Log In | Contact Us
Browse: Collections Digital Content Subjects Creators Record Groups

John Cornelius De Korne Collection

Overview

Abstract

Biographical Note

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Early Years in the Synodical Committee

Synodical Committee 1919-1920. China Mission field 1920-1934

The China Period

The China Period - Jukao

The China Period - Secret Society Studies

Wellsburg Period

Correspondence and notes

Sermon Outlines, Addresses, Ph.D. Thesis

Books



Contact us about this collection

John Cornelius De Korne Collection, 1910-1951 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Printer-friendly Printer-friendly | Email Us Contact Us About This Collection

Collection Overview

Title: John Cornelius De Korne Collection, 1910-1951

ID: COLL/056

Primary Creator: De Korne, John Cornelius (1888-1951)

Extent: 11.0 Boxes. More info below.

Arrangement: Folder level description

Subjects: Missionary Monthly, Missions - China

Abstract

Minister of the Christian Reformed Church, Missionary to China, Director of Foreign Missions, Secretary of Missions, and editor of Missionary Monthly. The collection includes correspondence; speeches; newspaper articles; booklets; essays; sermons; notebook covering 1929-1938 baptisms, confessions of faith, membership listings, communion service dates, and funeral statistics; maps, liturgical forms, secret sects, and writings from China; 1923-1934 account book; scrapbook of working in China, Nigeria, and among the Navaho; and manuscripts entitled "The Fellowship of Goodness," "The Christian Approach to the Heart and Mind of China," and "Chinese Altars to an Unknown God." [See also the Campus Titles Database.]

Biographical Note

The collection reveals a man actively involved in World Missions. From the time, he and Lee S. Huizenga were appointed by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in 1918 to evaluate the mission fields of Sudan and/or China, until the end of his life, De Korne worked to advance the Gospel throughout the world.

John Cornelius was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on October 16, 1888. In 1908, he enrolled in Calvin College, after spending a brief period working in an office. He graduated in 1917. While at the seminary, he married Nettie M. Goudwaard in September 1914.

During WW I he was associated with the Army YMCA, 1918-1919, visiting Army camps providing spiritual support to the troops. When the Synod of 1920 approved the China field for mission work, De Korne became part of the staff in China. He remained a member of the China mission staff until 1934 when the work was terminated because of unrest in the Far East. From 1934-1939 he served the Second CRC of Wellsburg, Iowa. In 1939, he was appointed Director of Missions.

Books published include Chinese Altars to the Unknown God, To Whom I Now Send Thee; he edited Navajo and Zuni for Christ and wrote extensively in the Banner and Missionary Monthly.

His correspondence reveals contacts with missionaries and mission organizations within and outside of the Christian Reformed Church.

There are letters and minutes that unfold the tension between members of the staff in the China mission field. There were personality clashes and policy differences that prompted special meetings of the China Missions Board and special reports to the denominational board. Synodical decisions were necessary to resolve some differences.

De Korne, the scholar, studied at the Kennedy School of Missions where in 1934 he received a PhD. A dissertation on secret societies in China was never published but our collection includes his notes and a copy.

His colleagues described him as a true Christian gentleman—"efficient yet tender, determined yet gracious, gifted yet modest, distinguished and still most humble."

J. C. De Korne passed away at the age of sixty-three after suffering a series of heart attacks. His plans to preach an evening service on Sunday, December 9, 1951, did not take place.

Subject/Index Terms

Missionary Monthly
Missions - China

Administrative Information

Repository: Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Alternate Extent Statement: 6.1 cubic ft.

Acquisition Source: Gift of B. De Korne


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Early Years in the Synodical Committee, 1910-1919],
[Series 2: Synodical Committee 1919-1920. China Mission field 1920-1934],
[Series 3: The China Period, 1920-1935],
[Series 4: The China Period - Jukao],
[Series 5: The China Period - Secret Society Studies, 1917-1934],
[Series 6: Wellsburg Period, 1934-1939],
[Series 7: Correspondence and notes, 1938-1951],
[Series 8: Sermon Outlines, Addresses, Ph.D. Thesis, 1917-1935],
[Series 9: Books],
[All]

Series 1: Early Years in the Synodical Committee --- 1910-1919
Box 1
Folder 1: Mission Class at Calvin, minutes --- 1910-1911
Folder 2: Mission Study Class.  Constitution of Mission Society at Coldbrook Christian Reformed Church --- 1910
Folder 3: Mementos, programs --- 1911-1912
Folder 4: Debate:  church should have a hymnal --- 1911
Folder 5: Student papers --- 1912
Folder 6
Item 1: Mission address --- 1913
Item 2: Correspondence --- 1914
Folder 7: Correspondence --- 1917
Folder 8: Correspondence and material while serving military personnel --- 1918-1919
Folder 9: Synodical Committee for Mission Extension in Sudan or China.  Progress reports and correspondence --- June - December 1918
Folder 10: Synodical Committee for Mission Extension.  Reports and correspondence --- January to April 1919
Folder 11: Synodical Committee for Mission Extension.  Reports and correspondence --- May to September 1919
Folder 12: Mission Contest responses --- 1919
Folder 13: Diploma, Kennedy School of Missions --- 1934

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Early Years in the Synodical Committee, 1910-1919],
[Series 2: Synodical Committee 1919-1920. China Mission field 1920-1934],
[Series 3: The China Period, 1920-1935],
[Series 4: The China Period - Jukao],
[Series 5: The China Period - Secret Society Studies, 1917-1934],
[Series 6: Wellsburg Period, 1934-1939],
[Series 7: Correspondence and notes, 1938-1951],
[Series 8: Sermon Outlines, Addresses, Ph.D. Thesis, 1917-1935],
[Series 9: Books],
[All]


Page Generated in: 0.066 seconds (using 233 queries).
Using 3.79MB of memory. (Peak of 4.51MB.)

Powered by Archon Version 3.21 rev-3
Copyright ©2017 The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign