Quasquicentennial Gram #2 March / April 2011

AN ANNIVERSARY GIFT - 1906-1916

The years of 1906 to 1908 passed by unevent-fully under the service of Reverend Marinus Broekstra. In 1908, he stepped down as a pastor, and ten years later would become the pastor of First Reformed Church of Chicago—the very same church that helped birth First Reformed Church of Englewood back in 1886—during the years of 1918-1929.

Reverend Siebe Nettinga became First Reformed Church of Englewood’s fifth pastor in 1909. His command of both the Eng-lish and Dutch languages made his preaching in either language extremely effective, and his faithful ministry to the sick provided a blessing to many people.

It was during this period that the building was bursting at the seams with the crowds that at-tended the Sunday services. It rapidly became evident that the current facility was inadequate.

Since a second addition to the wooden structure was not practical, it was decided to build a larger facility on the same location. In 1910, the building that served the congregation faithfully for 24 years was torn down. A modern brick edifice soon rose from the ground and was officially dedicated in 1911. The construction cost was $28,2401. A cornerstone was placed on the left of the stairway leading to the front door. On it were these words: “EErstE GErEformEErdE GEmEEntE van EnGlEwood, GEorGaniEsEErd auG. 26 1886, GEbouwd in 1911.” Translated from the Dutch, it read, “First Reformed Church of Englewood, Orga-nized on August 26, 1886, Built in 1911.”

During the construction, the congregation temporarily relocated and worshipped in the local Neighborhood Hall. When the building was finished, it was to the great joy of the congregation because not only did they have a brand-new building, they were also celebrating their 25th anniversary as a church!

In 1912, a mere year after shepherding the church through the daunting logistics of meeting at a temporary location and moving in a new building, Rev. Nettinga accepted a job offer at Western Theo-logical Seminary in Holland, Michigan, joining former First Reformed pastor Reverend Henry Hospers (1900-1905) on staff there. Having preachers of such high talents gave First Reformed a reputation for intellectual vigor and style.

In that same year, Reverend Anthony Van Duine stepped in the va-cant position and accepted the call as pastor. Known for his practical

1 This is about $640,000 in today’s dollars.

preaching, he would serve until 1915 when he accepted a call to Passaic, New Jersey. Although his tenure was brief, he left a lasting impact when his wife organized the Women’s Mis-sionary Society in the summer of 1915. Initially called the Ladies Aid, it was later renamed to Women’s Missionary and Aid Society. The chief object of this ministry was to support mission-ary work. This ministry would last for decades becoming known much later as the Women of Calvary and would branch out to serve other areas of the church.

An architect’s concept drawing of the new brick building for the First Reformed Church of Englewood circa 1910

The First Reformed Church of Englewood circa 1911.Note some of the differences from the concept drawing!

THE GREAT WAR - 1916-1926

First Reformed’s seventh pastor was Reverend John Lumkes who began his pastorate in 1916. He had the unenviable position of serving in a time of great upheaval, sickness and transition.

In 1914, Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot dead by a Serbian as-sassin. This event directly led to the Great War, later known as World War I, one month later. Although the United States, under the presi-dency of Woodrow Wilson, tried to stay out of

the War, it eventually joined when it declared war against Germany on April 6, 1917 after German provocation. Germany, on top of sink-ing ships with their U-boats, had invited to Mexico to ally with it in a war against the United States, promising it the territories Mexico lost to the U.S. such as Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

This declaration of war led forty young men from the church to answer the call to service and, if necessary, sacrifice their lives for their country. During this time until the end of the War in 1919, Rev. Lumkes prayed diligently for all of the servicemen. All forty men re-turned home safely.

On top of praying for the men who had gone to war, Rev. Lumkes also had to deal with the consequences of the worldwide influenza pandemic that struck in 1918. By 1920, over 50 million people were dead. Over 500,000 perished in the U.S. alone. Some people from the congregation and the community passed away, unfortunately giving Rev. Lumkes a number of funerals to preside over. The flu even took him down for many months as well.

After the War, the process of Americanization accelerated, pres-suring the Englewood Dutch Hollanders to re-think the role of the English language in the church, especially with so many of their children growing up learning to speak only English. One of Rev. Lumkes’ greatest concerns as a pastor laid with the young people, which wasn’t always appreciated by the congregation. Due to this overarching conversation, a year of transition began in 1921 after it was decided it was necessary to have a regular English service. As a

result, the church established a permanent English service, schedul-ing it directly after the Dutch service in the morning.

Educated in the Netherlands, Rev. Lumkes excelled as a preacher and was known to give eloquent sermons. He ministered faithfully to the sick and elderly. However, he struggled to preach in the Eng-lish language since it wasn’t his primary tongue. Because of this, he felt it would be best for the congregation for him to accept a call elsewhere so that someone who was more fluent in the English lan-guage might take charge of the church. He stepped down as the pas-tor in 1921 when he accepted a call to the First Reformed Church of Boyden, Iowa.

The open position wouldn’t be filled immedi-ately. Instead it was vacant for two years until 1923 when a bilingual pastor named Reverend Jacob Althuis stepped in the role. Strong and energetic, this evangelistic pastor, known for holding many revival meetings, moved the morning English service to the afternoon and kept the Dutch service in the prime morning slot. He would go on to be the longest serv-ing pastor, and third-longest overall, First Re-formed had seen at this point in her history, completing his pastorate after twelve years, finally stepping down in 1935. Prior to his service, six years was the longest period a pastor had ever served.

At a congregational meeting on May 12, 1925 it was decided to build a new home for the janitor. A modern bungalow was built on the north side of the church at 6147 S. Peoria Street for Mr. and Mrs. Dyk-stra who had been serving as caretakers since 1917.

A new building. A global conflict that demanded the service of forty of its young men. A worldwide sickness that claimed many in the prime of their lives. A struggle between preserving heritage and the assimilation that comes with belonging to a different country. It is as-tounding what stressful events, both external and internal, the First Reformed Church of Englewood walked through in the next twenty years of its existence. Instead of falling apart, it ended up bursting at the seams. Instead of closing itself off to one language, it opened it-self to new possibilities. Even though the church was now forty years of age, it was only getting started.

NEXT ISSUE - MAY / JUNE 20111926-1946

A BIG CELEBRATION, ANOTHER WAR AND MORE...

The First Reformed Church of Englewood circa 1936.Note that the steeple has disappeared (we don’t know why),

the tree in front has been cut down and bushes planted, and new front signage has been added by the steps.

Rev. Althuis (center) with some of the youth from the church. This picture was probably taken circa early 1930s.