Bill Van Dyk, who served the Christian Reformed Church as a pastor and administrator for over 40 years, has been described as a cherished pastor, an excellent preacher, and an academic highly respected by his peers at Calvin Theological Seminary. Bill, 95, died Nov. 15.
He felt God’s call to pastoral ministry as young as 16, on his way home from a youth convention. “I knew deep down that God, at that moment, was calling me to prepare for ministry. I never looked back, and I’ve never been sorry,” he reflected on the occasion of being recognized with the seminary’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2024.
A graduate of Calvin College (now University) and Seminary, Bill was ordained in 1955. He pastored Fourth Roseland CRC, Chicago, Ill.; Lake Worth (Fla.) CRC (now called Sunlight Community Church-Lake Worth); and Plymouth Heights CRC, Grand Rapids, Mich., where he served for 22 years. In 1986, Bill was appointed academic dean and associate professor of preaching at the seminary, where he remained until retirement in 1995.
Bill served on a variety of denominational boards and was a delegate to synod several times. In retirement he continued to preach and teach at home and abroad, including in Australia, eastern Africa, and Mexico. He contributed to the scholarly and denominational conversation, including publishing Belonging: An Introduction to the Faith and Life of the Christian Reformed Church in 1982 and Readings in the Books of the Apocrypha in 2014.
Predeceased in 2009 by Elaine, his wife of 56 years, Bill is survived by their five children, 11 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
About the Author
A former nurse and chaplain, Janet Greidanus is a freelance news correspondent and long-time writer of the In Memoriam column for The Banner.