100 Years of Steady Life

Andrew Cross is a compact, soft-spoken man, wearing pressed slacks and a crisp blue polo shirt. After a friendly greeting, he sits on the couch to sip tea and talk about nearly 100 years of life that encompasses picking cotton on a plantation, raising 10 children and worshipping for much of the past 60 years at what is now Grace Christian Reformed Church.

Set in the shadow of downtown Grand Rapids, Grace CRC – formerly the Buckley Chapel – is the church Cross and his family joined when he moved to Grand Rapids in the mid 1940s to work for the railroad.

His story is the story of a steady man with a steady faith; a warm beacon for his children and loved ones. To be sure, his family has had its share of tragedies. But faith in God and the prayer and support of his church helped see him and his family through.

Cross lives a quiet life, his needs tended to mostly by his grown daughters who dote on their “daddy.” He wonders why anyone would want to do a story on him.

But reporters have come here over the years – from the Grand Rapids Press and Jet Magazine – to chronicle the life of an ordinary man who is, in subtle ways, extraordinary.

“God has blessed me and given me health and strength to work for years to provide for my family,” he says. “As best I could, I’ve wanted to help others.” His daughters recall how their parents would make room in their home for those in need. This happened many times.

Grace CRC hosted a special birthday party for Cross after the 11 a.m. service on Aug. 8. Over the years, he has sat on many church committees, boards and councils, served as a deacon. He says he never really questioned why a cotton-picker from Arkansas ended up joining the CRC, a primarily Dutch denomination that had only a handful of African Americans when he and his family joined.

“It was the only church I knew about when we came to Grand Rapids,” says Cross. “I learned in the church about my creator and to love God and to read the Bible.”

Annette Smith and Carolyn Walton, two of Cross’s daughters, say that they grew up learning catechism, attending vacation Bible schools, going on trips, even overnights, when they attended Grace as young people.

They recall how, in later years, Rev. Roger Van Haarn, a long-time pastor at Grace, would bless the homes they lived in, bury loved ones and attend to them spiritually when they were sick or had other needs.

“The church kept you busy in a positive way,” says Walton. “They would help you to the limit.”

“It is still a nice church. It was very small years ago, but now it is much bigger,” says Smith.

Cross worked at manual labor jobs until he was 90 years old, spending much of that time walking with his lunch pail to work and coming home, in the early days, with enough left in it to offer food to his children who liked to run down the street to meet him.

“I believe the Lord led us to Grace CRC. The church was always a stabilizing force for us,” he says.