INTRODUCTION TO PRCA
OUR PASTOR
Pastor Erik Guichelaar was born and raised in rural Southwestern Ontario, Canada. He grew up in a faithful Christian home and was surrounded by the gospel from an early age.
After completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario and sensing the call to the ministry, he pursued theological training through the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary. During these years, he met his wife and closest friend, Cherith. Together, they have been blessed with six wonderful children.
Before coming to Zion Protestant Reformed Church, Pastor Erik served at Randolph Protestant Reformed Church in Randolph, Wisconsin (2013–2022), and at Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan (2022–2024). He joined the ministry of Zion at the very beginning of 2025.
Pastor Erik is very thankful to be part of a vibrant congregation committed to the truths of Scripture and the glory of God. He counts it a joy and a weighty privilege to serve the congregation and to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. Outside of studying and pastoring, Pastor Erik enjoys spending time with his family, running, and reading about history.
Zion Protestant Reformed Church was organized in 2016 and is part of the denomination of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America. It is “Calvinistic”, holding to all five points of Calvinism (TULIP). It maintains the absolute rule of God over all the universe – including this earth and over the affairs of men and angels. The church holds to the truth that man, after his fall into sin, is incapable of doing any good whatsoever in God’s eyes except God draws him and changes him according to His eternal plan (Eph. 1:4, John 6:37, John 6:44). The church teaches that salvation is wholly the work of the Sovereign God – it is of God’s grace or favor that one is delivered from sin and assured of eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Zion PRC holds two worship services each Sunday. The purpose of these services is not for the entertainment of those attending, but to worship and praise God by way of song (we sing versifications of the Psalms), prayer, and the preached Word. It holds to an infallible and inspired Scripture – and the preaching must be based upon and be an exposition of that Word.
The congregation is very much “family oriented”. In a time when this is receiving renewed emphasis, we have been practicing this through our history – but on Scriptural principles. Because of the teachings of Scripture that God establishes His relationship between Himself and His church (Gen. 17:7), and because He continues this relationship in the line of generations, several important things follow. Parents attend church services as families – parents with all of their children. Parents also support their own Christian School where the children are taught according to Scriptural principles and Biblical morals. Though this requires great financial sacrifice, the results of faithful training are clearly evident.
All this is not to say that this congregation is perfect. It is not. There is, however, the constant prayer that Christ’s great work on the cross may increasingly bear fruit in the lives of the members.
Visitors are always welcomed – an attempt is made to make them feel “at home” in the worship services. Additional printed literature (free) as well as recordings of the Sunday sermons are available. If you are concerned about your personal salvation, be sure to read Knowing the True God.
God is such a great and glorious God that He is worthy of praise all the days of our lives. God commands everyone to honor and worship Him. Worshiping God is the most important duty of man.
God’s great holiness demands that we worship Him as He has commanded in the Bible. We seek to obey and serve God, not to earn His favor or the favor of men, but to show our love and thankfulness for His gift of Jesus Christ.
We believe that the church exists for the glory of God in the world. We must be members of a faithful church in order to worship and serve God together with His people. We are commanded by the Lord Himself to seek unity so that we can preach the gospel and stand for the truth of God. We need the preaching of the Word of God to instruct us in the truth of God and to strengthen our faith. We cannot neglect the preaching without serious spiritual consequences for ourselves and for our families.
God commands that Sunday is the Lord’s Day, set apart from other days. It is a day in which we can particularly be devoted to His service. On this day we and our children gather twice for formal, public worship. We bring our children because we believe they are God’s heritage and we are called by God to instruct them in the history and doctrines of the Bible.
Our worship services are characterized by reverence and respect for God and His Word. The focal point is the lively preaching of God’s Word, which He uses to instruct us in the truth of salvation and to call us to constant repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. In this way God strengthens us, encourages us, and helps us to know Him better.