History of Pioneer Christian Reformed Church
The Progression of Pioneer Church
The dictionary defines pioneer as “one who goes before, preparing the way.” This very aptly describes Pioneer Christian Reformed Church; showing others the way to eternal salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is also fitting that our first setting for worship was in a schoolhouse, and so, educating people to the ways of Scriptural doctrine. Although we are celebrating fifty years as an organized church, our roots can be traced as far back as June of 1950, when Grant CRC had the idea of starting Sunday School Bible Studies at several nearby school houses. Pioneer School, a one-room school located on 19 Mile Road, was selected as one of those locations. Representatives from Grant canvassed the neighborhood in advance of the first meeting and under the name, Pioneer Chapel, our first meeting took place on June 10, 1950. 15 people attended the first meeting and our first offering drew .54 cents! For the next three years, Grant continued to provide teachers, musicians and other helpers for the weekly Sunday School. 1952 in particular was of significant note, as we hosted our first summer VBS program of which 38 children attended.
In 1953, based on steady growth and faithful attendance, Grant decided to move from the Bible Study format and instead incorporated a full worship service. Howard amburg, a graduate of RBI, was hired as a missionary and worship service leader. Other leaders during that year included Julius Levering, and John Borst. In September of 1954, Willard Willink, of RBI, took over the leadership duties and would remain for many years at Pioneer as an evangelist.October of 1955 was a memorable time as Gerald and Marian Lewis, of Cedar Springs, became our first Profession of Faith members along with their three sons, Gordon, Russ and Ron. Later that same year, after outgrowing the Pioneer school, we decided to move to Christian Hill School on 17 Mile Road. Through the next few years, we formed men’s, women’s and children’s Bible studies, hosted a summer youth camp and added a Sunday evening service. With the continued addition of new families, the search for a more permanent building was also underway.
In July 1958, after a 4-month construction period, we moved into our present location and began holding worship services with an average attendance of over 100 and a Sunday School attendance of 75. Three years later, in 1961, we became an official church of the Christian Reformed denomination. After 7 years of service to Pioneer, Willard Willink handed the pastoral leadership over to Rev. Casey Schooland. During his time as Pastor, the parsonage was built and an evangelism program was
started.Rev. Andy Zwart followed in 1964 and stayed until 1967. During his years, Cadet and Calvinette ministries began and in1965 we hosted three SWIM teams that came to help with VBS. The Sanctuary was extended in length to accommodate new families as well as a large amount of summer visitors. After a brief vacancy, Rev. David Doyle accepted a call to Pioneer in 1969 and he stayed until 1974. During these years, summer visitors continued to pile in on Sunday causing us to hold two morning services. We also took part in the evangelism explosion program.Rev. Bud Ver Meer came in 1975 and had to retire a year later due to poor health. His brief stay was marked with an enthusiastic focus on reaching out into the community, striking up conversations with people at common places such as the gas station and he worked hard to set up home visits with the unchurched.
In 1977, Rev. Harvey Baas accepted the call to minister to our church. Harvey served Pioneer for 17 years until his retirement in 1994. It was during these years that the fellowship room and new Sunday School classrooms were built in addition to the parking lot being paved.
In 1953, based on steady growth and faithful attendance, Grant decided to move from the Bible Study format and instead incorporated a full worship service. Howard amburg, a graduate of RBI, was hired as a missionary and worship service leader. Other leaders during that year included Julius Levering, and John Borst. In September of 1954, Willard Willink, of RBI, took over the leadership duties and would remain for many years at Pioneer as an evangelist.October of 1955 was a memorable time as Gerald and Marian Lewis, of Cedar Springs, became our first Profession of Faith members along with their three sons, Gordon, Russ and Ron. Later that same year, after outgrowing the Pioneer school, we decided to move to Christian Hill School on 17 Mile Road. Through the next few years, we formed men’s, women’s and children’s Bible studies, hosted a summer youth camp and added a Sunday evening service. With the continued addition of new families, the search for a more permanent building was also underway.
In July 1958, after a 4-month construction period, we moved into our present location and began holding worship services with an average attendance of over 100 and a Sunday School attendance of 75. Three years later, in 1961, we became an official church of the Christian Reformed denomination. After 7 years of service to Pioneer, Willard Willink handed the pastoral leadership over to Rev. Casey Schooland. During his time as Pastor, the parsonage was built and an evangelism program was
started.Rev. Andy Zwart followed in 1964 and stayed until 1967. During his years, Cadet and Calvinette ministries began and in1965 we hosted three SWIM teams that came to help with VBS. The Sanctuary was extended in length to accommodate new families as well as a large amount of summer visitors. After a brief vacancy, Rev. David Doyle accepted a call to Pioneer in 1969 and he stayed until 1974. During these years, summer visitors continued to pile in on Sunday causing us to hold two morning services. We also took part in the evangelism explosion program.Rev. Bud Ver Meer came in 1975 and had to retire a year later due to poor health. His brief stay was marked with an enthusiastic focus on reaching out into the community, striking up conversations with people at common places such as the gas station and he worked hard to set up home visits with the unchurched.
In 1977, Rev. Harvey Baas accepted the call to minister to our church. Harvey served Pioneer for 17 years until his retirement in 1994. It was during these years that the fellowship room and new Sunday School classrooms were built in addition to the parking lot being paved.
Pioneer Church in 2013
After John Vander Lugt served as our interim Pastor upon Harvey’s retirement, Rev. Fred Van Dyk was then called in 1995 and stayed until 1999. In his time at Pioneer, we embarked on a home missions project called Refocusing Churches, in which we sought to better understand our strengths and weaknesses.Upon Fred’s retirement, Pioneer was blessed to have Seminarian, Dave Van Harten fill in pastoral duties for us. This eventually lead to a call to be our full time Pastor of which Dave accepted and began upon graduation. Dave remained with us for the next 6 years. During this time in our history, many new families joined the church. On multiple occasions, some Sundays would have as many as 10 new members make Profession of Faith. This growth prompted us to consider relocating now for the 4th time in our history. A piece of land at the corner of 17 Mile and Algoma Rd was purchased to be the location of our future church home.
Temporary Worship Location in 2013
During a 3-year vacancy from 2006-2008, Rev. Jake Heerema admirably provided leadership for the church as an interim Pastor. Pioneer then called recent seminary graduate, Jim Alblas, who began serving as the Pastor in April of 2009 and is still serving in this role. In the Winter of 2012, Pioneer Church sold its current building and began planning to build a new church building at the corner of Algoma and 17 Mile RD. Until building is complete, the congregation is currently worshiping at The Cedarfield Community Center located a mile from its previous location.
Though we mention many of the Pastor’s of our history, we are thankful for countless volunteers, seminarians and other leaders who have helped us through the years. God has worked through many people in our history to touch lives with the Gospel message. Praise Be to God!
Though we mention many of the Pastor’s of our history, we are thankful for countless volunteers, seminarians and other leaders who have helped us through the years. God has worked through many people in our history to touch lives with the Gospel message. Praise Be to God!