Original Coldbrook building.
History
Originally named Coldbrook CRC, Beckwith Hills CRC was organized in 1875 as Fourth Reformed church. Along with several other RCA congregations in the Great Lakes region, it seceded and joined the CRC in 1882 ove the issue of lodge membership. (A small minority remained in the RCA, retaining their identity as Fourth Reformed.) Beckwith Hills was the fourth Grand Rapids CRC congregation.
Coldbrook was originally located at Taylor and Barnett NW, then moved to Barnett and Ionia NW in 1875. The congregation moved to Chelsea Road NE in 1963 and adopted its new name.
Historical Details
Names
- Fourth Reformed
- Coldbrook
- Beckwith Hills
Locations
- 1140 Ionia NW at Barnett, Grand Rapids, MI (1875-1910, now Schaafsma Heating)
- 7 Barnett Street NW, Grand Rapids, MI (1910-63)
- 2100 Chelsea Road NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505 (built 1963)
Pastors
- Lammert J. Hulst, 1876-1906
- J. J. Hiemenga, 1907-13
- Y. P. De Jong, 1913-17
- L. Veltkamp, 1918-25
- E. B. Peckelder, 1935-35
- T. Yff, 1936-43
- E. L. Haan, 1944-49
- Richard R. De Ridder, 1949-53
- R. Rienstra, 1954-69
- O. W. Duistermars, 1970-74
- J. Joldersma, 1976-87
- L. Bryce Mensink, 1989-95
- Edward J. Blankespoor, 1995-2006
- Richard L. Pinckney, 2007-present
Daughter Churches
- Creston, 1915
- Ionia Avenue, 1920
Membership Overview
Membership data, Beckwith Hills CRC, Grand Rapids, MI
Membership Data
Green (lower) line shows membership in families; blue (middle), professing members; red (top), total members; and magenta (thin), non-professing members.
Youth ratio, Beckwith Hills CRC, Grand Rapids, MI
Youth Ratio
Red line shows nonprofessing members as a percentage of total membership.
Five year growth rate, Beckwith Hills CRC, Grand Rapids, MI
Five Year Growth Rate
Red line shows five year growth rate. A five year growth rate between 10% and -10% is considered stable; greater than 10% indicates a growing congregation; one below -10% indicates a church in decline. This makes no allowance for daughter churches.
Data source: Yearbooks of the Christian Reformed Church. Dates are year prior to publication date since data is gathered at the end of one year and published in the next.