Our Beliefs
We believe:
In one God, creator and sustainer of all things, sovereign, omnipotent, infinitely perfect, and eternally co-existing in three persons –Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Gen 1:1, Col 1:16-18, Matt 28:19, Eph 1:11
The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant and trustworthy Word of God. They are the complete and finished revelation of His will for the salvation of human beings and are the final authority for all matters about which they speak. Dt 4:2, 2 Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:20-21, Rev 22:17-19
That human nature derives from two historical persons, created in God’s image as male and female. Sex and gender are inseparable and are biologically determined by God at the moment of conception. These two distinct, immutable, and complementary genders together reflect the unique image of God as He expressed it in each individual. The historical persons, Adam and Eve, were created perfect, but they sinned, plunging themselves and all humanity into sin, guilt, suffering, and death. Gen 1:26-27, Gen 3:1-7, Rom 3:10-23
Biblical marriage is uniting one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as Scripture teaches. God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. Gen 2:18-25, 1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5, Heb 13:4
That Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God who lived in human flesh, at the same time fully man and fully God, experiencing the trials and temptations of humanity, yet was without sin. Jn 1:1-4; Col 1:16; Is 7:14, 9:6-7; Phil 2:7, Heb 1:3
There is a personal devil, Satan, who is still working in the world to destroy souls, and that he and all his angels and all who do not receive Christ as their personal Savior will eternally perish in the lake of fire. 1 Peter 5:8, Rev 20:14-15
That the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and his bodily resurrection provide the only ground for justification, forgiveness, and salvation for all who believe. Only those who trust in Him alone are true children of God, born of the Holy Spirit, true members of the church, and will spend eternity with Christ. 1 Cor 15:3-4, 1 Pet 3:18, Heb 10:12-13
That through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ defeated Satan and all spiritual forces of evil. All authority has been given to Him, and He is seated at the right hand of God the Father far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named. Heb 1:1-4, Eph 1:20-23, Col 2:9-10, Col 2:15
The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Jesus’s Great Commission. Every person who is born of the Spirit is baptized into Christ as a part of His body and is currently seated with Him. He has provided us with spiritual armor by which we can live free from the bondage of sin and oppression. Eph 1:22, 2:6, 2:19-22, 6:10-17; Heb 12:23; Jn 17:11, 20-23
That the Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration and renewal for believers in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes the presence of Jesus Christ real in believers and comforts, guides, convicts, and enables believers to live in ways that honor and glorify God. Titus 3:5-6, Rom 8:9, Acts 1:8, Gal 5:16
Our Mission
Setting captives free to live as who they were created to be in Christ.
(In doing so, we equip individuals and churches to bring God’s healing and wholeness to hurting people worldwide.)
Our Vision
Bringing the hurting to the Healer.
Our History
Dr. Jeff Stam had the same kinds of spiritual battles in western Michigan that he had while working in Central America for eight years. In response, he and his wife, Denise, opened their home to people who needed freedom ministry. What started out as a quiet and personal issue quickly showed a bigger need. Jeff left his job as managing editor at World Literature Ministries in November 1995 to start Set Free Ministries. His Bible study group and a clear sense of God’s leading helped him do this.
The church elders took care of the spiritual needs of the ministry when it started at Friendship Chapel in Jenison. The mission was clear from the beginning. God’s Word, prayer, and love can free people from spiritual and emotional bondage. Jeff taught local churches how to do freedom ministry on their own using the Steps to Freedom in Christ model he learned from Dr. Neil Anderson. Demand rose quickly, and doors opened more quickly than expected.
As the project grew, the advisory team that helped Jeff became an executive board, and Set Free Ministries became a real nonprofit. Friendship Chapel’s first space quickly became too small, so they moved to offices above Love INC in Hudsonville. Jeff was called back to pastoral ministry in April 2002. Dean Vander Mey took over as executive director, leaving behind the packaging business he had run for 23 years. Set Free continued to follow God’s lead with steady faithfulness under Dean’s leadership. In June 2006, the ministry moved to a bigger building at 36th Street and Eastern Avenue, where it would stay for the next 19 years.
Set Free kept growing in both reach and impact while it was at 36th Street. The ministry grew to the second floor of the building in 2019, which effectively doubled its size. By 2024, there were more than 100 active volunteers and a growing need for ministry. The need for a larger, permanent home became evident. Set Free bought the old OVD Insurance building on 44th Street, even though the lease didn’t end until 2025. OVD leased back the facility until their new building was ready and Set Free’s lease ended in Dec 2025.
The 26,000-square-foot Set Free Ministry Center is now the center of other ministries that share the same faith, values, and calling. It started with one office, one phone, and a simple obedience to God. Now it is a global ministry that serves more than 10,000 people every day. Set Free has stayed focused on the mission God gave it through every season. Setting people free through the truth of Jesus Christ.
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