Dutch Immigration and American Presbyterianism

Bryan Winter discusses the relationship between Dutch immigrants and the American Presbyterian Church, particularly as seen in the ministry of the Dutch secessionist minister, Peter Zonne. Winter is an attorney who practices law in Lake County, Illinois and serves as a Deacon at Hope OPC in Grayslake. Mr. Winter’s yet unpublished paper on Zonne details how Zonne uniquely led his congregation of Dutch Reformed immigrants in Wisconsin to join the American Presbyterian Church. Thus, Zonne transcended his ethnic identity to become the founder of Dutch-American Presbyterianism, in Wisconsin. This episode’s feature photo shows the church in Genderen, the Netherlands, which Zonne pastored from 1842–46.