book
Catalog Number
1954.8.43Title
BibleDate of Origin
1918Description
Bible presented to Clarence Becker in 1918 by the Third Reformed Church Sunday School for perfect attendance.History
The Third Reformed Church, located at 111 West 13th Street in Holland, MI, was organized Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte on September 9, 1867. Van Raalte, pastor of the First Reformed Church, felt it was necessary to have a Reformed Church in the western part of the city. He even provided the land and congregation for the new church as members of the First Reformed Church who lived west of Market Street (now called Central Avenue) began attending Third Reformed. The "Third" was chosen as the name because a second congregation affiliated with the Reformed Church already existed in Holland. Hope Reformed Church, a non-immigrant English-speaking congregation, had been founded in 1862.Third Reformed Church's first sanctuary was destroyed by the fire of 1871. A second sanctuary was demolished in a high wind on January 2, 1873. With the financial help of many donors in the East and the Middle West, the present structure was completed in November of 1874.