This article is about the Dutch Reformed Protestants who emigrated to North America and took their faith and churches with them. They came in three waves: the first was during the 1840s after the Secession of 1834; the second was during the 1890s, after a second break with the Dutch state church took place; and the third was after the second world war, until about 1955. As these Dutch Protestants emigrated, they started new churches, joined others, or brought their churches to the new country. May this article be a teaser to read the books in the Sources section below, as this article contains only a few highlights of this fascinating part of history.

Secession, Persecution, and Emigration

Since the beginning of the eighteenth century, rationalism had been spreading all over Europe. Rationalism trusted in human reason rather than in God. Many doctrines from the Bible were rejected, and faith was severely undermined. The Reformed Church in the Netherlands became the state church in 1795. King Willem I became the head of the church in 1816 and signed a new church order. From this point on the state church was called the Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, and it underwent several detrimental developments. Among the many changes, the most important concerned the doctrinal standard. It did not have to conform to God’s Word anymore, which created room for liberal and unbiblical teachings, especially about the essentials like election, atonement and total depravity.

After 1810, more and more orthodox Christians published tracts and protested the change. This situation came to a head in 1834, when Hendrik de Cock was removed from his ministry in Ulrum, Groningen. De Cock received support from several other ministers, including Hendrik P. Scholte (1805–1866) and Albertus van Raalte (1811–1876). The protesters were either removed from office or never admitted to the state church, and so a new group of churches, called the Christian Separated Churches, came into existence. In 1869, they took the name Christian Reformed Churches (Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken). Confusingly, the Dutch words Hervormd (as in the name of the state church, Hervormde Kerk) and Gereformeerd both translate to “Reformed” in English.

The state did its best to fight the existence of these new churches. Because of a Napoleonic law, gatherings of more than twenty people were prohibited, and Sunday services were forcefully disrupted, even when they were held outdoors. Ministers had to lodge soldiers in their homes and were often roughly treated. They had to pay fines, and some were even were imprisoned. Popular opinion was against them, so the congregants had to deal with mob violence and harassment.

The economic circumstances in the Netherlands of the 1840s were depressing, with economic stagnation, poor harvests, and high national debt. High taxes, the failure of 80 percent of the potato harvest in 1845, and harvest failures in subsequent years caused many more people to become poor and extra susceptible to cholera and other contagious diseases. Politics seemed paralyzed, the elites stayed firmly in control, and there was no prospect of climbing the economic ladder.

In that time it became a popular idea to emigrate to America, where there would be plenty of land, freedom of religion, and no elites to rule people. The leaders of the Secession formed societies of interested people, and each leader left with his own group around 1846. Van Raalte settled in West Michigan; Scholte started the town of Pella in Iowa; Cornelius vander Meulen came with a group from the province of Zeeland and settled in the Holland, Michigan, area. A group from Friesland came under the leadership of Martin Ypma. An Overijssel group was led by Seine Bolks. Immigrants from Groningen founded a village east of the Holland settlement, while a group from the German border region of Bentheim christened their village Graafschap. The Dutch also settled many other places, but this article will highlight only the most influential leaders, namely Van Raalte and Scholte.

Hendrik P. Scholte

Scholte left the Netherlands later than did Van Raalte, because of the illness of his wife. His group also traveled more luxuriously on a steamship. Scholte’s wife was used to living in a cultured environment and was not eager to go to America. She was extremely disappointed when she had to live a pioneer’s life in a small log cabin in Pella, so her husband built her a nice home as soon as he could.

Scholte had arranged with Van Raalte that they would meet in St. Louis and from there find land in the Mississippi delta. But Van Raalte changed the plan, and Scholte was not willing to agree to it. He considered the forests in West Michigan unsuitable for agriculture and the swampy area unhealthy. Instead, he went to St. Louis and traveled from there until he found an area with fertile land (in Iowa), which he bought. This would give him trouble later when he was selling it to the settlers.

Scholte himself was not keen on the church order, not even being one of the secessionists. He started his own church, the Christian Church of Pella, as soon as he arrived in Pella. He wanted to order his church like the apostolic church in the New Testament. This church order had ten articles based on the principles of life depicted in 1 Peter 2:9 (English Standard Version): “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The church was blessed, and for a long time Scholte remained a powerful personality in Pella. In 1854, he worked with local Baptists to found Central University. He fulfilled many necessary administrative roles and worked hard to promote the spiritual and material well-being of the people.

But opposition also came. Many people were not happy that Scholte stressed the importance of learning English and using it exclusively and as soon as possible. The perception was that he wished to Americanize everything. When Scholte continued to transact land sales in a way that many believed was not in the best interest of the citizens, his church suspended his right to preach, which resulted in his resignation. With a small group of followers he started another little church. Meanwhile, the original congregation invited Van Raalte to come help them join the Reformed Church in America (RCA).

On August 25, 1868, Scholte died of a heart attack. His widow soon married a man who could give her a life of more exposure to cultural events.

Albertus C. Van Raalte

Van Raalte and his group came to the United States in the fall of 1846. The voyage by a three-masted ship took fifty-five days. These emigres were welcomed by Rev. Isaac N. Wyckoff of the church of Albany, New York. The support of people like Wyckoff was instrumental in Van Raalte later wanting to join the RCA.

As agreed upon, Van Raalte and his group went on their way to St. Louis, but they couldn’t go further than Detroit because of the winter. From there Van Raalte investigated West Michigan, which was densely forested but seemed to him still a good place to settle. The land was cheap, which was an advantage for the poor settlers, and wood would be useful for building and heating. The books listed at the end of this article elaborate how terrible those first years of this group were. They faced nearly impossible conditions. The Dutch didn’t know how to fell a tree and build shelter out of wood. Sickness also ran rampant.

Van Raalte worked alongside the people and at times shared their desperation. The harsh circumstances deepened their faith, and their faith sustained them. Despite all the sadness, they experienced spiritual joy. From the start they organized their church according to the ways of the secessionists. The first of these pioneer congregations was in the Holland colony, the second in Vriesland, the third in Zeeland, and the fourth in Overisel. By 1848, there were enough congregations to form Classis Holland. The aim was to form a denomination that was free from government interference and patterned after the mother church. Unfortunately, this group also brought along from the old country many of their doctrinal disputes.

In 1848, Classis Holland received an invitation from the RCA to send a delegate to the General Synod of the RCA. The invitation could not be accepted due to the terrible circumstances, so Wyckoff came to visit the Dutch settlement to assure them of the friendly interest of his denomination. His offer of assistance was welcome, and the settlers were ready to listen to his proposal for closer ties with the RCA. Wyckoff sensed the colonists’ fear of being subjected to human (state or denominational) authority again and assured them that they were free to leave the denomination any time. On June 5, 1850, Classis Holland was accepted into the RCA.

Van Raalte probably knew about the differences between the seceders and their American brothers and sisters but chose to overlook them out of his desire for peace and his gratitude toward them. But early on there were already signs of concern.

The Christian Reformed Church

Among the settlers who came later was a weaver named Gysbert de Haan, who spent a couple years in the east before coming to West Michigan. He arrived after the years of the worst hardships. He was also more aware of things that were going on in the RCA churches and was unhappy about Classis Holland having joined that denomination. Groups of other unhappy people formed, especially in Grand Rapids.

   

Rev. Koene Van den Bosch arrived in the middle of the disputes. He was willing to take action, as the disputes were never ending, and finally four congregations submitted letters of secession from the RCA on April 8, u1857. Their main complaints were congregations submitted letters of secession from the RCA on April 8, 1857. Their main complaints were

• The RCA’s use of eight hundred hymns, instead of Psalms only

• Open communion

• Not enough catechetical preaching as required by the church order

• Membership in the Freemasons among those within the RCA

For six years Rev. Van den Bosch was the only minister of these four churches. They called their new church True Holland Reformed Church, a name that was changed to (Holland) Christian Reformed Church twenty years later, when the mother church in the Netherlands recognized its true daughter in America.

These congregants started their own school in a parsonage in Graafschap. Rev. D. J. Van der Werp was the only teacher for twelve years, until his death in 1876. Calvin Seminary, now Calvin University, had its official dies natalis (birthdate) on March 15, 1876, in a building at Williams Street in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The only professor at first was Rev. Geert Boer.

The Second Wave

In the old country there were congregations that didn’t leave the state church in the Secession, but they wanted to change it from within. The man who led this reform movement was Dr. Abraham Kuyper. He not only was a pastor and theologian, but also he was prime minister of the Netherlands (1901–1905) and started the Free University in Amsterdam.

Kuyper became the leader of the Doleantie movement, a name that refers to the sadness many felt when their efforts to reform the Dutch Reformed Church did not succeed. Eventually the Doleantie churches and the Secession churches agreed on a merger, which took place on June 17, 1892.

From the start there were objections from the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken (Christian Reformed Church). Many of Kuyper’s followers left the Netherlands and came to the United States. They joined the Christian Reformed Church, which resulted in great growth for the church.

The Third Wave

The third wave of Dutch immigrants came to North America after the Second World War. Years of war and German occupation had brought a poor economy with too little work. Also, the housing shortage was severe. Many people were interested in moving to a more promising country. The United States passed laws decreasing the number of immigrants each year, but the eleven provinces of the Dominion of Canada had much open land left for settlers. Many of the families that emigrated were from the church of the 1834 seceders. Upon arrival they were much helped and supported by their brothers by blood and faith, both in Canada and in the United States.

In America, the giant melting pot, the Dutch mixed slowly. For many years they hoped they would not need to mix at all. That is why several church groups would continue to call their ministers from the old country. On June 9, 1967, Rev. Arie Elshout sailed to America with his wife and children. They were heading for a small congregation of Dutch immigrants in Artesia, a suburb of Los Angeles. His son, Rev. Bartel Elshout, was kind enough to write the following paragraphs about it.

The Netherlands Reformed Congregations of North America, as well as the Free Reformed churches of North America, consisted (and still do) almost exclusively of Dutch immigrants and their descendants. The immigrants of the churches in the United States came primarily at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, whereas most of the immigrants in the Canadian churches came immediately following World War II (1945–1955).

Consequently, during the first seventy-five years of the twentieth century there continued to be strong ties with the Netherlands. Both federations continue to maintain full correspondence relationships with sister denominations in the Netherlands. Until today, this means that the NRC and FRC can and do extend calls to ministers serving in these sister denominations. Especially the older generations in these federations wish to retain and preserve the ethnic context of their churches. During the earlier part of the twentieth century, these churches were Dutch islands in the midst of North American culture. It was therefore perfectly natural for them to extend a call to ministers in the Netherlands, and to be accepting of their (initial) limited proficiency in the English language. It was quite common that they would also conduct Dutch worship services. However, that practice has almost completely subsided.

A Final Word

In closing I’d like to quote the final paragraph of Rev. Cornelius Pronk’s book:

The question is not whether we have a well-worked-out covenant view but whether we have embraced Christ by grace alone through faith alone. Only in this way will we reach the purpose of the covenant of redemption and of the covenant of grace, which is to glorify our triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and to enjoy Him forever.

Sources

Krabbendam, Hans. Freedom on the Horizon: Dutch Immigration to America, 1840–1940. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.

Pronk, Cornelius. A Goodly Heritage: The Secession of 1834 and Its Impact on Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and North America. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2019.

van Halsema, Thea B. “ . . . I Will Build My Church.” Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids International Publications, 1956.

van Toor, Adriaan F. A Word in Season: The Life and Ministry of Rev. Arie Elshout. Translated by Bartel Elshout. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2019.

Swierenga, Robert P. Articles at www.swierenga.com/pubs.html.

Annemarieke Ryskamp was born and raised in the Netherlands. She graduated with a master’s degree in Dutch Language and Literature from Utrecht University and worked for the Dutch l’Abri and as a secondary school teacher at United World College in Singapore. She attends Dutton United Reformed Church (MI) where she leads various Bible study groups and mentor groups. She has two sons who are currently in graduate studies.