Central Reformed Church/Central Reformed Church

Central Reformed Church was formed on April 23, 1918, by the merger of the first two Reformed churches in the Grand Rapids area: the First Reformed, an English-speaking church organized in 1840; and the Second Reformed, a Dutch speaking church established in 1849. The new congregation chose to worship in the home of the First Reformed Church on the corner of Fountain and Barclay Streets. On October 31, 1919, the Reverend John A. Dykstra became the church’s first pastor. Central Reformed Church, established in 1918, had nearly six hundred members by 1920. Dynamic growth led to the building’s enlargement in 1922. Fire destroyed the sanctuary in 1953. The congregation worshipped in Central High School and the former Grace Episcopal Church until this structure was completed in 1957. Designed by Eggers and Higgins of New York, the building reflects English and American Georgian church architecture of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.