Beginning in 1847 and 1848, a continuous arrival of immigrants from the Netherlands established distinct communities in the Black River region, including Noordeloos, which was named for its first pastor’s native village and offered rich soil for farming. Early settlers had worshipped in Zeeland, but the five-mile distance and poor roads led parishioners to petition the Classis Holland on April 3, 1856, to organize their own Reformed church. The Reverend Koene van den Bosch, an influential seceder, was invited to minister to area settlers, arriving from Noordeloos, the Netherlands, on May 16, 1856, and becoming the first pastor of the Noordeloos Reformed Church after preaching his inaugural sermon from a farmer’s wagon in the woods. Religious discord in the Netherlands and antipathy with earlier religious leaders in the western Michigan settlements inspired a secession movement in the Reformed church under the Reverend van den Bosch, and at a meeting of the Classis Holland on April 8, 1857, he presented a letter of secession and, joined by three other churches, founded the Christian Reformed Church. Comprised of sixteen families, the group changed its name to Noordeloos Christian Reformed Church, and because its secession letter of March 14, 1857, was dated earlier than documents presented by fellow congregations, Noordeloos claims the distinction of being the first congregation of the Christian Reformed Church denomination.