The Ecclesiastical Strife of Rev. W.C. Wust (2)

L. Vogelaar, Scherpenzeel, the Netherlands

After enduring some emotionally draining years as exhorter and minister in Den Helder, Rev. Wust moved to his second congregation in the town of Giessendam in the province of South Holland in 1846. Because his relationship with several other ministers in the Reformed Congregations under the Cross deteriorated, he decided to go to the United States. He informed his congregation of his decision in 1847. He still remained in the Netherlands for a while, but it led to a break with the denomination. It is an example of the many trivial arguments which took place in the seceded congregations. In spite of all of the human errors, however, the Lord maintained these congregations.

In 1848, Rev. Wust immigrated to Low Prairie, Illinois (near South Holland), with a portion of his congregation. Shortly before this time, large groups of immigrants under the leadership of several seceded ministers had traveled to the United States; Rev. H.P. Scholte traveled to Iowa in 1846, and Rev. A.C. Van Raalte and Rev. C. Vander Meulen traveled to western Michigan. Their stay was permanent, but Rev. Wust returned to the Netherlands three times for short periods. He went back to Giessendam in 1850. He wrote of this trip, “What a terrible, soul-destroying situation we experienced before we were able to board our ship. It seemed as if God came against me in every way on this journey. First we missed the train, after that we were too late for the first boat, and in New York we had to wait for the sailing vessel.”

This waiting was probably the reason that he had enough time to perform a marriage on July 1, in New York. It was the marriage of Bastian Breure, a God-fearing fisherman from West Sayville, Long Island, NY. Mr. Breure later published a booklet in Dutch about the Wonderful Leadings of the Lord with Bastiaan Breure. * (This booklet was translated and appeared as a series in The Banner of Truth from January through October 2009.) Because of disappointments in church life, Mr. Breure read sermons in his home. Several years after his death, a Netherlands Reformed Congregation was established in West Sayville which lasted from 1912 until 1951.

Genuinely Reformed

Rev. Wust moved back to the United States in 1854. While there, he served the Reformed Church of America (RCA) in Buffalo (1854) and Rochester (1856), both of which were in New York State. In 1864 he went to Lodi, New Jersey.

In Jilles van der Koogh’s biography, Gods vrijmachtige genade verheerlijkt in de krachtdadige bekering van Jilles van derKoogh 1788-1877 (God’s Free Grace Glorified in the Powerful Conversion of Jilles van derKoogh) it is written that he came to the United States from Holland to visit his children in the years 1866 to 1868. While residing in Hackensack, New Jersey, he wrote to his daughter in the Netherlands, “Approximately one hour from us there is a genuinely Reformed minister, Rev. W.C. Wust. I can assure you that his teachings are in full agreement with the Holy Scriptures, the experiences of God’s children, and the Synod of Dordt. I have also spent a day at his home, where we were heartily united with one another and have spoken of the grounds of our salvation and how this was already confirmed from eternity in the Council of Peace by a Triune God.”

Van der Koogh became a member of Rev. Wust’s congregation; however, he could not go there in the winter months because the roads were so poor. He wrote to his daughter, “When I am in church by Rev. Wust, the Lord does not leave Himself without witness. There I may, as it concerns my soul, enjoy some rest.”

Van der Koogh felt very lonely. “Besides Rev. Wust, I do not have one friend here, so that I frequently ask, ‘Lord, what must I do in this country? I am unable to testify of Thy praise and glory.’” When he was approximately eighty years old, he returned to the Netherlands. He continued his contacts with Rev. Wust through regular correspondence.

Warning documents

Rev. Wust was greatly concerned regarding the developments in the churches of the immigrants. He noted departures in both life and doctrine. The preaching was often not of a separating nature, and faith was pressed upon the hearers. “God the Almighty is witness how for years I have sighed, wept, wrestled, and prayed and have had to complain about world conformity, self-willed religion, boasting, and false praise, and also the clamor about wisdom, advancement, and growth.”

Rev. Wust published several articles “to make my soul free and to warn those children of God who had been misled and to make known to the ignorant the deceit.” When Rev. Wust and his consistory were deposed in 1868, the congregation left the RCA. He wrote extensively about his life and his strife in the book, Mijn twee-en-veertigjarige Loopbaan in de Kerk Gods, tevens als een verantwoordiging aan het levende volk van God (My Forty-two Years in the Church of God and Also My Responsibility toward the Living People of the Lord.*) The book, which was written as a dialogue, is marked by the lengthy strife he experienced in church life. “Many have been accepted as true believers, whereof many have become leaders in the church, but of whom it must be said that they have never been changed either in heart or which king they serve,” Rev. Wust wrote. “We will all be weighed in the balances, but I wish to testify that I love God’s people for Christ’s sake and that I write about my life as a preacher with an eye towards glorifying God’s grace and to be of benefit for God’s people. Although I have reached an high age, I still enjoy sufficient good health and strength to proclaim my Rock and that His work is just.”

A new denomination

Contacts were made with another independent congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During a visit of Rev. Wust to this congregation, the Netherlands Reformed Denomination was founded on January 8, 1877.

In 1879, Rev. Wust left for Nieuw Beijerland in the Netherlands, but in 1881, he returned to Lodi. “With heartfelt joy my old congregation received me again in her midst, and even the American citizens, including Roman Catholics, greeted us and welcomed us to Lodi.”

During the vacant period a consistory room had been added to the church, and there was also a substantial parsonage. What was more important, “There had been growth in grace among the elders. The burden of leading the vacant congregation had brought them upon their knees.”

Rev. Wust was somber-minded about the state of the church. In 1882, however, he ended his book, Mijn twee-en-veertigjarige Loopbaan ... (My Forty-two Years ...*) with the words, “And so I await my God at Lodi. Amen.”

Minister in Passaic

In 1883, he received another field of labor for a short period of time; he became the first minister of the new congregation in Passaic, NJ (now the Clifton congregation). After he was granted emeritus status in 1884, Rev. Wust returned to the Netherlands. During this trip he wrote his last booklet, which was not published. The title was Mijn twee-en-veertigjarige Loopbaan ... Salvation Only Revealed in God’s Church. In this booklet he expounded the doctrine of election. He again wrote about the concerns regarding the developments in the American churches.

He was quite discouraged. According to him it would be better if all people of Reformed persuasion would leave the United States. The Netherlands had also departed from the truth, but there the blood of the martyrs had been shed.

On May 8, 1885, Rev. Wust landed in the Netherlands. Later that year he could still commemorate his 45th anniversary in the ministry. On the 18th of November, 1886, he died in Amsterdam at the age of seventy-nine. Then all personal and ecclesiastical strife had ended, and all discouragement and despondency had ceased.

His message was preserved in his writings. The denomination for which he laid the foundations in 1877 still exists.

*Title of book has been loosely translated. Ed.

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