For as long as Pastor Gabriel Hartfield can remember, he had a deep passion for helping people encounter the love of God in real and transformative ways. Over the years, that passion took shape through starting and leading multiple ministries across several local college campuses—creating spaces where students could explore faith, build community, and experience God’s presence together.
After college ministry, Pastor Gabriel served as the Young Adults Pastor at Crossroads Bible Church for three years. During that season, Pastor Gabriel and his wife, Montanna, began to see a growing need in Grand Rapids—a generation of young adults, young professionals, and families who were lonely, searching, and disconnected from the church. They developed a deep burden for those who feel unseen, unheard, or uncertain about faith.
As his pastoral residency at Crossroads came to a close, several leaders approached Pastor Gabriel—including pastors from Crossroads, Grace Community Church, and others—encouraging him to consider church planting. Through prayer, discernment, and conversation, he sensed that God was indeed leading him and his family to step out in faith and begin something new.
Pastor Gabriel joined Send Network, a church-planting organization that has trained and equipped him over the past year. In Spring 2025, he officially received the green light to launch—and Visible Church was born.
The name Visible Church comes from a moment that reshaped Pastor Gabriel's entire philosophy of ministry.
During a Bible study in 1 John 4, the discussion was centered around how much the chapter talks about God’s love—but verse 12 suddenly stood out to him:
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us."
Pastor Gabriel recalls blurting out, “What does seeing God have to do with love?”—and then realizing that John was saying something profound: when Christians love one another, the invisible God becomes visible.
Later, he came across a quote by theologian John Stott, who wrote,
"When Christians love one another, it is the most convincing evidence of the reality of God...for love is what makes the invisible God visible."
That vision has shaped everything since. At Visible Church, we believe that through authentic love, hospitality, and community, people can see and experience the reality of God. That’s the heart behind the name Visible Church—to make the invisible God visible through the love of His people.