Our History.
Calvary’s history is a story of God’s provision and care for the people of Calvary Church as we’ve dedicated ourselves to following God’s will here in Holland, Michigan.
In 1912, Leaders from five local, Christian Reformed Churches gathered at what is now Pillar Church to discuss the possibility of beginning mission work in the community of Holland. This important meeting would later be captured by these words: "All too often it has been assumed that the Great Commission was intended only to lead the church into foreign lands and strange ports. Jesus also said something about beginning at Jerusalem...we are but agents in the hands of the Holy Spirit through whom Christ is gathering His Church."
On a Sunday afternoon, in September of 1912, a handful of persons paused to pray, offered themselves to be used as God would see fit, entered a rented store on the corner of 6th and River, and waited to see if any people from the neighborhood would show up for Sunday School. 25 people soon filled the tiny storefront. On that Sunday, a mission began which would become the roots of our church today.
A short time later, the Sunday School outgrew its space on 6th and River and a piece of land was acquired on River Avenue between 1st and 2nd Streets. An old country church on what is now Lakewood Blvd was cut into pieces, loading it on a hay wagon, and rebuilt in its new location. That old, white, reassembled church housed this small missional congregation for nearly 50 years.
The Lord richly blessed the years spent on River Avenue. Sunday Schools had a high percentage of unchurched children in them and adult baptisms were common. A news article from 1960 states, “Calvary stands as a potent testimony to the importance of missionary effort on the local level. Organized as the result of a missionary endeavor, the congregation has an inherent love for home missions.”
After many years in that old, white, church building, the small congregation of 50 households made a momentous decision--they pulled up stakes and moved to Beeline Road. There was a sense that greater opportunities existed in the expanding northside of Holland. Calvary called its first pastor and moved into the new church building at 405 Beeline in the same month.
As the years passed, this small church began to grow. So much so that in the late 80’s, a team of persons was assigned to look for a new piece of property. In His faithfulness to Calvary, God had preserved 20 acres of undeveloped property right across the street. On a beautiful, sunny Sunday five years later, after gathering in the parking lot to sing Great is thy Faithfulness, the congregation would walk across the street waving banners and giving thanks for a new space to live out an old calling to reflect Christ’s love to their neighbors.
In October 2006, Calvary Church met for its annual Focus Event. During that evening, the shofar was blown, a year of Jubilee was declared, Great is Thy Faithfulness was sung and the church dedicated themselves, not to building a bigger, better church building on Beeline as might have been expected, but instead to giving nearly $400,000 to build 6 different buildings in places of great need and opportunity around the world.
Little did that small group of volunteer Sunday School teachers who gathered in 1912 know what God would do with their commitment to reach neighbors near and far with the good news about Jesus. At the 100th Anniversary of Calvary Church, after singing Great is thy Faithfulness, it was announced that since the year of Jubilee in 2006, over 2.4 million dollars had been given to ministries near and far and about 80% of members had served on some kind of mission trip.
In 2017, after discerning that while Calvary would stay committed to global missions, Calvary’s Leadership was once again feeling called to a renewed emphasis on Local Missions. Calvary began partnerships with several local agencies and set about learning how to address the crisis of affordable housing in our community through work with Habitat for Humanity and our neighbors down the road at Windmill Mobile Home Park.
In 2021 the leadership of Calvary initiated a season of reflection, discernment and listening for God’s voice to determine God’s preferred future for Calvary. In October of 2021, after singing, Great is Thy Faithfulness, the leadership team revealed a new Mission, Vision and Values that God had led them to through their season of listening. In spite of many changes in over one hundred years of ministry, Calvary’s leadership committed to trusting in God’s faithfulness that He will continue to raise up a church with a heart for those who do not know the love of Jesus. God’s work is not done by our might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit transforming us to reflect the love of Jesus in our world. So come Holy Spirit, Come!