In the late 1940s and the early 1950s, many large families arrived in southern Alberta from the Netherlands to work in the sugar beet fields. Leaving their extended families behind, they got to know each other and they relied on each other for companionship. As more of them got to know each other they realized they wanted to worship together. Even though they came from different denominations (Hervormd, Gereformeerd, Christelijk Gereformeerd) they felt they had enough in common that they could worship together as one congregation under the auspices of the Christian Reformed Church of North America.

So then the real work began; where to worship, getting a pastor and eventually building a church. The place was Iron Springs. The pastor was Reverend John de Jong, as a missionary pastor sent by the Christian Reformed Church in Manhattan, Montana. He and his wife had first come to check the place out, whereupon he said he hoped the Lord wouldn’t send them there. But his wife replied, “This is the place you will go. You cannot say no to that need.”

In April 1949, the Iron Springs Christian Reformed Church was given official status by Classis Alberta South. Next came the need for a building. The United Church in Iron Springs graciously offered the use of their building, but as more and more new families arrived it soon became too small and the Iron Springs Community Hall was used. It had been poorly built and was bitterly cold in the winter. They realized they would have to build their own sanctuary. Construction began in July 1949 and was completed in March 1951, much of it done with volunteer labor. The Bible tells us that God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform; but when you get a bunch of stubborn Dutchmen working together it becomes as Harriet Schuld so well put it, “We often moved in hysterical ways our blunders to perform!” The parsonage was built in 1950.

During the night of March 9, 1958, the church built with so much love, was totally destroyed by a fire that started in the furnace room. Getkate Masonry Construction built a new church which was completed in February 1959. In the convening years a Fellowship Hall was added and various renovations to the sanctuary were undertaken, such as the existing pews being replaced by padded pews, replacing the windows, installing a new sound system, replacing the roof shingles, etc.

Over the years changes came within the life of the congregation. The first was that women were allowed to vote, followed by changes in Communion from using the communal cup while gathered around a large table to small individual glass cups while remaining in the pews. Later as the Denomination allowed women in office, our congregation dealt with those issues slowly and cautiously to make sure the congregation was ready for such changes. First female deacons were allowed and then years later female elders, all done amicably and not dictatorially.

Today we are a fairly eclectic congregation of people of different backgrounds and nationalities. To sum up, ‘Soli Deo Gloria’ – to God be the glory!

–Submitted by Gerty Heinen