In 2026, former Council President Coenraad Bakker undertook the task of translating the original council minutes from 1877 recording the establishment of RCRC, or as it was called then, "der Ware Hollandsche Gereformeerde Kerk," or The True Dutch Reformed Church.

These minutes were handwritten in Dutch, so the task was a significant one, and we thank Coenraad for giving us this more accessible version of that significant time in the life of RCRC.

From Coenraad:

"These documents were translated from the transcribed original Dutch documents displayed in Section 2. The volume of text on each original page has been preserved on each page in this English section. A very limited amount of editing for clarity was done." 

Note 1: On page 5 it refers to Rev. K. van den Bosch. Rev. Koenraad (Koene) van den Bosch from Michigan was a leading figure in the establishment of the (now named) Christian Reformed Church in 1857 and president of the annual Synod (referred to on page 5 as the General Assembly) for the first 12 years of its convention. 

Note 2: You may note that the number of signatures on the Form of Subscription exceeds the number of signatures on the two first Council meetings. This probably means that the date of the Form of Subscription presented is some time later than the dates of the first Council meetings. 

Note 3: When the text uses the words brother or brothers it refers to brother or brothers in the faith." 

Translation by Coenraad Bakker

Spring 2026

Click below to read these documents:

Translated documents from 1877

In 1977 an Centennial Reflections booklet was published, acknowledging the previous written history from 1952 and filling the gap to 1977.

Click the button below to read it.

RCRC Centennial Reflections