The Reverend Armand Renskers
By Jan Drolen
The Reverend Armand R. Renskers, Bethany's ninth pastor, was born August 10, 1928 in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin to Willis and Mary Garside Renskers. After graduating from Cedar Grove High School in 1946, he then attended Central College of Iowa, graduating in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He earned money for college by working summers and during vacations for a company that made cement silos. When he graduated from Central, he owed his father only $35 for his college expenses.
While at Central, Armand met Joyce Willemsen, a fellow student who grew up on a farm near Pella. Armand and Joyce were married on August 24, 1951, following his first year at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He graduated from New Brunswick in 1953 with a Masters of Divinity degree and was then ordained and installed as pastor of the Peapack Reformed Church of Gladstone, New Jersey. He served there until 1955 when he accepted a call to the Harrington Park Reformed Church of Harrington Park, New Jersey.
In the spring of 1960, the Reverend Renskers accepted a call to Bethany to become our ninth pastor, and he was installed in May. By this time, the Renskers had three young children: Ann Marie, born July 30, 1954; Kim Maureen, born February 3, 1956, and Armand Robert, Jr., born March 12, 1959 and known to all as Bobby. These three young children were definitely a hit with Bethany members, who enjoyed watching them grow and begin to participate in church activities.
Under the Reverend Renskers' leadership, Bethany both changed and prospered. Two of his projects remain with us today. He founded our monthly newsletter, The Clarion, in 1963. A new addition to the church was built and dedicated that same year. The addition includes the church offices and the pastor's study, the Gold Room, and the north wing of the social hall.
As important as these projects were, however, the Reverend Renskers' relationship with his congregation was even more significant. Soon after arriving at Bethany, he met with Club 59, a young couples group considering disbanding (only a year after they formed, as one could guess from the group's name!). He convinced them to continue as a group; one of their projects was the annual Country Fair and Auction in the church parking lot on a Saturday every June. He also became very involved with the two youth groups: Reformed Church Youth Fellowship (RCYF) for the high-school kids and Junior High Youth Fellowship (JHYF) for those in grades seven through nine. Both groups were large because of all the baby boomers (and a few pre-baby boomers), and the Reverend Renskers kept things lively with a huge variety of social activities in addition to the weekly Sunday evening meetings: summer retreats and camping adventures, social get-togethers after the Sunday evening service, and special trips. The highlight youth event during his time here was the RCYF spring vacation trip in 1964 to New Brunswick, New Jersey and New York City. The trip included visits to New Brunswick Seminary and the Elmendorf Reformed Church in Harlem, the Empire State Building, the United Nations, and Radio City Music Hall along with a three-night stay in the lovely King's Crown Hotel - a hotel not remotely kingly, but certainly cheap! This trip had been a goal of the RCYF for at least a year, and it kept the young people coming to church all the time for various fund-raisers and other activities related to the trip.
The Reverend Renskers was also a firm believer in vacation Bible school and midweek programs as well. Bethany held a two-week Bible school every summer he was here except for 1963, when the addition was built. He started a Thursday Family Night program that included catechism classes, choir practices, and prayer and Bible study sessions. He also involved Bethany in Western Theological Seminary's intern program, and two seminary students worked with us as interns during the time the Reverend Renskers was here: Harlan Ratmeyer from 1962-1963 and Donald Boyce from 1963-1965.
In the summer of 1965 the Reverend Renskers accepted a call to the Reformed Church in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, and he preached his final sermon for Bethany on Labor Day weekend. He served Pompton Lakes until 1968 when he accepted a call to the Second Reformed Church of Pella, Iowa, once served by the Reverend Edward Tanis, Bethany's sixth pastor. At Pella, he served as President of the Particular Synod of the West in 1972. The Renskers left Pella in 1975 for the First Reformed Church of Grand Haven, Michigan. In 1979 he became pastor of the Three Bridges Reformed Church in Three Bridges, New Jersey. While there he also served as president of the Particular Synod of the Mid-Atlantics from 1989-1990. The Reverend Renskers retired in 1993. During the last twenty years of the Renskers' ministry, Joyce also taught elementary school in addition to her work as a pastor's wife.
The Renskers now live in Des Moines, Iowa and they also have a winter home in Elenton, Florida. Son Bob earned his M.B.A. degree from Southern Methodist University and was working as a banker in Alabama when he died from a brain aneurysm in 1992. Daughters Ann and Kim are now both practicing attorneys. Ann and her husband own their own law firm in Des Moines, and Kim works on Long Island. Each has a son and a daughter, and all four of the Renskers' grandchildren are pursuing higher education degrees, from Ph.D's to college degrees.
The Reverend Armand Renskers and his wife Joyce served Bethany with joy, with energy, and with enthusiasm for over five years. Forty years later, their work here not only is remembered, but it lives on every time our members congregate in the Gold Room or gather for a banquet or celebration in the expanded Bennink Social Hall, or pick up our Clarions from our mailboxes. More importantly, their efforts of love and service to Bethany live on in the hearts and memories of many of our current members. We thank them and honor them for their dedicated service to Bethany.
© 2013 Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. All rights reserved.
While at Central, Armand met Joyce Willemsen, a fellow student who grew up on a farm near Pella. Armand and Joyce were married on August 24, 1951, following his first year at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He graduated from New Brunswick in 1953 with a Masters of Divinity degree and was then ordained and installed as pastor of the Peapack Reformed Church of Gladstone, New Jersey. He served there until 1955 when he accepted a call to the Harrington Park Reformed Church of Harrington Park, New Jersey.
In the spring of 1960, the Reverend Renskers accepted a call to Bethany to become our ninth pastor, and he was installed in May. By this time, the Renskers had three young children: Ann Marie, born July 30, 1954; Kim Maureen, born February 3, 1956, and Armand Robert, Jr., born March 12, 1959 and known to all as Bobby. These three young children were definitely a hit with Bethany members, who enjoyed watching them grow and begin to participate in church activities.
Under the Reverend Renskers' leadership, Bethany both changed and prospered. Two of his projects remain with us today. He founded our monthly newsletter, The Clarion, in 1963. A new addition to the church was built and dedicated that same year. The addition includes the church offices and the pastor's study, the Gold Room, and the north wing of the social hall.
As important as these projects were, however, the Reverend Renskers' relationship with his congregation was even more significant. Soon after arriving at Bethany, he met with Club 59, a young couples group considering disbanding (only a year after they formed, as one could guess from the group's name!). He convinced them to continue as a group; one of their projects was the annual Country Fair and Auction in the church parking lot on a Saturday every June. He also became very involved with the two youth groups: Reformed Church Youth Fellowship (RCYF) for the high-school kids and Junior High Youth Fellowship (JHYF) for those in grades seven through nine. Both groups were large because of all the baby boomers (and a few pre-baby boomers), and the Reverend Renskers kept things lively with a huge variety of social activities in addition to the weekly Sunday evening meetings: summer retreats and camping adventures, social get-togethers after the Sunday evening service, and special trips. The highlight youth event during his time here was the RCYF spring vacation trip in 1964 to New Brunswick, New Jersey and New York City. The trip included visits to New Brunswick Seminary and the Elmendorf Reformed Church in Harlem, the Empire State Building, the United Nations, and Radio City Music Hall along with a three-night stay in the lovely King's Crown Hotel - a hotel not remotely kingly, but certainly cheap! This trip had been a goal of the RCYF for at least a year, and it kept the young people coming to church all the time for various fund-raisers and other activities related to the trip.
The Reverend Renskers was also a firm believer in vacation Bible school and midweek programs as well. Bethany held a two-week Bible school every summer he was here except for 1963, when the addition was built. He started a Thursday Family Night program that included catechism classes, choir practices, and prayer and Bible study sessions. He also involved Bethany in Western Theological Seminary's intern program, and two seminary students worked with us as interns during the time the Reverend Renskers was here: Harlan Ratmeyer from 1962-1963 and Donald Boyce from 1963-1965.
In the summer of 1965 the Reverend Renskers accepted a call to the Reformed Church in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, and he preached his final sermon for Bethany on Labor Day weekend. He served Pompton Lakes until 1968 when he accepted a call to the Second Reformed Church of Pella, Iowa, once served by the Reverend Edward Tanis, Bethany's sixth pastor. At Pella, he served as President of the Particular Synod of the West in 1972. The Renskers left Pella in 1975 for the First Reformed Church of Grand Haven, Michigan. In 1979 he became pastor of the Three Bridges Reformed Church in Three Bridges, New Jersey. While there he also served as president of the Particular Synod of the Mid-Atlantics from 1989-1990. The Reverend Renskers retired in 1993. During the last twenty years of the Renskers' ministry, Joyce also taught elementary school in addition to her work as a pastor's wife.
The Renskers now live in Des Moines, Iowa and they also have a winter home in Elenton, Florida. Son Bob earned his M.B.A. degree from Southern Methodist University and was working as a banker in Alabama when he died from a brain aneurysm in 1992. Daughters Ann and Kim are now both practicing attorneys. Ann and her husband own their own law firm in Des Moines, and Kim works on Long Island. Each has a son and a daughter, and all four of the Renskers' grandchildren are pursuing higher education degrees, from Ph.D's to college degrees.
The Reverend Armand Renskers and his wife Joyce served Bethany with joy, with energy, and with enthusiasm for over five years. Forty years later, their work here not only is remembered, but it lives on every time our members congregate in the Gold Room or gather for a banquet or celebration in the expanded Bennink Social Hall, or pick up our Clarions from our mailboxes. More importantly, their efforts of love and service to Bethany live on in the hearts and memories of many of our current members. We thank them and honor them for their dedicated service to Bethany.
© 2013 Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. All rights reserved.
