Back to Family Story outcomes, S22

by Maddy McMaster

The holy grounds in this piece are not a cafe at Villanova, but Western Michigan, the destination of many Dutch immigrants in the United States. My 5th Great-Grandfather, Gijsbert Haan (1801 – 1874), immigrated with his wife and nine children from Rotterdam, Holland, to the US in 1847. They soon settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At this time, the Dutch immigrants were largely part of one church, the Dutch Reformed Church. This is now known as the Reformed Church of America (RCA). The leader of this church was Albertus van Raalte, who had immigrated earlier and was part of the group of immigrants that established Holland, Michigan, in 1846. Van Raalte advertised the area in a handbill that he sent back to the Netherlands. This resulted in many Dutch people immigrating and starting farms in the area.

There were a few people in Michigan who were unhappy with the direction of Van Raalte’s church. In 1857 they started a secession movement to create their own church that aligned with their theological beliefs. Paulus Den Bleyker, a wealthy immigrant, commented, “secession is also beginning to stir in Kalamazoo. Apparently the ‘Pope’ in Holland [Van Raalte] has never won the field entirely.” Their reasons for seceding were the RCA’s allowance of “open table” communion, lack of teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism, and the singing of hymns that were not based in Biblical psalms. They also claimed that although the RCA preached about God’s love, they did not teach about God’s justice, what they believed was the most important part. This new church became known as the True Dutch Reformed Church, which later changed its name to the Christian Reformed Church (CRC).

Gijsbert Haan was part of this secession movement, and was the prominent leader of it in Grand Rapids, already the second largest city in the state. In a letter to Den Bleyker he said, “May the Lord grant us to do battle for that faith which was once delivered to the Saints… In these dark days may He give us grace to plead on His promise, that when the enemy rises as a stream, the Spirit of the Lord will lift the banners against them.”

Although I do not necessarily agree with all of Haan’s theological positions, I find inspiration in this quote. He put all his hope and faith in the Lord, which is something that I can only aspire to. I hope to use what I learn from him to be a stronger person moving forward.