Page 140 - Poat_to_Poot_Engels

Scholte, De Cock, and Van Raalte were important leaders in this first
separation called the "Afscheiding." Persecution of the separatists
eventually caused many Dutch to come to America between 1844-1857.
The followers of Van Raalte went to Michigan and Scholte's followers went
to Iowa.

Although Rev. Scholte had conservative values, he did not fully agree with
the Cannons of Dordt (also called Dordrecht) that had defined the
separation of the Reformed Church from other Protestant sects during the
Reformation. The result was that Scholte and his followers were too
conservative for the Dutch Reformed Church and its American cousin the
Reformed Church of America (RCA). Nor were they in full agreement with
other conservatives who started the True Reformed Church, later renamed
the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). However, the Dutch immigrants
who arrived after Scholte usually joined either the CRC or the RCA, and
this left Scholte outside the main streams of Dutch-American religion.

There is an old Dutch saying that aptly described the situation in Pella -
"One Hollander and you have a theologian, two Hollanders and you have a
church, three Hollanders and you have a schism."

When Rev. Scholte suddenly died in 1868, his followers were uncertain
where to turn for religious leadership. In 1869 a group of his followers
started the First Presbyterian Church. After a few years, they were
convinced to join the RCA, and the congregation became known as the 4th
RC Pella. However, the congregation became uncomfortable with RCA
decisions and they separated in 1880 to become the Holland Presbyterian
Church. In 1894 they joined the RCA again as the 4th RC.

At this time, the 4th RC was using the historic Scholte Christian Church
building located on the 600 block of West First Street. This was between
Liberty and Franklin Streets. (The old building was demolished in 1916,
but a reproduction has been built in the Pella Historical Village on Franklin
Street.) Large black letters above the entrance to the church proclaimed
"In Deo Spes Nostra et Refugium" which means, "In God is Our Hope and
Refuge." The irony was that religion remained a source of conflict instead
of refuge.

The Fourth Reformed Church had remained a Dutch language church.
Several of the other old churches had switched to English language
services many years earlier. The 4th RC was without a pastor, and who
could blame pastors for avoiding such a volatile congregation! The year
1895 brought the arrival of an evangelist from the Netherlands named
Reijer Vande Kieft. The church eagerly issued a call to Vande Kieft and he
accepted. Vande Kieft gave sermons that adhered to the traditional
Reformed Doctrines under the Canons of Dordt. The church Elders
supported this policy, but the Sunday School teachers and the followers of
Scholte did not agree. The church took this problem to the RCA for

(11-2006) - Published in Pella - page 2 -