Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/78

Contributor - Martin Devos

Title - Highlights of the History of Canadian Work of the R.C.A. in Canada

Topic - Church in Canada

The post-war history of the R.C.A. in Canada is less than 30 years old. I have been invited to write about this.

My wife and I arrived as a newly-married couple, during March of 1949. One of the first things we did, after settling in Burlington, Ontario, was to look around for a place to worship. Like many other immigrants, we could not speak English. We were told that there were meetings of Dutch immigrants, in churches under the auspices of the Christian Reformed Church in Hamilton, Ontario, and also that meetings were sporadically scheduled for immigrants of 'Nederlands Hervormd' heritage. We decided to try the latter, since we both were members of the 'Hervormde Kerk' in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, we had been advised to seek contact with the United Church in Canada. However, we found it difficult to do so, on account of the language barrier. So, when we were given the opportunity to worship with people in the Dutch language, we gratefully accepted that opportunity.

These were the days of roving preachers, such as Rev. Leon de Bruin, who was sent by the 'Nederlands Hervormde Kerk' to help establish Dutch immigrants and make further contact with the United Churches. Another preacher was Rev. Baptist, who was himself a member of a Baptist church, but being a Hollander and a minister, he was asked to preach to our group in Hamilton. Most of our meetings were held in a small church on Park Street, and it didn't take very long to fill it. More and more immigrants began to flock in to listen and worship in their own language.

To most of the immigrants, the Reformed Church in America was unknown. It was mainly through the efforts of the Dunnink brothers, in Waterdown, that we were made aware of this Church Denomination in the United States. The brothers had made contact with officials of the Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and asked them to consider coming over into Canada to assist the immigrants of the'Hervormde Kerk'. The Reformed Church responded, and opportunities were examined. They looked over the field and decided to send us some help in the form of preachers who could give a message in the Dutch language. Soon afterwards, the Reverend Harri Zegerius was appointed Director of the Canadian work of the R.C.A. among the Dutch immigrants. Other Reformed Church ministers were asked to come to Canada, and minister to the spiritual needs of the Dutch.

In the meantime, the Christian Reformed Church already had become seriously interested in '-he Dutch immigrants, and established an organization which was well prepared to receive and care for the immigrants. The Reformed Church had to start from scratch, and in the beginning was even quite reluctant to come in on a permanent basis. We were told that they would help us get established, with the idea in mind that as soon as the immigrants had become climaticized and familiar with the English language, they would seek contact with the existing Canadian Churches. The work among the immigrants was, therefore, strictly of a missionary nature. The ministers who came to Canada were sent by the Board of Domestic Missions of the R.C.A., and sent on a temporary basis..

However, the Reformed Church found itself, quite soon, involved in a load of work which spread throughout Canada. Contacts were made with the 'Hervormde Kerk' and 'Emigratie Diensten' in the Netherlands and, before long, a stream of immigrants began to arrive. Tens of thousands of them per year. These people had to be cared for in many ways. Jobs and accommodations had to be sought for them, and they had to be guided through the first difficult years in so many ways. Many people, after arrival, began to experience moments of depression, and if ever there was a need for people to be consoled with a Christian message of hope and comfort, these were the times.

The Reformed Church began to look around for someone with leadership qualifications who could give direction and assistance to the immigration work. Mr. John Heersink, former mayor of a Dutch town, was asked to take on this task. Soon after, field workers were required. Many groups of immigrants had been formed, and each group had one or more persons in their midst who were interested in promoting local immigration work. They acted as centres for information, and did their very best to bring as many people into their areas as possible. Local immigration committees were found everywhere.

Every established church can quite fondly think back about those early years. Many people have done outstanding work, working many, many extra hours to look after the local situations.

The office staff and work-load in the R.C.A. head office, in Hamilton, grew. It didn't take long before people in the field were required to travel around and give help and leadership wherever required. We all fondly remember men such as A.F.P.Vermeulen, A. Nauta, Wm. Warnaar and Neil Eelman. I, too, was one of those who was asked by OW the Rev. Zegerius to drop what I was doing and become a socalled field worker. The next three years which followed, proved to be very, very busy. So many people arrived and their needs were so varied. One of the policies of the Reformed Church was to be a friend to everyone in need. It didn't really matter who called upon our services, whether it was a member of the 'Hervormde Kerk' or whether he was a non-Christian or a member of another denomination, be it Roman Catholic or whatever, nobody was sent away; and consequently an additional workload was placed upon the shoulders of the workers.

You can imagine that with so much work and so many people arriving, the spiritual ministry to the people was under high pressure. As a matter of fact, there weren't enough ministers to go around, so laymen were pressed into service. I remember the first time Rev. Zegerius asked me, during the early part of 1950, to go to the home of John Langeraap, near Dunnville, and bring a Christian message. He asked me at 10.30 on a Saturday evening, because something had gone wrong with a previous appointment, and I was to report at 10.00 the following morning. This was only the beginning; sometimes for months in a row I would busy myself with all kinds of immigration problems during the week and on Sundays conducted 2 services as well. The other field-men were asked. to perform this spiritual work, too, so we all were very busy. I remember one anecdote about this period where the question arose amongst ministers whether fieldmen should be allowed to conduct services. One minister said: "Yes, but all they really do is speak leen stichtelijk woord, Another minister immediately wanted to know whether this was true, ministers did not speak Istichtelijke woorden'.

Fortunately, ministers from Holland came over - Rev. J. Van Kuiken and an additional 5 young men, of which Rev. C. Bons is still active in the Reformed Church.

I always will remember the unselfish attitude of so many of the first immigrants. No matter what was asked of them, there was always someone ready and willing to pitch in. The doors were usually open wide for new arrivals, no matter what hour of the day or night. People really shared things together willingly and lovingly. If ever there was a time when I felt proud of being a Christian and a member of the Reformed Church, it was certainly during those early years.

I was on the payroll of the R. C. A. Board of Domestic Missions for about three years, and during that time more and more churches had become established. Personally I have had a helping hand in organizing several churches, and each one of them today is very much spiritually and a witness to the grace of God in their communities.

When the church began to grow, of course, different problems came to the surface. One was the matter of church organization. During the early years organized churches became members of the nearest classis in the United States. The idea was for those classes to take the new immigrant churches under their wing and help support them in every possible way. The Canadian churches themselves, in order to promote and retain some of their Canadian identity, became organized in so-called Consistorial Unions. For many years this union flourished.

When the flood of immigrants began to dry up, special consideration had to be given as to the why' of being in Canada. What task, what importance could be attached to Hollanders being in this country, and what kind of contribution could we make to Canada and to our communities? The first consideration, of course, was a spiritual one and here the views were rather divided. Some people by that time had begun to doubt as to whether the Reformed Church would ever be of much importance in this country anyway. Approximately thirty churches or more had been organized by then, yet we were few and small in number compared with the established churches. Some of our leaders felt it would better to amalgamate with other denominations. Others didn't feel that we should, but retain our Dutch identity and heritage and perhaps, by bringing some of our culture into this country, help to make this a better place to live. Some of our ministers quit the Reformed Church and became pastors in established Canadian Churches. Others, who had already done so, later returned and accepted the opportunity to serve the Reformed Church.

In 1962 the Reformed Churches in Ontario established their own classis, known as Classis Ontario. In my view, this certainly helped to promote the identity and uniqueness of the Reformed Church in Canada. Consideration could now be given as to what was required of us as a Reformed Church of the R. C. A. in this country.

We have been able to learn many things from the experiences of the Reformed Church in America. Many of these churches, although established for many, many years, had adhered too long to the Dutch language, with adverse results. The Reformed Churches in Canada in general have fortunately not made that mistake. Most of them immediately began to introduce part Dutch services and Sunday School in English. Young People Societies, too, soon accepted English as the main language at their meetings. After about thirty years of Reformed Church in Canada, I 'Know that there are several churches who have done away with the Dutch language entirely. As a matter of fact, only two services in the Dutch language are being preached during the month in my own church, and to attend those you have to be in church at 9.00 o'clock in the morning.

Surprisingly, people are still coming to those services, including young people. The point I want to make here is that youth feel at home in the Reformed Church. They can bring their friends along and make them feel really welcome in our churches.

Fortunately, we are a Christ-believing church. By this I mean that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and it is Him we preach. I believe that this, too, has helped to maintain and give strength and direction to our work in Canada.

A very positive attitude is now developing amongst us. We are giving very serious consideration to becoming neighbourhood churches wherever we have been established. People of other nationalities are being asked to worship with us and even share leadership responsibilities with us. Although this is not yet the case on a broad scale, yet every church can now point to some people in their midst who are other than descendants of Dutch people.

The Reformed Church in America this year celebrates her 350th Anniversary. We can say that we established the very first Protestant Church ever organized on this continent. As a matter of fact, all those who know the R. C. A. history, know such was the case in 1628 in what is now known as New York City. The church stands until this day.

We are proud of the contributions that the Dutch have made to the U.S.A. and Canada. Our people are in general, well respected, hard-working, honest and devout, and we have been able to become real participants in both the economic and spiritual growth and development of Canada. I feel that we have a duty to perform in this country, extending also in the future. We are thinking in terms of organizing more churches. Several plans have been laid and one or two have already been started. I am glad that the work which the first immigrants began, is being continued. We thank the Lord for our participation in the on-going work in God's Kingdom by the R. C. A.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.