As we look back upon the past today, we involuntarily think of many dear ones, who formerly gathered with us but are no more in our midst. We miss them on this festive occasion and a feeling of sadness comes over us. But at the same time our hearts are filled with joy. We are thinking of former days and years, and are mindful of what the Lord has done for us in the past half a century. He saw to it that the passing of those who have gone before did not mean the passing of our local church. He was always mindful of his covenant and continued his church in the generations of a consecrated seed. That the church of Alpine Avenue may celebrate her fiftieth anniversary, and that at the end of this period she is still strong and virile, -- she owes it all to her covenant God. He has always provided the church with faithful ministers, has operated in her midst by his Holy Spirit, has provided for her and protected her. He has led her all the way in the past fifty years.

In 1881, there was no Christian Reformed Church on the west side. Whatever Christian Reformed people lived in these parts then attended the first church on Spring Street, the Second Reformed Church, or the Free Christian Reformed Church on Division Street. It was a beautiful sight to see our people walking through town with their Psalters and Bibles, as they wended their way to their places of worship. Though they had to walk quite a distance, they were sure to attend church two or three times a Sunday.

In the year 1881 a number of men went to the consistory of Spring Street’s Church with a petition signed by themselves and several others, requesting the establishment of a church on the west side. A number of people, who had just immigrated from the Netherlands, were holding their papers, to join the new congregation, if it should be founded. The consistory of Spring Street favored this matter and appointed a committee, consisting of the brethren H. Datema and A. Van Bree, to look around for a suitable location. These brethren left the consistory meeting at an early hour, walked up and down Alpine Ave., stopped at the corner of Twelfth Street, and later at that of Eleventh Street to discuss the desirability of the location. It was a beautiful moonlit evening, so that everything was clearly visible. They came to the conclusion that the corner of Alpine Ave. and Eleventh Street offered the best prospects, because it was right in the center of our west side people. They inquired as to the owners of the property, and were informed that it belonged to two ladies. The owners proved to be very generous and were willing to donate the lots, if a church were built on them. Because this was the purpose, the brethren could give them the assurance that a church would be erected there, and thanked the ladies most heartily for their gift. They reported to the consistory, and the consistory accepted the report with thanks and approved of the action of the committee. A suitable frame building was erected, facing Alpine Avenue, at a comparatively low figure, since wood was inexpensive in those days and wages were not high. The church with its steeple pointing heavenward was quite an ornament for the corner on which it was built. After the church was finished, the congregation, which had meanwhile been organized and for a time met in temporary quarters on West Leonard Street, moved into its new home. Efforts were now made to secure a pastor. The church was disappointed once and again, but finally received word from Rev. W.H. Frieling of Cincinnati that he accepted its call. Since there was no parsonage yet, a house was rented near Tenth Street. Shortly after that, however, the church, through the mediation of Mr. Van Bree, received two lots of Mr. Stocking just opposite the church. Wonderful provision was thus made for the young church.

The first minister, Rev. W.H. Frieling, was installed in the fall of 1882 by the Rev. Vos of Spring Street, and preached his inaugural sermon from I Corinthians 15, verse 25. Due to constant immigration from the Netherlands, the church enjoyed a healthy and rather speedy growth. At first it was often called "the Frisian church", because so many of its members hailed from Friesland in the Netherlands. In course of time, however, it lost this name, since people from other provinces, such as Groningen, Zeeland, and Drenthe, joined in godly numbers. The people were not yet used to the American climate and often complained about its extremes. In the summertime they would find the heat very oppressive, and on coming to church would slake their thirst from two pails of water, using common dippers, without worrying about the germs which they might thus imbibe; and having quenched their natural thirst, they would enter the sanctuary to drink with deep draughts of the water of life. During the winter season they would frequently complain about the bitter cold. On one occasion several of them came to church with their ears and noses frozen, and when they approached the stoves in the church soon found the pain unendurable, so that they rushed outside to wash their faces with snow. But all this did not keep them from coming to church and from listening with warm hearts to the preaching of the Word. Rev. Frieling was a serious-minded man, a faithful pastor, and very much interested in the things of the kingdom of God. On one occasion he visited Rev. Hemkes, who was then pastor of Vriesland’s church. In the afternoon he wanted to return home, and Rev. Hemkes accompanied him to the depot. They engaged in a discussion and were so absorbed in it that they never noticed the coming and leaving of the train. In 1886 he accepted a call to Lamont, after having served the Alpine Avenue Church for about four years, preaching his farewell sermon from I Corinthians 1, verse 10.

Rev. P. Ekster, who was at that time pastor of the Christian Reformed Church at Spring Lake, was now called, and saw his way clear to accept, so that the congregation was not vacant for any length of time. The new minister was installed by Rev. Hulst of Coldbrook, and chose Colossians 4, verse 3, for his inaugural sermon. Since the church grew rapidly, the need of larger quarters was soon keenly felt. In 1883 it had already been decided to enlarge the church by building a section onto the north side of the original church, but since the necessary funds were not available this was postponed. In 1886, however, due to the phenomenal growth of the church, it was possible to carry out the plan. The church was then changed into what is called in the Holland language a "kruiskerk". Since Rev. Ekster’s throat did not always permit him to preach three times from Sunday to Sunday, it often happened that one of the elders would read a sermon in the evening. In those days the people often spoke of the Alpine Avenue Church as Rev. Ekster’s church. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that he served the church so long (a period of nineteen years). He practically became identified with it. There was at that time a very larch catechism class of about a hundred young people. On one occasion the girls complained about the actions of the boys after the class was dismissed. To remedy the matter, this minister dismissed the girls a little earlier, but this proved ineffective because the girls then waited for the boys outside. He concluded that the girls were worse than the boys; but after all they meant well, for they preferred the young men of their own church. During the ministry of Rev. Ekster an organ, costing two thousand dollars, was placed in the church, and Mr. H. Verhaar was chosen as the first organist. Since the minister was unable to look after all the interest of the large church in the proper manner, elder Datema was engaged as his regular assistant. Great difficulty was experienced in those days in discarding the so-called "doopleden-stelsel". Yet the church flourished. A new school was built in the year 1900, and a new church was erected in the year 1903 at a cost of approximately sixteen thousand dollars. The new building was dedicated on the 17^th of March, 1904. In the following year Rev. Ekster received and accepted a call to Midland Park, New Jersey. Bidding farewell to the congregation from the text found in Philippians 4, verse 23.

Rev. S. Volbeda of Beaverdam was chosen as his successor. Some of the brethren of the congregation went down to see him and to urge him, if it might prove to be the will of God, to accept the call. On the way back from the parsonage they stopped to visit one of the elders of Beaverdam and were threatened with a rather cold reception. The elder’s wife came out with a broom to ward them off. They pointed out, however, that she could use the broom for better purposes, and they were then invited in for a cup of tea. Rev. Volbeda accepted the call and took up his pastoral duties at Alpine Avenue in the fall of the year 1905, preaching from Isaiah 25, verse 1a, for his inaugural sermon. Rev. Smit, the former pastor of Rev. Volbeda, installed him with the words, "Deal gently with the young man", II Samuel 18, verse 5. His labors were richly blessed in Alpine Avenue, and the church was mindful of the admonition of Rev. Smit to deal gently with him, for it willingly gave him a leave of absence, in order that he might continue and complete his studies at the Free University of Amsterdam. The understanding was that if, after the completion of his studies, Alpine was still without a minister, he would again take up the work. Rev. Volbeda bade farewell to the congregation, using II Corinthians 13, verse 14.

Shortly after Rev. Volbeda left, Dr. J. Van Lonkhuizen paid a visit to America. He preached in several places and also conducted the services of the Alpine Avenue Church one Sunday. The result was that the consistory placed him on a trio and the congregation called him.

He accepted the call and came to America from Rijswijk in the Netherlands with his housekeeper, and was installed by Rev. J.W. Brink. For his inaugural sermon he chose Exodus 3, verse 14. Later on he found a faithful helpmeet here. His sermons were characterized by many illustrations drawn from nature, which served to symbolize spiritual truths. During his ministry the congregation went through the bitter experience of losing its beautiful and commodious church building. The minister walked about through the assembled multitude with tears in his eyes, staggered by this heavy blow and this also was a heavy blow to the congregation – because the debt was just paid off in a period of 10 years and there was only 5000 dollars insurance on the building. But the congregation was of one mind to rebuild, and an even more beautiful and larger church was soon erected at the cost of about $35,000. This was all paid for in about 12 years. In the year 1914 there came an insistent demand for English services, and the consistory felt that it had to comply with the request for the use of the American language in the evening services. This caused the minister considerable difficulty. Consequently, when he received a call from Chicago I in 1918, he felt it his duty to accept.

A new pastor was soon secure, Rev. P. A. Hoekstra, of the Paterson I, New Jersey, who saw his way clear to leave the East and to come to Jerusalem, as Grand Rapids is often called. He remained for eight and ½ years when he accepted a call to Cicero II. He was succeeded by Rev. Dr. W. Masselink, former pastor of the 14^th street church of Holland, Michigan. Rev. Masselink still labors in our midst.

Missionaries from our church: Rev. Harry A. Dykstra at Jukao, Ku, China, a missionary of the four churches of the west side; Rev. S. A. Dykstra, brother of Harry and Dr. L. S. Huizenga are also serving in China.

Charter Members – 25 May 1881

Harm Datema
William Joling
Arie Van Bree
B. Scrikkema
William Dykstra
L. M. Vanderveen
J. A. Andree
J. Folkertsma
K. Postmus
William Naber
Ch. P. VanVliet
A. Hooghuis
K. Timmer
Egbert Smitter
R. H. DeVries
H. Joling
J. T. Venema
A. T. Gilde
Y. VanVliet
J. VanderVeen
N. Dys
D. J. DeBoln
G. Timmer

First Consistory Members – 1881
Elders – Harm Datema, Berend Scrikkema and William Naber
Deacons – Arie VanBree and Alle Hooghuis