Churches

First Presbyterian

(1848-2023)

On September 6, 1848, a small group of Dutch immigrants led by Rev. Pieter Zonne met and organized the first church of the Reformed faith. He performed Cedar Grove's first marriage ceremony for Phoenix survivors Derk Voskuil and Hendrika Landeweerd on November 16, 1848.

For the first several years of its existence, the church functioned as an independent organization. A small log church was erected on a knoll on the east side of Green Bay Road, now known as State Highway 32, on land that Rev. Zonne had purchased. For approximately twelve years, this building served as the place of worship for the group. The church was incorporated as a Presbyterian Church on May 23, 1853, perhaps making it the oldest Dutch Presbyterian church in the country. The congregation was thereafter known as the First Presbyterian Church of Town of Holland. Rev. Zonne continued as pastor of until 1865.

Exterior of First Presbyterian Church (Te Ronde House Photo Collection)

Interior of First Presbyterian Church, (Te Ronde House Photo Collection)

On Sunday, November 13, 1921, the third building, with its three large stained glass windows and Austin pipe organ, was dedicated. The manse was completed about two years later. Construction costs for both the church and manse totaled $96,000 (Te Ronde House Photo Collection)

Dutch (First) Reformed

(1865-Present)

"It is to be regretted that so many of the important facts concerning the guidance of God, with the first settlers, vanished with them into the grave... The history of those days, like the giant forests, which once adorned God’s beautiful earth, has vanished... We still have fragments of these histories, stored in the memories of some very aged people, but which have lost their freshness, and so miss the thread which runs through these histories... But these things are now beyond recall, so we will concern ourselves with the things which still remain with us, lest in our forgetfulness, our children will some day say, “Why didn’t they record those things for us?"

Rev. Abram Klerk, June 30, 1905

Chapel (left) and Church (right)

Chapel used as a classroom while the original Wisconsin Memorial Academy Building was being built. This building was moved to Union Ave. and is currently a private residence, and the upper quatrefoil window remains until this day.

Under Construction c.1905

Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian

(1936-Present)

The Village of Cedar Grove became the home of a third congregation in 1936 with the establishment of the Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church. This church, which is one of the first Orthodox Presbyterian congregations in the United States, was organized on June 9, 1936, with Rev. John DeWaard as founding pastor.

Reverend DeWaard, a graduate of Princeton Seminary, had served for over a decade as pastor of the village’s First Presbyterian Church. Then on June 7, 1936, the Presbytery of Milwaukee sent a representative to the First Presbyterian Church’s morning worship service to read a resolution forbidding Reverend DeWaard from continuing his ministry there. This dramatic action followed a protracted debate about church doctrine between Reverend DeWaard and the synod and general assembly of the Presbyterian Church. These events unquestionably created a very difficult situation for all involved.

The situation soon revealed that Reverend DeWaard had a

significant following within his first congregation. According to several written histories, when Reverend DeWaard walked out of the First Presbyterian Church that summer morning in 1936 over three hundred church members rose from their seats and joined him.

Within days of the Presbytery forcing Reverend DeWaard from the First Presbyterian Church, an organizational meeting was held in the village hall to consider the establishment of a new congregation. In addition to formally calling Reverend DeWaard as pastor, the congregants elected a number of former elders and deacons from the First Presbyterian Church to serve the new con-gregation in the same capacity.

The first worship services of Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church were held in the village hall. A history of the church, written by Rev. Henry Fikkert on the occasion of the congregation’s fiftieth anniversary celebration, describes how construction of the new Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church building began. Reverend Fikkert stated that “Pastor and people joined together in arduous labor to dig the excavation for the foundation and basement.”

On November 6, 1936, the cornerstone of the Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church was laid at its present location on Union Avenue. During the next four years, worship services were held in the basement of the structure while the congregation awaited completion of the upper portion of the building. The official dedication of Cedar Grove’s Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church took place on November 14, 1940.

The church’s pipe organ was installed in 1948. Six years later, the present manse was built to house the pastor’s family. An educational wing, aptly named the John J. DeWaard Memorial Christian Education Wing, was constructed in 1969. This addi- tion provided fifteen classrooms, a library, a church office, and a pastor’s study. More recent construction in 1985 included an addition to the front of the building to accommodate the installation of an elevator.

Faith Reformed (1964 - Present)

A church history of First Reformed Church reports that “for a number of years there had been a few who hoped that our congregation would mother another Reformed Church in the community for the purpose of relieving the crowded conditions in the church.”

To that end, a meeting was held on June 11, 1964, to discuss the formation of a new congregation. The initial meeting was attended by Alfred DeRuyter, Oliver Davies, Roland Debbink, Joseph Wisse, Earl Meinen, and Austin TenHaken. Also in attendance was Rev. Jack Boerigter, pastor of the First Reformed Church of Oostburg, who represented the Extension Committee of the Reformed Church’s Classis of Wisconsin.

The new congregation’s main advertising appears to have been provided by announcements in the First Reformed Church’s bulletin. For two consecutive Sundays, an announcement was published inviting interested persons to an informational meeting on June 30, 1964, in the basement of the First Reformed Church.

The first worship service of the fledgling congregation was held on July 12, 1964, in the gymnasium of the Cedar Grove Elementary School on VanAltena Avenue. Rev. August Tellinghuisen, Field Secretary for the Board of North American Missions from the Reformed Church’s Particular Synod of Chicago, led the worship services two Sundays each month with other Reformed Church ministers filling the pulpit as appointed by the Classis of Wisconsin.

On January 12, 1965, the Classis of Wisconsin held a meeting to formally organize Cedar Grove’s newest congregation. Ninety eligible voters representing approximately forty families were in attendance. It was at that meeting that the name Faith Reformed Church was chosen and that the first twelve-member consistory was elected. The date to close charter membership was set as Easter Sunday, April 18, 1965.

On February 22, 1965, a congregational meeting was held to consider calling a pastor for the young congregation. It was obviously a difficult task, as the group voted four times before reaching the two-thirds majority required. Mr. John VanMantgem, one of the four Western Theological Seminary students on the ballot, was finally selected. He was hired at an annual salary of $5,000 with an additional $500 per year allocated for utility expenses.

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