His Faithfulness Continues by Robert P. Swierenga

In the first half of the 20th century, Dutch immigrants to North America started a number of CRC churches and, often, just a few years later, Christian Schools. One such school, the Timothy Christian Schools in the Chicago area, is the subject of His Faithfulness Continues.

This book takes a detailed look at the founding of the school in 1907 and traces the history of the school from that point to now. This is not a short book! At over 800 pages, Timothy alum and historian Robert Swierenga names names and gets very specific about how certain events happened. He notes, for example, how much time and energy the school board put into dealing with unruly boys in the early days of the school.

The chapter on the racial tensions and racism in Cicero in the early 1960s gives an interesting look at a painful part of their history. The school board was under pressure from local churches, classes, teachers, pastors, and even synod to open the school to all children, but the board insisted that the Cicero community would not stand for it and it would be dangerous for their students.

This story of Timothy serves as an interesting case study of how many early CRC members sacrificed to found Christian schools across the U.S. and Canada. (Van Raalte Press)