Ancestral Discoveries: Four Christian Reformed Church Ancestors

In my previous article, I discussed a recent discovery I made, that my 4th great grandfather, Reiner Harkema (1850-1943), was a member of the Christian Reformed Church. This was a huge discovery, since previously all of my known Dutch American ancestors had been members of the Reformed Church in America as far as I had known. The Christian Reformed Church, or CRC, was founded in 1857, when four churches with around 130 families seceded from the Reformed Church in America, or RCA, because the RCA was supposedly theologically liberal, similar to the Dutch Reformed Church (the State Church) back in the Netherlands. After making this discovery of a CRC ancestor, I have subsequently learned of three more CRC ancestors!

• Minnie Harmsen, 2nd great grandmother: When my great-grandfather, Marvin John Ver Hoef, was growing up, he was apparently raised in a CRC household by his mother Minnie. His father Albert, meanwhile, rarely (if ever) attended church. Further confirming this is her obituary, which states: "She was a member of Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church". 
• Jan Hendrik Grote and Geertje Laarman, 4th great grandparents: The obituaries of my 4th great grandparents show that they were members of the CRC. Jan Hendrik's states: "The funeral will be held at 1 o'clock Tuesday afternoon at the East Saugatuck church". The East Saugatuck church in question was a Christian Reformed church. Meanwhile, Geertje's states: "The funeral will be held Friday at 12:30 from the Kolendorn church". Research strongly points to this church being Christian Reformed as well, if it isn't the same one Jan Hendrik's funeral was held at. 

One open question in my mind, is which denomination my Stephan and Karsten ancestors belonged to. The family of Willem Stephan immigrated to Holland, Michigan in 1873, while the family of Marten Karsten seems to have come here in 1881. Most of the later Dutch immigrants were members of the CRC, so it's possible they were also CRC, although I do not have any evidence on their beliefs at this time. 

Parsonage of Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church, 1909, Holland, Michigan