by Arthur (Bud) Van Eck
edited by Bob Terwilliger, fall 2023
My journey began in the early fall of 1924; I was born on June 6, 1925 in Denver, Colorado, to Arthur W. Van Eck and Bessie (deVoogd) Van Eck. (At one time, there were six Arthur Van Ecks in Holland and Grand Rapids.) I was baptized in First Reformed Church (Denver). My childhood memories of Denver are slim but include going to the firehouse to watch my dad play horseshoes with the firemen, shortly after which my dad was sent to Sunshine Tuberculosis (TB) Sanitarium in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for TB related to the mustard gas he had received in World War I. This move by Dad caused our move to Grand Rapids, an encumbered move for me at four years old, as I was wearing a full-length plaster cast on my broken left leg as a result of an accident.
Without a dad in the household and without adequate income, our family lived with various relatives until Dad was released from the sanitarium. (He re-entered several times in subsequent years and died in 1971 when his lung collapsed.) Although he was not present in my life some of the time, when he was, we did many things together, such as gardening, fishing, going to ball games, and singing. Both my mom and dad were strong spiritual influences but not in a “pushy” way.
A beneficent person sold a “needs repair” home to my parents. Since Dad was a carpenter by trade, it became livable with the help of other family members. He worked on this between his times in the sanitarium. My walk to Beckwith Country School, grades 1–8, was 1.5 miles each way. Being in the country gave us the opportunity for sledding, skating, and hikes in the woods at recess.
Creston High School (graduated in 1943) was a growing experience. I was a joiner: choir (started out as a tenor and ended up as a bass), Model Airplane Club, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), and Science Club. My intent was to become a research scientist. I played on the varsity tennis team and was head manager for the football team. During this period, war was declared. On the next Monday, rumor was that the ROTC would be deployed to guard the bridges over the Grand River only a rumor. In late February of 1943, I enlisted to be trained as a naval aviator. (Buzz Sawyer in the GR Herald was my hero and motivation.) Faculty voted me the outstanding male senior upon graduation.
My spiritual life, outside our home, was shaped by my church, Fourth Reformed in Grand Rapids, and by Christian Endeavor. At my last count, at least 40 of Fourth’s sons and daughters had entered ministry work of some kind. This included the social activist A.J. Muste and my sister, Ann Jane, who married Harmon (Bud) Wierenga.
Christian Endeavor was not only a weekly meeting led by high-schoolers, but a monthly gathering of churches and an annual state-wide gathering. It played a significant role in forming me spiritually and as a leader. A Christian Endeavor event after the war was also the place where I first met Bea Van Heest, who would become my wife of more than 74 years.
I entered the Navy on July 1, 1943. My first duty station was Central Michigan College (correct name at that time) where future officers, just out of high school, need some basic college education before going on to flight training. The education consisted of some college courses, Navy courses, lots of physical training and marching. I had a girlfriend at the time with a commitment to marriage; six months after Central Michigan, she sent me a “Dear John” letter. I didn’t even know she was dating.
After two semesters at Central Michigan, those of us who were designated for Flight Training were sent for two months to Naval Air Station in Grosse Ile, Michigan. We were known as “tarmacs,” which meant that we were low on the work list and were assigned the low grade work. It was a good experience, however, as we worked with the airplane we would later fly, the Stearman. After two months, I was off to Wooster College, a Presbyterian School where again we did a lot of marching, played hardball athletics, learned overwater navigation, including celestial navigation, dated local coeds, and majored in hand-to-hand combat in case we survived a non-friendly landing. This was called Flight Preparatory School. I wouldn’t fly for another nine months.
Then I was off to the University of Iowa (why my sport loyalty is Hope, University of Michigan and Michigan State University, Iowa). This was Pre-Flight School. Hard, tough, disciplined. All sports. I didn’t like boxing or wrestling. Highlights included Baptist House (a place to hang out), meeting Jeanne P. there, who was my girlfriend throughout, compulsory church, and 4,000 people filling the Iowa Fieldhouse. I sang in the 100-voice men’s choir—beautiful and moving. I saw a lot of football as both Navy played and Iowa played. I still remember the Cadet Regiment marching into that packed stadium. No jet fly-over, though.
My next stop was Primary Flight Training at the Naval Air Station in Norman, Oklahoma. Here I learned to fly in the Yellow Peril, N2S Stearman open cockpit bi-plane.
My final training base was Pensacola, Florida, which included being trained at five different airfields on the SNJ and the SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber. I received my Wings as a Naval Aviator on March 26, 1946, and was commissioned a second Lieutenant, USMCR. I was discharged on July 25 of that same year but continued in the reserves for six more years.
The fall of 1946 led me to enroll in Hope College along with my sister, Ann Van Eck, an Army Nurse returning from the Philippines. We graduated in 1948 from Hope together; I was president of the class; she was secretary. As in high school, I was a joiner: Men’s Glee Club, choir, Knicks, Inter-Varsity, Saraspotak Relief, and Pre-Sem Club.
I had received nudgings toward ministry throughout much of my early life, confirmed by a progressive Southern Baptist preacher in Pensacola, Florida, where I had been stationed.
I entered Western Theological Seminary in 1948. After my first year, Beatrice Van Heest and I were married (we just celebrated 74 years of marriage) and in due time welcomed Barbara. Toward the end of seminary years, the Board of Foreign Missions explored my willingness to go to Africa as a missionary pilot. However, the family TB strain is inactive in my system and this was a barrier.
We were challenged to begin a new congregation in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, just west of Wyandotte, in a community that became Southgate. We started ground-up with a handful of folk who belonged to Reformed churches miles away in Detroit. The congregation, Calvary Community Church, grew like a sunflower; surely God was at work. Within a few years, a much larger church building was necessary.
During this time, at the synod’s request, I took a leave of absence to visit major eastern Great Lakes cities and to map out the directions of growth as possibilities of new church development. I would consult with city planners about those areas, then write a synod report called “Open Doors.”
During my time at Calvary, I had an interest in many things. I played on all the sports teams, directed the choirs until someone else came along, involved myself in teaching every grade level class, as well as teaching at the annual Leadership School at Hope College. This led the RCA Board of Education to call me to the position of director of adult education in New York City, which I accepted. In early 1963, we sadly left our beloved community and moved to Waldwick, New Jersey.
I served for 19 years in various positions in the Board of Education, the Program Council, etc. Sometimes I had a staff; sometimes I was on someone else’s staff. It all depended on what reorganization we were in at the time and how long it lasted. When the church growth emphasis came along, everyone had to give at least 10 percent of their time to church growth. I don’t remember that we ever asked whether there were results from that 10 percent.
I was in charge of men’s work, the Brotherhood, which only older readers will remember. I had to visit and choose what hotels we were going to. Fun, really. The meetings were “hail fellow,” pretty much a shoring up of status quo but probably some glue that kept East and West RCA lay persons talking to each other.
One of my highlights was staffing the Festival of Evangelism at Cobo Hall in Detroit in June 1970. The RCA was on the verge of splitting and had an action prepared. But the spirit of the Festival turned aside such action. I also co-staffed with Ted Bechtel the Festival of Mission in 1971 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and participated in planning the Family Festival in the Rockies. Also during this time, the RCA curriculum “Heritage and Hope” was developed, edited by Dr. George Brown. Most of my ministry was in assisting teachers to become more effective and to develop curriculum more appropriate to the RCA. In 1969, I earned a Doctorate in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
In 1982, all eight RCA Education Staff were terminated due to budget cuts. At that time, an opening in the National Council of the Churches of Christ (NCCC) was available for Adult and Family Ministries, which I applied for and was given. This began a 15-year tenure with NCCC in various positions, including as associate general secretary and director of Bible Translation. It was in this later position that I became project manager for the NRSV, which led to my travel to English- speaking countries to introduce the NRSV. I retired in 1976 but was retained to assist the Russian Orthodox Church to develop a church school curriculum.
While working for decades as a staff member at “475,” I had often wondered if I was still a pastor. I was invited by Hope Church (Holland, Michigan) to serve for one year as interim minister along with Evelyn Diephouse. Yes, God still enabled my pastoral gifts.
We had moved to our home on a small lake just east of the village of Fife Lake, Michigan, where we had had various cabins since 1952. We still live there; I am 98, and Bea is 94, both in relatively good health. We attend the Presbyterian Church in Traverse City where one of the pastors is a recent Western Theological Seminary grad.
How does one discern God’s call? For me, it was always a place of ministry that was open and interesting; I was open and interested. After thoughtful, prayerful time with my spouse and family, the decision was made.
After my interim at Hope Church, I decided that I would not do any more and would give myself to the community I lived in. I formed Friends of the Library and spearheaded the building of a new library. I am still a member of Friends after 25 years. Also, I helped raise funds for the historical society to buy an old 1878 school house. There are now three museums in this small village.
Bea and I continue to participate in small groups, although the drive into Traverse City takes 50 minutes. We have four children: Barbara, Arthur, Mary, and Tim (deceased), eight grandchildren, and fifteen great-grandchildren, scattered all over the U.S.
Bud received his BA from Hope College, an MDiv from Western Theological Seminary, an EdD from Columbia University, and an honorary DD from Hope College. He served Calvary in Southgate, Michigan;, as director of adult education for the RCA; as secretary for Church Life and Mission for the RCA; as director of education for the National Council of Churches; as associate general secretary of education for the NCCC; as director of the NRSV Project for the NCCC; and as interim at Hope Reformed in Holland, Michigan. Bud and Bea live in Fife Lake, Michigan. budnbea@gmail.com
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