of trees in the Bible. In fact, the Bible is framed, from beginning to end, by trees, with the most prominent 3rd tree right in the middle. The Bible opens with the tree from which Adam and Eve regretfully consumed the fruit and closes with the Tree of Life, to which the way will be opened for us, by grace, to partake.