A.C. Van Raalte : pastor by vocation entrepreneur by necessity
Publication Information
Holland, MI : Van Raalte Press, [2023]
Physical Description
xxii, 680 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
Summary
"Albertus Christiaan Van Raalte was called to preach the Gospel-to walk in the steps of his father-and for forty years, he did just that, on two continents-Europe and North America. His life unfolded in tumultuous times, bracketed by the French Revolutionary conquest of the Netherlands and the American Civil War. In the early nineteenth century, religious strife in the Netherlands Reformed Church, sparked by its dallying with Enlightenment thought and the subsequent Napoleonic conquest, resulted in a two-pronged reform movement-the Réveil (revival) among the upper crust and the Afscheiding (Secession) of 1834 among the lower classes. The authoritarian King Willem I tolerated reform but persecuted seceders, especially pastors and elders, who suffered harassment by police and soldiers, crippling fines, and even imprisonment. Orthodox Calvinists rejected Enlightenment rationalism out of hand, even if it was clothed with warm feelings of happiness, progress, and liberty. They would not be reasonable, humanistic, tolerant, or subsume truth to science. Among the Dutch, Van Raalte was customarily addressed simply as Dominee, or more formally, Dominee Van Raalte. He was truly the lord of the church and community. As founder in 1847 of the Holland colony in Michigan, he was the sole university graduate, seller of all town lots, founding pastor of the "mother church," school commissioner, newspaper proprietor, harbor promoter, and businessman. His charismatic personality commanded attention and attracted followers. He was a natural leader in church and state-an American Moses in the eyes of his supporters, a pope in the eyes of his critics. In 1846 Van Raalte sought a larger stage by leading the emigration of his followers to America. Crossing the Atlantic twice (in 1846 and for a return visit in 1866) added almost sixteen thousand nautical miles to his log. In America, he traveled another sixteen thousand miles in church work, fundraising, and planting colonies. Had his hope for a missionary appointment among the Zulus borne fruit, he would have added another twenty thousand round-trip miles. His extensive travels gave him a vast knowledge of the United States, from the mid-Atlantic coast to frontier Kansas. It also made him a household name in Dutch Reformed circles on two continents and earned him honorary doctorates from New York University and Queens College (now Rutgers University). His primary parish in Holland suffered neglect, and worshipers often found the pulpit filled by young preachers trained at Holland Academy. In his twenty years as pastor of Holland's First Reformed Church, he was likely absent more than 10 percent of the time. In his last two years, 1866 and 1867, he spent six months in the Netherlands and on his return did not attend consistory meetings for almost a year. Van Raalte was the first Dutch dominee to found a colony on the Midwest frontier, and his Holland, Michigan, colony would, in time, become the largest Dutch settlement in North America. He was first among equals as a colonial leader and developer. He combined the roles of religious and economic leader in a unique and powerful way. To help his colony thrive, he had to pinch pulpit preparations, invest in lands and businesses, develop infrastructure, foster local government, provide political and civic leadership, and, of course, plant churches and schools. His land dealings, albeit time consuming, did allow for a lifestyle above the norm, and he died a millionaire in today's dollars. But he put more on his plate than he could handle and burned out before his time. Some have likened him to Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, only to be rejected by those he had rescued, was forced to wander in the desert for a generation, and then die there after gazing on the Promised Land from afar. Like Joshua, Moses' successor, Van Raalte did successfully lead his followers to their land of promise but not without occasional rebellion and denunciation. Only a dauntless person could have accomplished what he did in the face of constant criticism and controversies"--