By 2024, the Great Lakes City Classis has over 35 churches and 11 new church plants.  We have churches in Michigan and Ohio.

The classis originally was called the Classis of Grand River, which was organized in 1869 with six churches.

In 1923 the classis was re-organized and its boundaries were realigned. Now called the Classis of Grand Rapids, it consisted of twenty-three churches. (Twelve were received from the former Classis of Grand River and eleven from the former Classis of Muskegon.)

In 1954 the Classis of Grand Rapids was divided into the Classes of North and South Grand Rapids, with Wealthy Street as the dividing line. The Classis of South Grand Rapids had 6,281 members in eighteen churches, including three churches in Ontario. The Canadian churches were transferred in 1962 to the newly organized Classis of Ontario.

In July 2014, several churches from the former Lake Erie Classis joined South Grand Rapids Classis.

In October 2014, our name was changed to Great Lakes City Classis to better describe the geography of our churches.