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Holland, Michigan
Founded 1867
HISTORY
The Third Reformed Church was organized on September 9, 1867, under the leadership of Dr. Albertus C. Van Raalte, founder of the city of Holland, Michigan, and pastor of the First Reformed Church. Considering it necessary to have a Reformed Church in the "western" part of the city, he gave four lots as a site for a new church, and members of the First Reformed Church who lived west of Market Street (Central Avenue) became the nucleus of the new congregation. Although this new church was Holland's second Dutch-immigrant congregation affiliated with the Reformed Church, it was called "Third" Reformed Church because Hope Reformed Church, a non-immigrant English-speaking congregation, had been founded in 1862.
The first sanctuary of the congregation was burned in the fire that destroyed two-thirds of the city of Holland on October 9, 1871. While a second structure was in process of erection, its framework was demolished in a high wind on January 2, 1873. With the financial help of many donors in the East and the Middle West, the present structure was completed in November of 1874. This building underwent extensive restoration as part of the centennial celebration in 1967 and 1968.
THEOLOGY
Certain characteristics and attitudes have prevailed in the life and work of Third Church through the years. The congregation has developed an avid interest in both the foreign and the home mission endeavors of the Reformed Church in America. It has shared generously in a great number of benevolent program and, in particular, has supported faithfully the local educational institutions of the church, Hope College and Western Theological Seminary. Many members of the church have, as part of their Christian witness, assumed responsibilities in the political, educational, and business life of the city. Isaac Cappon, who served on the first consistory, was the first mayor of Holland in 1867 and the first President of the school board in 1874.
The congregation has remained theologically conservative in its faith along the lines of the Reformation theology of John Calvin. At the same time it has been especially broadminded in adapting new procedures and methods in church life and witness. Third Church was the first Dutch-immigrant church in the city to use the English language exclusively in its worship services.
What the congregation has been able to accomplish through the years has been due in large part to, its ministerial leadership. The ministers and associate ministers who have served Third Church are:
Dr. Jacob Vander Meulen, 1868-1871
Rev. Henry Utterwick, 1872-1880
Rev. Dirk Broek, 1880-1888
Dr. Henry E. Dosker, 1889-1894
Dr. Gerrit H. Dubbink, 1895-1904
Dr. Evert J. Blekkink, 1905-1912
Rev. Martin Flipse, 1913-1920
Rev. James M. Martin, 1921-1934
Rev. William Van't Hof, 1936-1945
Dr. Jacob J. Sessler, 1946-1949
Rev. Harold P. de Roo, 1948-1949
Rev. Christian H. Walvoord, 1950-1958
Rev. Jerry A. Veldman, 1955-1962
Rev. Russell W. Vande Bunte, 1959-1969
Rev. Mark Walvoord, 1967-1974
Rev. Robert J. Hoeksema, 1971-1978
Rev. John Paarlberg, 1976-1981
Rev. Kathy Jo Blaske, 1978-1988
Dr. Willis A. Jones, 1979-1986
Rev. Harold M. Delhagen, 1982-1986
Rev. Ronald M. Franklyn, 1986-1991
Dr. Ervin G. Roorda, 1987-1991
Dr. Dennis N. Voskuil, 1990-1992 (interim)
Dr. Steven S. Stam, 1992-2005
Rev. Kathryn L. Davelaar, 1993-1998
Rev. William Unzicker, 1997--
Rev. Sharon Nelson Arendshorst 1998-1999 (interim)
Rev. Kama Jongerius Zuidema 1999-
ARCHITECTURE
The nineteenth century witnessed a revival of Gothic architecture. Richard Upjohn completed the present Trinity Church on Wall Street in 1846. It was widely admired as the most handsome church in America and was widely imitated not only in stone, but in brick and wood as well.
Third Church is a handsome and aesthetically pleasing variant of this nineteenth-century Gothic known as carpenters' Gothic. Certain detailing in the interior columns and arches can be found in another famous church by Richard Upjohn, St. Paul's Church in Buffalo, New York, completed in 1851.
The restoration of Third Reformed Church in 1967 was occasioned by deteriorating foundations. Because of the determination of the congregation to preserve this church of historic and aesthetic value, the old foundations were removed, new foundations and a full basement were built, all structural members in need of attention were replaced, the exterior, including the entrances, were restored to their original appearance, and as much of the interior was restored as was practical: pillars, arches, ceiling structure, pews, and floors.
The memorial windows on both sides of the sanctuary were dedicated in 1946, replacing the earlier "art glass" windows of the nineteenth century, of which only the large north window in the back of the church remains. The rose window in the north wall was placed during the centennial restoration of 1967-68.
The liturgical furniture of the chancel is not original to the construction of 1874, but was placed there in 1952. The pulpit, table, chancel rail, reredos, and paneling were originally executed by Italian craftsmen for the St. Nicholas Collegiate Church of New York during the ministry of Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo. When the property of the St. Nicholas Church was sold by the Collegiate Corporation, the superb chancel furniture was offered to, and accepted by, Third Church under the leadership of the Rev. Christian H. Walvoord. The continued use of this magnificent furniture is all the more important in view of the personal history attached to it. While a student at Hope College, Joseph R. Sizoo attended Third Church. His eminently successful ministry was highlighted by a pastorate in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., where Robert Lincoln, son of the President, and his wife were members. Upon his acceptance of the call to the St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln, daughter-in-law of President Abraham Lincoln, wished to commemorate Dr. Sizoo's relationship with the Lincoln family with the gift of a new pulpit. It is this same pulpit which now serves the congregation of Third Reformed Church each Sunday.
WORSHIP
Third Reformed Church bears the marks of a variety of emphases in worship since its construction in 1874. Like most churches coming out of the Reformation, its primary emphasis is upon the hearing of the Word. As originally built, Third Church followed the typical nineteenth-century pattern of having a central pulpit mounted on a stage, behind which was the choir loft. The pipes of the organ filled the chancel arch. Since seating for the congregation was governed by the pragmatic consideration of how the greatest numbers could be seated as near the pulpit as possible, and since the pulpit was central, the pews were massed in front of the pulpit, eliminating the center aisle. The pews, placed in 1875, have been maintained in their original form and position. The numbers on the pew ends are a reminder of the days when most Protestant churches in America financed a large part of their budgets through the rental of pews. Families rented their pews for the year, and in return possessed veritable title to them. The custom was abandoned at the turn of the century because of the conviction that the church and its pews should be open to all.
With the acquisition of the liturgical furniture of the St. Nicholas Church, the disposition of worship was markedly changed. The choir was no longer tiered in full view of the congregation, and the minister no longer had a stage on which to perform. The minister did, however, receive a pulpit which by its size and the quality of its carving made it a dignified and imposing place from which to proclaim God's Word.
The lectern, essential to Episcopal worship, is largely superfluous in Reformed worship, except as a place for an assistant in the service, or for a lay reader.
Behind the table, against the rear wall, is a presbyter's bench. In the early church the elders, or presbyters, sat at one end of the worship room. Among them was the leading elder, or bishop, who taught, while together they served at the table. Thus it is fitting within our form of church order that the presbyter's bench be used both by the ministers and by the elders.
The table, which in a medieval Catholic setting was placed against the dossal cloth at the far wall, has been moved to a more suitable position for Reformed worship. It now stands as close as possible to the congregation, and the minister can lead much of the worship service from behind the table. This custom goes back to the earliest days of the church, and was practiced as well by John Calvin, who saw the table as a suitable place from which to worship because of the associations of the Lord's Supper with the mediating death of Christ. We, who are forgiven by God and accepted by Him for Christ's sake, have our worship accepted not because it is worthy, but through the mediation of Christ.
On the table is a cup given in 1873 and a flagon given in 1875. They are there to remind us of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. While most of the Reformation churches have never followed the wishes of their theological leaders in returning to the New Testament practice of a weekly celebration of the Supper, nonetheless it is hoped that these symbols may play some part in reminding us week by week of our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ.
The Robert Sipe organ, installed in the balcony in 1982 and dedicated on September 19 of that year, is the third organ in use by the church. It is a vital component of the service of worship at Third Church.
The life and work of Third Church are best summarized by its motto: To Know Christ and To Make Christ Known. Such was the inspiration behind the history and architecture of Third Church in the past and is the influence undergirding the worship, service, and outreach that continue to characterize Third Church in the present.
Donald J. Bruggink Elton J. Bruins - 1968; revised 1984, 1991, 1992, 1996, 2001