Church History
Pine Grove Community Church began as a satellite Sunday School project of Grant Christian Reformed Church in 1956 in a one room School House that only held 100-120 people. Church services in the 1960s and 1970s began to draw large crowds of vacationers so an additional church service on Sunday morning was added during the summer but worshippers were turned away. The leadership of Pine Grove Chapel began looking for a solution.
The first suggestion to deal with the space crunch was to set up a satellite service in Croton. Pine Grove Chapel was still under the direction of the Grant CRC council. When they were asked to give permission, they wisely said no. The Chapel simply didn’t have the depth of leadership or finances to sustain such an effort. As the leaders of Pine Grove Chapel continued to search for a solution, a church member offered the use of his Big Top sales tent if Grant CRC would give permission. There was quite a discussion, including concerns about setting up a circus on M-82, but in the end, permission was given.
Some fun memories from the tent services include:
- During the first tent service it rained so hard that water ran under the wooden benches and chairs causing some wet and muddy shoes. Some thought it a sign that worship should not be under the tent.
- Some members remember the Sunday when the tent collapsed during a severe thunderstorm. The tent was evacuated and shortly after the last person exited the tent, a strong burst of wind lifted the tent, and it came down with a thud onto the wooden benches
- There was the mouse in the old, upright piano event. A mouse surprised the pianist from the left side opening of the piano just above the keyboard and played “catch me if you can” with her left hand. She flipped her left hand each time the mouse came out and shooed it away but never missed a beat.
- There was also the Sunday when the dog came to church and paraded right in front of the preacher, entering from the north side and exiting the south side.
- One of the ushers sometimes charged twenty-five cents for bulletins (or donations accepted) when handing them out to the guests he seated. He did this just for a little humor and one year raised $170 which was donated to the Children’s Ministry at Pine Grove.
Children's Ministry at Pine Grove
The building that is now the church was built in the 1990s and the basement was used as an all- purpose room with accordion-style walls so that classrooms could be used but we could also have potlucks that would feed an army. The old church basement was still utilized by the Cadets for several years until the Family Life Center was built in 2004. Permanent walls were added in the church basement at that time and the old church was demolished.
Pine Grove Community Church has had a unique ministry like no other and is lovingly referred to as “The Tent Church on M-82.