Peter Eldersveld Collection, 1933-1965 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: Peter Eldersveld Collection, 1933-1965

ID: COLL/082

Primary Creator: Eldersveld, Peter (1911-1965)

Extent: 15.0 Boxes. More info below.

Arrangement: Folder level description

Subjects: Back to God hour, Calvin College. Archives

Forms of Material: Radio addresses, debates, etc.

Abstract

Minister of the Christian Reformed Church and radio minister of the Christian Reformed Church broadcast The Back to God Hour. The collection includes radio sermons; sermon outlines; book manuscripts; an address, entitled "Heritage of the Heart," delivered at the dedication ceremonies conducted upon the completion of Heritage Hall, 1963; a Back to God Hour memorial album 1946-1965, entitled "The Word of the Cross;" and tape recordings of sermons. See also: RGD 4.20 and Campus Titles AV Database.

Biographical Note

The radio voice of the Christian Reformed Church from 1946 to 1965 was silenced the morning of 14 October 1965. After almost twenty years of broadcasting, the Rev. Peter Eldersveld’s ministry ended. After his unexpected death, his voice was heard for a few Sundays through the medium of taped messages prepared and recorded a week prior to his final heart attack.

Peter Eldersveld’s life began in Kalamazoo, Michigan, 18 January 1911. Because he was the son of a pastor, his life and his educational program involved a number of moves. The first years of education were in Kalamazoo Christian School, West Side Christian School of Grand Rapids, Michigan; public and Christian schools of Corsica, South Dakota; and the public high school of Muskegon, Michigan. In 1928, Peter began four years of study at Calvin College in the pre-seminary course. During his college days, he maintained a continued interest in oratory and basketball.

After one year at Calvin Theological Seminary, 1932-1933, he enrolled in the speech department at the University of Michigan. His major paper was on "preaching and its place in public discourse." (See box 1, folder 2.) The following two years were spent at Calvin Theological Seminary from which he graduated in 1936. Peter studied an additional year at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago while interning at the Fourth Roseland Christian Reformed Church of Chicago.

A college courtship with Harriet Kuiper moved toward their marriage on 7 July 1937.

Peter was declared a candidate for the Christian Reformed ministry on 27 May 1937, and he received his first call to serve the Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Iowa. During the more than five years in Holland, Iowa, he participated in a radio ministry over KFJB in Marshalltown and KXEL in Waterloo. (See box 1, folder 7.)

Peter was installed as pastor of the Bethany CRC of South Holland, Illinois, on 1 August 1943. While there his interest in radio ministry increased through broadcasts of services from the church and his membership in the Radio Committee of the denominational broadcast, The Back to God Hour. In 1946, he was appointed by Synod to serve as radio minister. He remained the voice of the denomination until his death in 1965. During the period of that ministry, he preached over seven hundred radio messages.

A review of his radio messages will reveal that the theme of Peter’s radio ministry was to preach, "Jesus Christ and him crucified." He approached that theme from the Old and New Testament passages. The Christ of the Cross was the only way of salvation for contemporary man and the society of the day was in need of that Christ.

Subject/Index Terms

Back to God hour
Calvin College. Archives

Administrative Information

Repository: Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Alternate Extent Statement: 7.5 cubic ft.

Acquisition Source: Gift of P.H. Eldersveld family

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Biographical Material, Sermons, and Outlines, 1933-1959],
[Series 2: Addresses, 1940-1964],
[Series 3: Radio Sermons, 1946-1965],
[Series 4: Television Series],
[Series 5: Tape Recordings],
[Series 6: Diplomas and Certificates],
[Series 7: Miscellaneous],
[All]

Series 3: Radio Sermons --- 1946-1965

Box 3

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- October 6 -December 29, 1946
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- January 5 -April 27, 1947
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- May 4 -September 28, 1947
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- October 5 -December 28, 1947
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- January 4 -March 28, 1948
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- April 14 -June 27, 1948

Box 4

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- July 4 -October 31, 1948
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- November 7 -December 26, 1948
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- January 2 -March 27, 1949
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- April 3 -June 26, 1949
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- September 4 -October 30, 1949
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- November 6 -December 25, 1949

Box 5

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- January 1 -February 26, 1950
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- March 5 -April 30, 1950
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- May 7 -June 25, 1950
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- September 3 -October 29, 1950
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- November 5 -December 31, 1950
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- January 7 -February 25, 1951
Folder 7: Radio Sermons --- March 4 -April 29, 1951
Folder 8: Radio Sermons --- May 6 -June 24, 1951

Box 6

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- September 2 -October 28, 1951
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- November 4 -December 3, 1951
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- January 1 -February 24, 1952
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- March 2 -April 27, 1952
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- May 4 -June 29, 1952
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- September 7 -October 26, 1952
Folder 7: Radio Sermons --- November 2 -December 28, 1952

Box 7

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- January 4 -February 22, 1953
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- March 1 -April 26, 1953
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- May 3 -September 27, 1953
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- October 4 -November 29, 1953
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- December 6, 1953 -January 31, 1954
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- February 7 -March 28, 1954
Folder 7: Radio Sermons --- April 4 -June 13, 1954
Folder 8: Radio Sermons --- September 19 -October 31, 1954

Box 8

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- November 7 -December 26, 1954
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- January 2 -March 27, 1955
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- April 3 -June 12, 1955
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- September 18 -October 2, 1955
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- February 5 -April 29, 1956
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- May 6 -June 24, 1956
Folder 7: Radio Sermons --- October 7 -December 30, 1956

Box 9

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- January 6 -March 24, 1957
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- April 7 -June 30, 1957
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- September 29 -December 29, 1957
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- January 5 -March 30, 1958
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- April 6 -June 29, 1958
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- October 5 -December 28, 1958

Box 10

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- January 4 -March 29, 1959
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- April 5 -July 5, 1959
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- October 4 -December 28, 1959
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- January 3 -April 27, 1960
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- April 3 -June 26, 1960
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- September 25 -November 27, 1960

Box 11

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- January 1 -March 26, 1961
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- April 4 -May 28, 1961
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- September 3 -October 29, 1961
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- November 3 -December 31, 1961
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- January 7 -March 25, 1962
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- April 1 -June 24, 1962

Box 12

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- October 7 -November 25, 1962
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- December 2 -December 30, 1962
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- January 6 -March 10, 1963
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- March 17 -May 26, 1963
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- September 15 -October 27, 1963
Folder 6: Radio Sermons --- November 3 -December 29, 1963

Box 13

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- January 5 -March 8, 1964
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- March 15 -May 31, 1964
Folder 3: Radio Sermons --- September 6 -October 25, 1964
Folder 4: Radio Sermons --- November 1 -December 27, 1964
Folder 5: Radio Sermons --- January 3 -March 14, 1965

Box 14

Folder 1: Radio Sermons --- March 21 -May 30, 1965
Folder 2: Radio Sermons --- September 5 -November 21, 1965
Folder 3: Free Time Messages --- undated