Central Reformed Church, 1918-1953
Beginnings[]
Central Reformed was formed by the merger of First Reformed and Second Reformed in 1918. After the church building, originally built by First Reformed in 1891, was destroyed by fire in 1953, the church moved toits current location at the corner of College Ave. and Fulton St.
Visit the Central Reformed Church website
Historical Details[]
Locations[]
- 164 Fountain NE, 1918-Feb. 10, 1953 - destroyed by fire
- 10 College Ave. NE, 1956-present
Pastors[]
- John A. Dykstra, 1918-54
- Cornelius Vander Naald, education, 1935-40
- Charles T. Botkin, assistant, 1951-52
- Maurice Marcus, 1952-59
- Herbert S. Van Wyk, education, 1956-59
- Stanley G. Short, education, 1959-61
- Marion de Velder, 1959-61
- Frederick H. Olert, 1962-70
- Marlin A. Vander Wilt, associate, 1963-68
- Donald W. Hoffman, assistant, 1969-73
- Dr. Herman J. Ridder, executive/preaching, 1971-83
- George Brown Jr., education, 1973-88
- Harold A. Colenbrander, part-time, 1982-90
- Roger Shoup, 1984-87
- Timothy S. Dieffenbach, youth, 1986-??
- Dr. Robert W. Bedingfield Sr., senior, 1988-96
- Lisa Hansen-Tice, education, 1989-??
- Daniel Meeter, 1996-99
- Dr. Louis Lotz, 2003-present
- Dr. Carl Schroeder, seniors
Membership Data[]
Membership data, Central Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, MI
Overall Membership Data[]
Heavy lines: green (lower) shows membership in families; blue (middle), professing members; red (top), total members. Thin lines: magenta (middle), non-professing members; orange (lower), inactive members; black (top), average worship attendance.
Membership ratios, Central Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, MI
Membership Ratios[]
Heavy lines: green (lower) shows membership in families; blue (middle), professing members; red (top), total members. Thin lines: magenta (middle), non-professing members; orange (lower), inactive members; black (top), average worship attendance.
Five year growth rate, Central Reformed Church, 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: Acts of Synod of the Reformed Church in America. Dates are year prior to publication date since data is gathered at the end of one year and published in the next.