By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
When Christy Berghoef and her family returned to the Holland area 10 years ago from Washington, D.C., she had become a much different person. Her faith looked much different than what she had growing up in West Michigan.
While happy to be back living close to her parents, Berghoef feared being judged in the community because her way of seeing the world, politically and otherwise, no longer fit neat, clearly-defined ideologies and theologies.
But returning to the 40-acre flower farm where she had grown up playing with turtles and enjoying the fruit of the land, proved to be a healing balm for Berghoef’s heart – and her faith.
“Over and over again, it was that ground that saved me, rescued me and provided promise and comfort throughout the hardships that lay ahead. The earth saved me from the world,” Berghoef wrote in her newly-released memoir, “Rooted: A Spiritual Memoir of Homecoming,” published by Grand Rapids-based Reformed Journal Books.
The book was the result of three years of writing as Berghoef pursued her doctor of ministry degree in the sacred art of writing from Western Theological Seminary in Holland.
Berghoef is a graduate of Holland Christian High School, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. “Rooted” is her second book, preceded by her 2012 debut “Cracking the Pot: Releasing God from the Theologies that Bind Him,” where she described the changes she went through in her faith. She said those changes were the result of experiences ranging from working as a congressional aide in Washington to traveling to Israel with noted Bible teacher Ray VanderLaan to planting churches in Traverse City and Washington, D.C.
“I would say my values did not change. The values that this community instilled in me never changed,” Berghoef said in a recent interview with the Zeeland Record. “Those were (still) there. What changed was the outward kind of expression of those values. That’s because of what I experienced in the world, because of the things I saw, because of the injustices I was exposed to, that I simply was not aware of growing up here.”
Throughout the book, Berghoef weaves her memories of growing up on the flower farm that her father, Howard Lubbers, owned with experiences of new memories created with her husband, Bryan, and their four children. She describes creating a “secret garden,” inspired by the children’s book of the same title that she read to her daughter, and rehabbing an abandoned shed that would become an office for her husband, a writing space for herself and a community gathering spot for those who no longer felt welcomed in traditional faith circles.
Berghoef also pays tribute to her father, who died in April 2022. While admitting their differences both politically and theologically, she said they found common ground working the land.
“Dad was deeply connected to the forty acres he spent his life tending,” she wrote in the book. “It was always clear that this land was an extension of himself and he an extension of it. The ground has worked into him as much as he worked the ground. There was a mutually beneficial relationship between the two. They took care of each other. They knew each other. They respected each other.”
Later, she writes, “Close to the ground, we rise above the cultural chaos that is swirling around us. Connected to the earth, we remember the image of God in each other as we plant dahlia bulbs, cut fallen trees into firewood, and bend over beds of tulips. When we work together toward the flourishing of the earth, toward nurturing life from the ground, we are most whole.”
Berghoef currently serves as the worship coordinator at Holland United Church of Christ, where her husband is the pastor. The church grew out of a series of backyard Bible studies over a period of two years that the couple hosted in their renovated shed.
“We said, no, we’re done planting churches, but people kept coming,” Berghoef said of those studies.
“The people that were coming to us and that we were working with, many of them were struggling with having to sign on the dotted line of these doctrines and theologies that they didn’t feel comfortable with or didn’t even necessarily think Scripture was teaching those things,” she added.
Berghoef has a wide range of interests, including photography, gardening and music. She leads workshops on how to engage in civil discourse. She writes regularly and hosts a podcast on her Substack account titled “Wheat and Willow.” She plans to begin touring soon to promote the book.
“I think the biggest thing I learned coming back is the importance and the value of grace, and being gracious with each other … for the most part, when I look around other people here, regardless of their views, I say these are good people and they’re well-meaning people,” she said. “We’re all doing the best we can. We all want to make the world a better place.”
Zeeland Record
When Christy Berghoef and her family returned to the Holland area 10 years ago from Washington, D.C., she had become a much different person. Her faith looked much different than what she had growing up in West Michigan.
While happy to be back living close to her parents, Berghoef feared being judged in the community because her way of seeing the world, politically and otherwise, no longer fit neat, clearly-defined ideologies and theologies.
But returning to the 40-acre flower farm where she had grown up playing with turtles and enjoying the fruit of the land, proved to be a healing balm for Berghoef’s heart – and her faith.
“Over and over again, it was that ground that saved me, rescued me and provided promise and comfort throughout the hardships that lay ahead. The earth saved me from the world,” Berghoef wrote in her newly-released memoir, “Rooted: A Spiritual Memoir of Homecoming,” published by Grand Rapids-based Reformed Journal Books.
The book was the result of three years of writing as Berghoef pursued her doctor of ministry degree in the sacred art of writing from Western Theological Seminary in Holland.
Berghoef is a graduate of Holland Christian High School, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. “Rooted” is her second book, preceded by her 2012 debut “Cracking the Pot: Releasing God from the Theologies that Bind Him,” where she described the changes she went through in her faith. She said those changes were the result of experiences ranging from working as a congressional aide in Washington to traveling to Israel with noted Bible teacher Ray VanderLaan to planting churches in Traverse City and Washington, D.C.
“I would say my values did not change. The values that this community instilled in me never changed,” Berghoef said in a recent interview with the Zeeland Record. “Those were (still) there. What changed was the outward kind of expression of those values. That’s because of what I experienced in the world, because of the things I saw, because of the injustices I was exposed to, that I simply was not aware of growing up here.”
Throughout the book, Berghoef weaves her memories of growing up on the flower farm that her father, Howard Lubbers, owned with experiences of new memories created with her husband, Bryan, and their four children. She describes creating a “secret garden,” inspired by the children’s book of the same title that she read to her daughter, and rehabbing an abandoned shed that would become an office for her husband, a writing space for herself and a community gathering spot for those who no longer felt welcomed in traditional faith circles.
Berghoef also pays tribute to her father, who died in April 2022. While admitting their differences both politically and theologically, she said they found common ground working the land.
“Dad was deeply connected to the forty acres he spent his life tending,” she wrote in the book. “It was always clear that this land was an extension of himself and he an extension of it. The ground has worked into him as much as he worked the ground. There was a mutually beneficial relationship between the two. They took care of each other. They knew each other. They respected each other.”
Later, she writes, “Close to the ground, we rise above the cultural chaos that is swirling around us. Connected to the earth, we remember the image of God in each other as we plant dahlia bulbs, cut fallen trees into firewood, and bend over beds of tulips. When we work together toward the flourishing of the earth, toward nurturing life from the ground, we are most whole.”
Berghoef currently serves as the worship coordinator at Holland United Church of Christ, where her husband is the pastor. The church grew out of a series of backyard Bible studies over a period of two years that the couple hosted in their renovated shed.
“We said, no, we’re done planting churches, but people kept coming,” Berghoef said of those studies.
“The people that were coming to us and that we were working with, many of them were struggling with having to sign on the dotted line of these doctrines and theologies that they didn’t feel comfortable with or didn’t even necessarily think Scripture was teaching those things,” she added.
Berghoef has a wide range of interests, including photography, gardening and music. She leads workshops on how to engage in civil discourse. She writes regularly and hosts a podcast on her Substack account titled “Wheat and Willow.” She plans to begin touring soon to promote the book.
“I think the biggest thing I learned coming back is the importance and the value of grace, and being gracious with each other … for the most part, when I look around other people here, regardless of their views, I say these are good people and they’re well-meaning people,” she said. “We’re all doing the best we can. We all want to make the world a better place.”
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