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A.C. Van Raalte

鈥淰an Raalte was no stranger to controversy in life or death, and his life story has long resisted dispassionate analysis. This definitive biography will appeal to scholars and general readers, members of the RCA and CRC, and Americans of Dutch descent, regardless of their political or religious views.鈥�
鈥擬ichael J. Douma, Assistant Research Professor, Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

鈥淢eticulous historical research has revealed how a Seceded Dutch minister developed into an American entrepreneur in the service of God鈥檚 Kingdom.鈥�
鈥擥eorge Harink, Rector Magnificus, Theologische Universiteit Kampen-Utrecht, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

鈥淲ith a voice that is easy to read, using occasional Americanisms to help readers understand unfamiliar Dutch contexts, this book is a fitting tribute to the man and the institute named after him.鈥�
鈥擶illiam Katerberg, Professor of History, Calvin University

From the Introduction

Albertus Christiaan Van Raalte was called to preach the Gospel, and for forty years he did just that in Europe and North America. His life unfolded in tumultuous times, bracketed by the French Revolutionary conquest of the Netherlands and the American Civil War. Among the Dutch, Van Raalte was customarily addressed simply as Dominee or, more formally, Dominee Van Raalte.

He was truly the lord of the church and community. As the founder in 1847 of the Holland colony in Michigan, he was the sole university graduate, seller of all town lots, founding pastor of the 鈥渕other church,鈥� school commissioner, newspaper proprietor, harbor promoter and a businessman. He was a natural leader in church and state 鈥� an American Moses in the eyes of his supporters, a pope in the eyes of his critics.

Van Raalte was the first Dutch dominee to found a colony on the Midwest frontier, and his Holland, Michigan, colony would, in time, become the largest Dutch settlement in North America. He was first among equals as a colonial leader and developer. He combined the roles of religious and economic leadership in a unique and powerful way. To help his colony survive, he had to pinch pulpit preparations, invest in lands and businesses, develop infrastructure, foster local government, provide political and civic leadership, and, of course, plant churches and schools. His land dealings, albeit time consuming, did allow for a lifestyle above the norm, and he died a millionaire in today鈥檚 dollars. But he put more on his plate than he could handle and burned out before his time.

The thesis of this book is simple: Dominee Van Raalte juggled competing roles as pastor, churchman, education promoter, social entrepreneur, opinion leader, culture manager and community builder, first in founding the Separated church at home, then in building the Midwestern wing of the Reformed Church and 鈥� his signature legacy 鈥� cofounding Hope College with Philip Phelps Jr.

On a larger scale, his colony became the premier Dutch colony in North America today. Despite the tension between his life in the pulpit and his life out of the pulpit, this Dutch immigrant leader made West Michigan the center of the Dutch American population and culture in the United States.