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(I want to acknowledge and express public appreciation to Mr. Thomas Miersma for his thoughts and expertise on this subject. Tom, who is a senior in our seminary, has worked for Baker Book House and is currently serving on the Permanent Committee for the Publication of Protestant Reformed Literature.)

The title “Protestant Reformed” is very precious to the parents who call themselves by it. Not only do they demand that the preaching in the church be Protestant Reformed, but they see to it that the instruction in the home is also in harmony with the Scriptures. Since the school is an extension of the home, it necessarily follows that Protestant Reformed education is to be desired by such parents. 

“A motion is made, supported, and carried to authorize the editor to proceed with the publishing of….” So each new R.F.P.A. book has its beginning at a meeting of the Publications Committee. As soon as I receive the typewritten manuscript, I set to work. Every afternoon when my two young children nap, I collect the manuscript, dictionary, manual of style, Bible, and red ink pen, and settle down to proofread. An editor must read with an eye for many details. All punctuation and grammar must be correct.

It was in September of 1968 that the doors of Covenant Christian High opened to admit the first group of young people of our Protestant Reformed Churches in the Grand Rapids area who were privileged to receive their secondary education in our own Protestant Reformed high school. The idea of starting that school, however, had been born long before. In the September 15, 1937 issue of theStandard Bearer there appeared an article entitled, “Our Own Christian High School.” In that article Rev.

Once a manuscript is ready and the Publications Committee has decided to print it, it goes to the Managing Editor. She is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the entire publishing process. First of all, the manuscript is edited and corrected by her, bids on typesetting and printing are obtained, and the production process begins.  The next step is typesetting. Recently almost all of our books have been typeset by Mrs. Judi Doezema, who does this work on a part-time basis in addition to her teaching. 

The permanent Committee for the Publication of Protestant Reformed Literature (P.C.P.P.R.L.) is the official name of that branch of the R.F.P.A. responsible for publishing our books. Our first book was copyrighted in 1966. By the end of 1981 we will have an even two dozen books listed in our catalogue.  How did all this have its beginning?  How does this organization operate? 

When you begin to ponder the history of the Northwest Protestant Reformed School, three dates seem to be foremost in the chronology of the school. They are June 1, 1960, August 28, 1967, and August 10, 1977. These dates seem to be certain milestones in our history. Through the events that took place on these dates we see God’s covenant faithfulness manifested in Doon. 

There are over one million children of school age in the greater Chicago area. Of these, eighty-nine attend the Protestant Reformed Christian School in South Holland. Nevertheless, while the enrollment of many of these large school systems is either dwindling or necessitating the closing of its doors altogether, our little school is growing. 

The Standard Bearer is in its 57th year of publication. This is a span of time greater than that of most religious publications. For this we have to be thankful to God who has preserved our “paper” through all these years. 

The history of any Christian school is associated with the history of the church which sends its children to that school. That is true of the Protestant Reformed Christian School in Loveland. Most of this article will deal with the history of our church people and their use of Christian schools in the past. Our school itself is like many other small Protestant Reformed Schools in the West, but the history of its church is unique.