The following excerpt is from the November 16, 2012 edition of the Holland Sentinel:
Holland [MI]: As a part of Hope Church’s year of celebration for its sesquicentennial year, a comprehensive history of the congregation’s first 150 years has been published. For more than two years, Hope Church elder Judy Parr has researched and written that history.
“As I worked at the Theil Research Center, where much of the historical material was readily at hand, I discovered as I read the minutes of consistory, stories in the Holland Daily News, diaries, and letters, that people from history seemed to come back to life. ‘Tell my story,’ they pleaded.” Parr did.
Her book of more than 500 pages provides details not only of the history of the ministers and buildings, but also how Hope Church responded to revivalism, the Freemasonry controversy, the Temperance movement, World War I, Women’s Suffrage, World War II, and community needs. There are stories about the Holland fire of 1871, children’s Christmas programs from the 19th century, and the Rev. J. T. Bergen’s work in evangelism which led to the conversion of Apache Chief Geronimo. Among the appendices are a selection of recipes from various cookbooks published by Hope Church women’s groups and a story about a dog’s visit to a worship service.
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“Hope Church, Holland, Michigan: The First 150 Years 1862-2012,” published by Dickinson Press Inc., Grand Rapids; $15. The book is available at the Hope Church office, Western Seminary Bookstore and Reader’s World.
