Scope and Contents
The Bast collection contains radio messages, sermons, articles, his Western Theological Seminary graduation address, and the doctoral dissertation for the University of Michigan by Jacoba Dalebout regarding Bast’s radio sermons. The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject and papers chronologically within the folders.
Dates
- Creation: 1933 - 2018
Biography
Henry Bast was born in Zaalbommel, the Netherlands, on May 6, 1906. He immigrated to America in 1909 and grew up near Fennville, Michigan. Bast graduated from Hope College in 1930 and from Western Theological Seminary three years later. He received a doctorate from Hope College in 1956.
Dr. Bast’s first charge was at the Richmond Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He held this position until 1939, when he accepted the opportunity to become a professor of Bible at Hope College. In 1944, Henry Bast accepted the call to become the pastor of the Bethany Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. He remained Bethany’s pastor for 12 years, until he joined the faculty of Western Theological Seminary as professor of practical theology. In 1963, Bast felt the call to return to a pastorate, namely his former church, the Bethany Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. Bast was also the speaker on the Temple Time radio broadcast from 1952-1972. His second tenure with Bethany ended in 1972, when he gave up his position as senior pastor of the church and become the minister of calling. This final position ended in 1976. Dr. Bast died on March 29, 1983, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Henry Bast was a well-known person in the Reformed Church in America. While president of the General Synod from 1960-1961, he originated the idea of the General Synod Executive Committee. It was widely held that Bast was an excellent teacher, speaker, and preacher of the Word of God. He once told Dr. M. Eugene Osterhaven, “I so love to do it, I’d pay to preach.”
Extent
1.50 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Personal papers of Henry Bast, minister of the Reformed Church in America, professor at Hope College from 1939-1944, professor at Western Theological Seminary (WTS) from 1956-1963, and Temple Time speaker from 1952-1972. Contains radio messages, sermons, articles and his 1933 WTS graduation address. Also includes doctoral dissertation for the University of Michigan by Jacoba Dalebout regarding Bast’s radio sermons.
Provenance
Henry Bast
- Status
- Completed
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Hope College Archives and Special Collections Repository
Van Wylen Library
53 Graves Place
Holland Michigan 49423 United States
616-395-7798
archives@hope.edu