A Brief Look at the History of Holland Churches

The 1847 advent of Dutch immigrants made Holland the western center for the protestant Reformed faith. Holland's founder, Rev. Albertus van Raalte joined with the Reformed Dutch Church in America in 1850 which caused friction with the more conservative Dutch immigrants in the community. In 1857, several churches seceded from the Reformed Church and founded the Christian Reformed Church.

Yankee Americans started their own churches, the first being First United Methodist Church in 1861. Economics played a factor in new church establishment. Between 1870 and 1880, a time of economic depression, few people moved into the area and only one area church formed.

Today, there are dozens of churches in the Holland area, representing a broad spectrum of religious belief and practice.

Source: The Holland Museum

Notes on the Religious History of Holland, Michigan

1. The Native Americans in the Black Lake area considered themselves Roman Catholic and had a small church on the present site of H.J. Heinz, West 16th Street. They apparently had been evangelized by the Jesuit missionaries earlier.

2. Rev. George N. Smith was possibly the first Protestant missionary in the Holland area and was Congregationalist in affiliation. He came to the are3a in 1838 to evangelize and serve the Indian community. When the Indian and Dutch cultures came into conflict, Smith moved north to the Traverse Bay area with the Indians.

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