Family sells century-old home to Coit Community Church to be used for youth center

By Paul R. Kopenkoskey | The Grand Rapids P...

January 09, 2010, 4:13AM

Octavian Cantilli | The Grand Rapids Pressb Laura O’Brock, right, is selling her late aunt’s home at 606 Lafayette Ave. NE to Coit Community Christian Reformed Church, which is next door. The Rev. Jerome Burton, center, will be in charge of the ministries at the house, which is where O’Brock and her sister, Norma Boeham, left, grew up.GRAND RAPIDS — The Rev. Jerome Burton is eager to convert a century-old Northeast Grand Rapids home into a youth center for church-shy teens.

Burton, pastor of Coit Community Church, said he hopes the next-door residence at 606 Lafayette Ave. NE will draw neighboring kids to its homey surroundings where they can shoot pool, paint pictures on walls and dig deep into a Christ-centered life.

“Coit Church wants to reach the unchurched, not the traditional Christian,” said Burton, 52. “If you don’t know anything about church, it can be intimidating to be in a church.”

(This paragraph is a correction to what was said, and not said in the Grand Rapids Press)  The Christian Reformed Church purchased the home at 606 Lafayette NE, last month for $45,000.  The $45,000 came through the donation of  a house back in 1998 which was used by Coit Church for ministry, and than later sold in around 2002, at which point the money from that sale was put aside  in hopes of one day purchasing this home for the purpose of expanding the ministry. So this has been the vision of Pastor Jerome and Coit Church for many years.

The city’s Planning Commission granted the congregation a special land use permit, which opens the door for the youth center.

Burton said he wants to widen the church’s biblical sway in the neighborhood he’s lived in for 20 years. It’s bounded by Division Avenue to the west, College Avenue to the east, Michigan Street to the south and Leonard Street to the north.

Burton’s wife, Kristin, plans to set up a boutique in the home’s parlor to provide clothes for job-seeking women and possibly men and children as well.

“That little parlor has so much character to it,” she said. “I thought it would be a beautiful place for women to walk through the home’s front glass doors instead of some big, institutional building.”

The home already has a rich Christian heritage, say sisters Norma Boeham and Laura O’Brock, who lived in the home 21 and 30 years, respectively.

Home built in 1906

Jacob and Wilhelmina Burggraaff emigrated from the Netherlands and then built the home in 1906.

Four generations of Burggraafs — the second “f” in the last name was lopped off later in the 20th century — lived in the residence before it was sold.

The last relative to own it was an aunt of Boeham and O’Brock’s, who died last year. Before her death, the aunt said she wanted the house sold to Coit Community Church.

Family memories

The home’s sale conjures many meories for Boeham and O’Brock.

They recall with pride six Burggraafs who were ordained ministers in the Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church denominations, five who had an atrium dedicated in their honor a few years ago at Western Theological Seminary in Holland.

Boeham and O’Brock also rejoice that the home’s new owners will put it to good use by helping a new generation of Christians.

“The continuation of ministry is kind of a comfort to us,” said O’Brock.

Boeham said she hopes Coit Community Church members sense a warm afterglow throughout the home’s 2,200 square feet of space.

“We feel the love when we’re here,” she said. “We leave that behind.”

Pastor Jerome & Kristin Burton

The purpose of Coit Church is reconciliation. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that God gave us the ministry of reconciliation. At Coit Church , we seek to reconcile people to God, to the church, to their families, and to people of different colors. We also want to make people into "ministers of reconciliation." In other words we want to train people to be able to share God's love on their job, at home, in their neighborhood, and in the church.

Coit Church has sometimes been described as a hospital of the Lord Jesus Christ because many of us here have been saved by God from drugs, alcohol, crime and other hardships. As such, one strength of Coit Church is that we are very welcoming to people from all walks of life. We want to reach out to others who are going through what we went through, and to help them experience God's power to walk in victory just as we have. 

Coit Church is also unique in that our congregation is made up of a diverse group of individuals and families from various ethnic backgrounds including many interacial families. In many churches, you may feel uncomfortable if you aren't dressed right or if you aren't the same color as everyone else. Coit Church doesn't want to be like that. We want everyone to feel comfortable, no matter how they're dressed, where they've come from, what they look like or what they've done.

Within the context of the Coit/Belknap community of Grand Rapids , we purposely aim to attract people of all different colors and ethnic backgrounds, desire kids to come to church and participate with their parents, and encourage people to settle down, buy homes, and live in the community. Through this our intention is to make this into a reconciled community.