Beets, Henry

BEETS, bêtz, HENRY: Christian Reformed; b. at Koedijk (a village near Alkmaar, 20 m. n.w. of Amsterdam), Holland, Jan. 5, 1869. He came to the United States at an early age, and studied at John Calvin College and Theological Seminary of the Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Mich. After graduation in 1895, he was pastor at Sioux Center, Ia., until 1899, and since the latter year has been pastor of the Lagrave Street Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids. He has been secretary of the Board of Heathen Missions of his Church since 1900, stated clerk of its synod since 1902, and a member of the joint committee of American and Canadian Churches for the revision of the Psalms in meter since 1902. In theology he is a firm Calvinist, adhering strictly to the creeds of the Synod of Dort and the Westminster Standards. He has been associate editor of De Gereformeerde Amerikaan, a monthly, since 1898 and editor-in-chief of The Banner, a weekly, since 1904. He has written Het Leven van Pres. McKinley (Holland, Mich., 1901); Sacred History for Juniors (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1901); Sacred History for Seniors (1902); Compendium of the Christian Religion (1903); Primer of Bible Truths (1903; in collaboration with M. J. Bosma); and Kerkenorde der Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk (1905; in collaboration with W. Heyns and G. K. Hemkes).