Our Committee
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Pastor Doug Bylsma | Co-Chairman
Pastor Doug began serving on the CHEX Committee in 2022. He has direct church planting experience, having been the church planter of Living Hope OPC in Beamsville, which particularized in 2019. Pastor Doug received his degree in theology from Haddington House, a Presbyterian Seminary in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He was ordained to gospel ministry in March of 2011. He and his wife, Kristi, have six children. Being a resident of Niagara his whole life, Pastor Doug continues to be involved in the community. In the past he has served as a volunteer for Youth for Christ, the “Upper Deck Center” in Vineland. He has also been involved in youth ministry in Beamsville with the Convos Youth Zone.
Pastor Jeff DeBoer | Co-Chairman
Jeff De Boer serves as the lead pastor of Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Ada, Michigan. With 26 years in pastoral ministry and the privilege of helping plant six churches, Jeff has a deep love for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. What brings him the greatest joy is seeing people come to faith in the Savior—a joy that echoes the rejoicing of heaven over one sinner who repents. A graduate of Mid-America Reformed Seminary, Jeff has also studied biblical leadership at Covenant Theological Seminary and attended the University of Iowa College of Law. He longs to see people come to know Christ and find a spiritual home in healthy, confessional Presbyterian churches where God’s Word is faithfully preached and believers grow together in faith, love, and grace
Pastor Michael Schout
Pastor Mike Schout was born and raised in Zeeland and now serves as the senior pastor of Grace Fellowship OPC. After graduating from Zeeland High School in 1999, he attended Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA before sensing the call to pastoral ministry. He attended Westminster Seminary California, during which time he met his best friend and wife, Naomi. Since then, the Lord has taken them to Ripon, CA where Mike served as an associate pastor at Zion United Reformed Church and to Alto, MI where he served as senior pastor of Grace United Reformed Church for ten years before being called as a church planter of Harvest OPC (the mother church of Grace Fellowship) in October 2018.
John Frith, Ruling Elder
John and family joined the OPC in California, almost 40 years ago and began attending Oakland Hills in 1998. He became an elder in 2011 and is currently serving as the Clerk of Session. He and his wife Christine have three boys and 5 grandchildren. John works in the automotive consulting field and enjoys spending time with his family and at their cabin in Gaylord.
David Raih, Ruling Elder
David Raih was blessed to be raised by Christian parents in an Orthodox Presbyterian Church. God was faithful to His covenantal promises and David confessed Christ as his Savior and Lord while in high school. He later married his lovely wife Ruth, who was the daughter of an OPC pastor. David is a nurse by career and a ruling elder at Spencer Mills OPC in Gowen, Michigan. Spencer Mills was the first church and mission work of the OPC in the state of Michigan, begun in the 1960s. David Raih have been a member of the CHEX committee over 25 years. During that time, he has seen God bless the Orthodox Presbyterian denomination in growing the number of churches in Michigan from five to twenty, as well as in the establishment of the OPC Presbytery of Michigan & Ontario. David looks forward to continuing to serve God and to see how He uses the OPC to build His kingdom in this part of the world.
Greg Smith, Ruling Elder | CHEX Treasurer
Greg Smith, his wife Karin, and their two sons joined Christ Covenant Church in Midland, Michigan in 2017. Greg became a ruling elder and clerk of session in 2021. He is a professor of ancient Mediterranean history at Central Michigan University as well as chairperson of the Department of History, World Languages, and Cultures. While he has an abiding interest in ancient languages, early church history, and the Roman empire, he is convinced that God's kingdom and church are infinitely more important, and that his identity as a child of God and follower of Christ is the one that matters most.