Pastor Chester Meengs
By Jan Drolen
The Reverend Chester A. Meengs, Bethany’s seventh pastor, was born October 15, 1909 in Vriesland, Michigan. He attended the Vriesland Public Schools and graduated from Zeeland High School in 1927. At Zeeland High, he edited an award-winning high-school yearbook with a good friend, Willard Wichers. He then entered Hope College in 1927 as a member of the class of 1931, and when Wichers was elected editor of the 1931 Hope yearbook, The Milestone, Meengs became the business manager for his good friend. He and Wichers took a year off from their studies to work full time on the yearbook.
Chester Meengs then graduated from Hope College with the class of 1932, and studied at Western Theological Seminary, earning his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1937. He served the Atwood Reformed Church of Ellsworth, Michigan from 1937 to 1942 and then the Fifth Reformed Church of Muskegon, Michigan from 1942 to 1947. Bethany extended a call to the Reverend Meengs in August of 1947. He accepted Bethany’s call and began his service here in October of 1947. By then, the Reverend Meengs and his wife, the former Gertrude Holleman of Byron Center, Michigan, had three children: Marcia, 6, John 4, and Alyce Lynn, one.
Many significant events and important changes occurred in the life of Bethany Reformed Church under the Reverend Meengs’ leadership. The congregation voted to employ a church secretary/community worker. Miss Jessie VanDyke served in that role from 1948 to 1950, and she was succeeded in 1950 by Miss Leona McFarland. Both young women were hired through the Grand Rapids Bible Institute. Bethany’s Service Star Mothers, in memory of our members who served in the Armed Forces during World War II, presented a stained-glass window, “Christ Knocking at the Door,” to the church in November of 1950.
Bethany had now grown in number to 296 families with 547 communicant members and a Sunday school enrollment of 667. Because of this growth, the need was felt for additional space, and a balcony was designed and built in 1952 for $20,000. The church basement was also remodeled and a chapel was built to serve the needs of the youth and to hold mid-week prayer services. Bethany also added mission support units in Africa, the Philippines, Nebraska, and in Radio Ceylon, and Japan.
The Reverend Meengs was Bethany’s pastor during our fiftieth anniversary celebration in October of 1955. Bethany now numbered 306 families, 326 baptized members, and 564 communicant members. Plans were begun under the Reverend Meengs’ leadership for Bethany to start a new Reformed Church in the Milwood area. Greenwood Reformed Church would officially organize in 1956. In January of 1956, however, the Reverend Meengs and his family left Bethany after he accepted a call to the Trinity Reformed Church of Waupun, Wisconsin. He served there until 1961, when he accepted a call to the Emmanuel Reformed Church of inner-city Chicago, Illinois.The Meengs family served there until 1967, when he and Gertrude accepted positions on the staff of the Southern Normal School in Brewton , Alabama, a school sponsored by the Reformed Church that seeks to give a quality education to African American youth. The Reverend Meengs and Gertrude were still serving on the staff at Southern Normal School when he died while on vacation in Petoskey, Michigan, July 6, 1974, after suffering a massive stroke. The Meengs family chose Bethany as the church from which to hold his funeral, and it was conducted from the sanctuary the following week. Just a year earlier, in June of 1973, the Reverend Meengs had participated in the dedication of Bethany ’s rebuilt sanctuary after the March, 1972 fire.
Gertrude Meengs remained on the staff of the Southern Normal School until 1981 when she retired and moved to St. Petersburg , Florida. In 1992, she moved to Cave Junction, Oregon, to be closer to two of her children who lived there, son John and daughter Alyce Lynn Kendall. Gertrude Meengs died May 7, 2003 in Cave Junction. By then she had taught Sunday School for 70 years, was an ordained elder, and had been honored for her 55 years of Christian ministry by the Reformed Church in America. A memorial service for her was held in the chapel of the Third Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan on June 21, 2003.
A fitting way to close the biography of our seventh pastor is with a look at his own words about Bethany , as they appeared in the fiftieth anniversary book:
"Allow me to begin these few words on a personal note. Our stay in Kalamazoo has been a most pleasant one; we have come to love Bethany very deeply. Our children feel that Kalamazoo is home; most of their days have been spent here. We are grateful for the deep Christian experiences which they have known and the fine Christian fellowship which has been their portion. Vie, your pastor and pastor’s wife, are also deeply grateful. Your kindness has been more than we had a right to ask or expect. It is true that there have been times when we knew heartache. However, these heavier experiences have also been used by God to enrich our lives. Again, accept our hearty and humble thanks.
"Fifty years of glorious history are past. I am certain that our fathers never dreamed that their faithful efforts would result in the flood of spiritual blessings which we have known. We have known great spiritual leaders. God has been very, very good to us at Bethany. We must spend much time in thanksgiving. It is also good for us to remember that God blesses us so that we may be a blessing. God forbid that we should be satisfied with that which has been accomplished. This experience, these days, must be days of re-dedication. Let us pray that God may use us to further His kingdom; that He may lay his hand upon our sons and daughters to glorify His name and spread the Good News throughout the world. If these are our desires, then this shall truly have been a year of Jubilee."
© 2013 Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. All rights reserved.
Chester Meengs then graduated from Hope College with the class of 1932, and studied at Western Theological Seminary, earning his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1937. He served the Atwood Reformed Church of Ellsworth, Michigan from 1937 to 1942 and then the Fifth Reformed Church of Muskegon, Michigan from 1942 to 1947. Bethany extended a call to the Reverend Meengs in August of 1947. He accepted Bethany’s call and began his service here in October of 1947. By then, the Reverend Meengs and his wife, the former Gertrude Holleman of Byron Center, Michigan, had three children: Marcia, 6, John 4, and Alyce Lynn, one.
Many significant events and important changes occurred in the life of Bethany Reformed Church under the Reverend Meengs’ leadership. The congregation voted to employ a church secretary/community worker. Miss Jessie VanDyke served in that role from 1948 to 1950, and she was succeeded in 1950 by Miss Leona McFarland. Both young women were hired through the Grand Rapids Bible Institute. Bethany’s Service Star Mothers, in memory of our members who served in the Armed Forces during World War II, presented a stained-glass window, “Christ Knocking at the Door,” to the church in November of 1950.
Bethany had now grown in number to 296 families with 547 communicant members and a Sunday school enrollment of 667. Because of this growth, the need was felt for additional space, and a balcony was designed and built in 1952 for $20,000. The church basement was also remodeled and a chapel was built to serve the needs of the youth and to hold mid-week prayer services. Bethany also added mission support units in Africa, the Philippines, Nebraska, and in Radio Ceylon, and Japan.
The Reverend Meengs was Bethany’s pastor during our fiftieth anniversary celebration in October of 1955. Bethany now numbered 306 families, 326 baptized members, and 564 communicant members. Plans were begun under the Reverend Meengs’ leadership for Bethany to start a new Reformed Church in the Milwood area. Greenwood Reformed Church would officially organize in 1956. In January of 1956, however, the Reverend Meengs and his family left Bethany after he accepted a call to the Trinity Reformed Church of Waupun, Wisconsin. He served there until 1961, when he accepted a call to the Emmanuel Reformed Church of inner-city Chicago, Illinois.The Meengs family served there until 1967, when he and Gertrude accepted positions on the staff of the Southern Normal School in Brewton , Alabama, a school sponsored by the Reformed Church that seeks to give a quality education to African American youth. The Reverend Meengs and Gertrude were still serving on the staff at Southern Normal School when he died while on vacation in Petoskey, Michigan, July 6, 1974, after suffering a massive stroke. The Meengs family chose Bethany as the church from which to hold his funeral, and it was conducted from the sanctuary the following week. Just a year earlier, in June of 1973, the Reverend Meengs had participated in the dedication of Bethany ’s rebuilt sanctuary after the March, 1972 fire.
Gertrude Meengs remained on the staff of the Southern Normal School until 1981 when she retired and moved to St. Petersburg , Florida. In 1992, she moved to Cave Junction, Oregon, to be closer to two of her children who lived there, son John and daughter Alyce Lynn Kendall. Gertrude Meengs died May 7, 2003 in Cave Junction. By then she had taught Sunday School for 70 years, was an ordained elder, and had been honored for her 55 years of Christian ministry by the Reformed Church in America. A memorial service for her was held in the chapel of the Third Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan on June 21, 2003.
A fitting way to close the biography of our seventh pastor is with a look at his own words about Bethany , as they appeared in the fiftieth anniversary book:
"Allow me to begin these few words on a personal note. Our stay in Kalamazoo has been a most pleasant one; we have come to love Bethany very deeply. Our children feel that Kalamazoo is home; most of their days have been spent here. We are grateful for the deep Christian experiences which they have known and the fine Christian fellowship which has been their portion. Vie, your pastor and pastor’s wife, are also deeply grateful. Your kindness has been more than we had a right to ask or expect. It is true that there have been times when we knew heartache. However, these heavier experiences have also been used by God to enrich our lives. Again, accept our hearty and humble thanks.
"Fifty years of glorious history are past. I am certain that our fathers never dreamed that their faithful efforts would result in the flood of spiritual blessings which we have known. We have known great spiritual leaders. God has been very, very good to us at Bethany. We must spend much time in thanksgiving. It is also good for us to remember that God blesses us so that we may be a blessing. God forbid that we should be satisfied with that which has been accomplished. This experience, these days, must be days of re-dedication. Let us pray that God may use us to further His kingdom; that He may lay his hand upon our sons and daughters to glorify His name and spread the Good News throughout the world. If these are our desires, then this shall truly have been a year of Jubilee."
© 2013 Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan. All rights reserved.
