Historically we came from the Netherlands.

But today, although a big majority of our members are still from Dutch backgrounds, we can’t honestly be called a Dutch church—not unless we’re also called a Korean church, a Navajo church, a Southeast Asian church, a French-Canadian church, a Hispanic-American church, an African-American church, a melting-pot church.

More important to us than such ethnic badges is our place as one branch of the tree that started growing on Pentecost, nineteen and a half centuries ago.

The early Christian church was like the single trunk of that tree. After about 1,000 years of growth, the trunk divided into two major branches—the Eastern and the Western churches. In 1517 the Protestant Reformation divided the Western (or Roman) church into several new branches. One of these Reformation branches, formed under Martin Luther’s influence, was called the Lutheran church. Another branch developed under the influence of Ulrich Zwingli and later John Calvin. These churches were called “Presbyterian” in Scotland and “Reformed” in continental Europe. The Reformed churches flourished in the Netherlands. In the early 1800s some of these Dutch Reformed people moved to the United States, and in 1857 they started the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

We think it’s important to be able to trace our history back to the Protestant Reformation and then on down the tree of church history. It’s important for us because the church of Jesus Christ in the world is really one church. That church is pasted with many denominational labels—ours is one of those—but it’s really one worldwide church, born on Pentecost, that will continue until Jesus comes again.

Still, although we rejoice in being part of the whole church, we recognize the qualities that make us different. Our particular character is shaped by the teaching of the Bible’s authority, so pivotal to the Protestant Reformation. To be a church in that tradition is to be a church that places all its worship, work, life, and mission under the will of God. Often God’s will is clear. But when it doesn’t seem clear, we study, search, and pray to understand it. Part of the shape of our church is the constant challenge to be reshaped as the Spirit of God leads us to the right understanding of his Word.

What will our church be like in the future? We don’t know. Only God knows, and he has chosen not to tell us the joys and sorrows, the successes and failures that are yet to be. That’s good. If we knew the future of our church, we might be tempted to despair because of troubles we must yet endure, or we might be tempted to swell with pride because of victories we may yet enjoy. The future belongs to God. He holds the future and us in his hands. We walk by faith, seeking to follow where he leads.