“Strength in isolation” served as a motto for some members. This reminds me of the history of Oak Park Christian Reformed Church. It is a story of faith tradition and community.
Oak Park Christian Reformed Church holds a unique place in Chicago’s religious history. Its roots are deeply intertwined with the Dutch Reformed community. This community sought to preserve its cultural identity amid the Americanization wave.
Let’s step back to the mid-19th century. Two “First” churches stood near each other. They competed for members. These were First Reformed Church of Chicago and First Christian Reformed Church of Chicago. Fifteen families from First Reformed Church founded the latter in 1867.
The junior congregation’s birth was a schism result. It was a reaction to the 1857 secession in West Michigan. That secession gave birth to the Christian Reformed Church. The First Reformed Church affiliated with the Americanizing denomination RCA. First Christian Reformed represented an immigrant denomination CRC. The 1867 seceders feared cultural changes in the RCA. They cast their complaints in theological terms.
The RCA dropped the word “Dutch” that year. It officially Americanized its name. The RCA dated back to 1628 in New Netherlands. It aligned with Yankee Calvinist denominations. These included Presbyterians and Congregationalists.
CRC members sensed that American Calvinism differed from Dutch Calvinism. The CRC remained an immigrant denomination. It walled itself off from American evangelicalism. “In isolation is our strength” was their motto. The CRC maintained close ties with its mother church. It held tenaciously to traditional faith and church order.
Despite its “foreign” character, the CRC eventually Americanized. It reluctantly followed the path of its older sister. It gradually adopted ways it once eschewed.
The CRC attracted most immigrants from the northern Netherlands. This began with the massive exodus in the 1880s and 1890s. The GKN withdrew its blessing from the RCA in 1882. It gave it to the CRC instead. After 1882, most new immigrants joined the CRC not the RCA.
These newcomers brought Christian day school ideas. First Chicago CRC established Ebenezer Christian School in 1893. It became a “free school” in 1902. A “free” secondary school augmented it in 1918. CRC youth attended Christian schools. RCA youth attended public schools for the most part. Schooling became the marker between the two churches after 1900.
Mobility marked church life in Chicago. Congregations grew and declined. Members moved to newer suburbs. Mother churches followed selling beloved edifices. Urban renewal or decay dictated buildings falling to the wrecker’s ball.
The two Reformed churches transitioned from Dutch to English services. This happened during World War I. They relocated to western suburbs after World War II. First Reformed Church modeled itself after American evangelical churches. First Christian Reformed Church remained very “Dutchy.”
The high point of the Ashland Avenue Dutch community occurred in the 1920s and 1930s. The two mother churches disintegrated rapidly in the early 1940s. The last Dutch Reformed families moved west to Cicero, Berwyn, and Oak Park.
Oak Park Christian Reformed Church emerged. It was formerly Fourth Chicago CRC. The relentless suburbanization continued in the 1970s. It took the westside Dutch Reformed into Du Page County. They built large new buildings.
Today Oak Park Christian Reformed Church continues. It honors its heritage. It adapts to the changing world. Its story reflects faith community and enduring traditions.