Although the skyline of the city has changed with the competition to build the tallest building in Grand Rapids, one item remains the same – the many steeples of the churches that are the foundation of our ancestors who settled along the banks of the Grand River.
Each of these represents our past and the immigrants that settled in our area to give Grand Rapids the nickname “Furniture City”.
In this series you will follow the Steeple Chase throughout this great city and view the awe inspiring architecture of our forefathers. The distinct architectural styles represent the great churches of Europe from which these immigrants fled to find a new life in the United States.
This is not meant to promote any one religion, but to show how all have blended together within the City of Grand Rapids to make this one great place to live.
Lee Street Christian Reformed Church
In the early 1920’s, the area around the present site of Lee Street Christian Reformed Church (CRC) was settled by Dutch immigrants. By 1926, the group of settlers wanted to form their own church and sought assistance from nearby Grandville Avenue CRC. With financial and leadership assistance, Lee Street CRC was built.
Unlike the other CRC’s in the area, the new congregation of Lee Street wanted to worship together in the language of their new country and was one of the first to offer services only in English.
The church continued to flourish and boasted a membership of over a 1,000 parishioners in the 1950’s and 1960’s. During the 1970’s, European settlers began to sprawl into the suburbs. As families moved from the area and attended churches closer to their new homes, they were quickly replaced by new immigrants primarily of Hispanic descent. Many of the churches in the areas changed ownership, but Lee CRC embraced the new families and continued to serve the Godfrey-Lee area. The church continues strong today and provides services in both English and Spanish.
(source: https://www.leestcrc.org/welcome/our-story/)