NR #1996-003: Obituary: Past Christian Reformed Synod President, Leading Alliance of Reformed Churches Pastor, Dies in Kalamazoo at 78 Rev. Henry Vander Kam, founding pastor of the Free Christian Reformed Church of Kalamazoo and a past president of the Christian Reformed synod, passed away at 1 pm today in Kalamazoo due to complications of congestive heart failure. Vander Kam, 78, had battled heart disease for many years but did not allow even a massive heart attack fourteen years ago to stop his work. Heavily active in ecclesiastical affairs at an age when most men in better health choose to enjoy their retirement, Vander Kam made clear that his concept of an enjoyable retirement was planting seminaries, founding congregations, and becoming a key figure in the founding of a new denomination. Obituary: NR #1996-003: For Immediate Release Past Christian Reformed Synod President, Leading Alliance of Reformed Churches Pastor, Dies in Kalamazoo at 78 by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service KALAMAZOO, Mich. (January 11, 1996) URNS - Rev. Henry Vander Kam, founding pastor of the Free Christian Reformed Church of Kalamazoo and a past president of the Christian Reformed synod, passed away at 1 pm today in Kalamazoo due to complications of congestive heart failure. Vander Kam, 78, had battled heart disease for many years but did not allow even a massive heart attack fourteen years ago to stop his work. Heavily active in ecclesiastical affairs at an age when most men in better health choose to enjoy their retirement, Vander Kam made clear that his concept of an enjoyable retirement was planting seminaries, founding congregations, and becoming a key figure in the founding of a new denomination. Coming out of retirement twice, once to become a founding member and professor at Mid-America Reformed Seminary, then located in Orange City, Iowa, and more recently to become the founding pastor of a new independent church, the Free Christian Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Vander Kam continued to preach almost to the end of his life and made clear that he wanted it that way - even when that meant carrying oxygen bottles with him to ecclesiastical gatherings. After preaching what proved to be his last sermon on December 24, the Free CRC arranged to have oxygen available the next day for a scheduled Christmas sermon. Vander Kam was unable to attend that service and passed away seventeen days later. Officially retiring in 1982, Vander Kam taught at Mid-America Reformed Seminary from 1982 to 1985. Since 1992, he had served as "interim pastor" of the Free CRC of Kalamazoo and at the time of his death was the oldest serving pastor in the Alliance of Reformed Churches, performing nearly all of the regular work of parish ministry. The Free CRC sponsored a fiftieth anniversary celebration of his ordination this past August. Despite - or perhaps because of - his strongly conservative position, Vander Kam rose to prominence during his earlier days in the Christian Reformed ministry and was one of the most prominent CRC ministers to secede from the denomination. In 1976 Vander Kam served as president of the CRC synod and served five other times as an officer of synod. Besides many years of service as a synodical delegate and member of various denominational boards and committees, from 1960 to 1965, Vander Kam served as president of the denominational home missions board and from 1970 to 1973 he served as president of the board of Calvin College and Seminary. Even when officially "retired," Vander Kam remained active in a writing ministry, authoring fifteen booklets of Bible studies and over sixty published articles for a variety of periodicals. A book authored by Vander Kam on Dutch Reformed church leader Dr. Klaas Schilder is scheduled to be released this spring. After leaving the Christian Reformed denomination in 1992, Vander Kam devoted much of his time to the church order study committee of the Alliance of Reformed Churches, a group of 55 congregations with 10,800 members, most of which have left the CRC in recent years. The diligent work of Vander Kam and others was rewarded this past November when a large majority of the Alliance voted to "federate" into a new denomination, provisionally named the "Federation of Uniting Reformed Churches." Vander Kam's congregation has been a significant contributor to a number of conservative Reformed organizations, including United Reformed News Service. "He's just so valuable in starting this church on a good, sound foundation," said Elder Henry Visser, consistory vice-president at the Free CRC. "He was loved for his theological insights but also because of his warm humor." Visser said that Vander Kam's preaching was the high point of his ministry. "I picture him as an expositor exegeting the Scriptures," said Visser. "His preaching was on a text you've heard preached on before and things were there that he brought out that you never realized were there." "That last sermon he preached was on how God ordained enmity as it is stated in Genesis 3:15, between the seed of Satan and the seed of Christ, and we may not obliterate that antithesis," noted Visser. "That was his attitude all the time, what God has done for man, nature and grace." Since Christmas, the Free CRC has been making use of students and professors at Mid-America Reformed Seminary, which recently moved to the Chicago suburb of Dyer, Indiana - an arrangement which Visser said will continue for at least the next four weeks. In light of Vander Kam's declining health, however, the consistory had nominated two candidates to succeed Vander Kam and in the near future the church will decide which of the two to call. Both are connected with Mid-America Reformed Seminary: one was among the founders of the school over a decade ago and the other is a recent graduate. Earlier churches served by Vander Kam included Prosper CRC in northern Michigan, Second CRC in Pella, Iowa, Twelfth Avenue CRC in the Grand Rapids suburb of Jenison, Grace CRC in Kalamazoo, Lake Worth CRC in Florida, and Doon CRC in Iowa. Vander Kam is survived by his wife Elaine, two daughters and three sons, and over ten grandchildren. His daughters still live in west Michigan. His eldest son Henry Vander Kam is an attorney in Houston; Dr. Jim Vander Kam is a specialist on the Dead Sea Scrolls teaching at the University of Notre Dame; David Vander Kam works in Saudi Arabia in international business. Funeral arrangements were incomplete as of press time. Cross-References to Related Articles: #1993-007: No Deposition for Former Synod President Vander Kam; Synodical Deputies Regret Failure to Take Strong Action #1995-031: Vander Kam Cites Health in Resignation from Alliance Church Order Study Committee #1995-097: Alliance of Reformed Churches' Oldest Serving Pastor Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Ordination Contact List: Dr. Nelson Kloosterman, Professor, Mid-America Reformed Seminary 229 Seminary Dr., Dyer, IN 46311 * O: (219) 864-2400 * FAX: (219) 864-2410 Mrs. Elaine Vander Kam 7691 Black Mar Circle, Kalamazoo, MI 49002 * H: (616) 324-3816 Elder Henry Visser, Vice-President, Free Christian Reformed Church 3724 Lovers Lane, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 * (616) 375-2239 ------------------------------------------------ file: /pub/resources/text/reformed: nr96-003.txt .