The history of the West Olive Church began within that community. The church was not a transplant from some other area. Neither was it started by a church from some other place. It was born in the hearts of the people living in West Olive over a hundred years ago. And, except for a brief time, the church has been serving the people of West Olive ever since. But before that story is told, West Olive must be identified.

Literally thousands of people travel through West Olive every day but very few are aware of it. West Olive is a dot on the maps of the State of Michigan and Ottawa County at the intersection of US 31 and Croswell Street in Port Sheldon Township. But there is no visible village any more. When US 31 was built as a four lane divided highway in the 1950's it replaced what was once the center of the village. The church, however, remains on its original site on First Avenue only a few hundred feet southeast of that intersection. Interestingly, First Avenue was so designated in the original plat of West Olive Village made by R. M. Paget in 1870.

Toward the close of the nineteenth century West Olive was a thriving village in a developing area. Settlers had moved in from various places. Some relocated from the mouth of the Pigeon River where they had worked for the Port Sheldon Company around 1838. Others came from places out east in the westward settlement of the United States. And some had immigrated from the old world such as from Germany and the Netherlands. At first many were employed in the lumbering industry that flourished in West Michigan during most of the last half of the nineteenth century. As plots of land were cleared of trees some of the settlers began general farming.

A school was built in West Olive in 1863 and served until 1953 when it burned to the ground. The foundation of that school can be seen today a few hundred feet south of the present parsonage. In 1870 a post office was opened in West Olive, the same year the village was platted and has been in continual service at various sites within the village since it was opened. Today West Olive gets its identity by that name from the post office and the district it serves. A railroad was built through West Olive in the early 1870s linking Allegan and Grand Haven. According to stories handed down and scant early records, residents of the West Olive area began Sunday School and worship during the latter decades of the 1800s. In order to obtain the services of a minister for worship the fledgling congregation affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1891 there was a circuit served by a Methodist Episcopal traveling minister located southeast of Grand Haven. It was named Robinson and included churches in Robinson, Ottawa, Olive Center and West Olive. By the end of the nineteenth century the village of West Olive had a school, post office, railroad station, two general stores, a millinery store, pickle factory, blacksmith shop, doctor's office and a church all of which served the people who lived in the village and the surrounding area.

At first the West Olive Church held its Sunday School and worship in the school building. But by the beginning of the twentieth century the school house was becoming too small. The people decided to build a church, donating their time and money. As a boy, Frank Garbrecht, father and grandfather of several of the present members, helped in the construction. Lumber and rock were hauled by teams from as far away as twelve miles. Two little girls picked wild berries, walked twelve miles to sell them in Holland and gave to the project the $20.00 they had earned. A furniture factory in Grand Rapids donated the altar rail and pulpit. A bell was bought for the steeple in 1902 at the cost of $5.11. It now hangs over the church sign in front of the present building and is used each Sunday to announce the beginning of morning worship. The first church building was completed in 1903.

The first decades of the twentieth century were years of struggle and change for the people of West Olive. Lumbering had ceased years before. The sandy soil was not very good for farming. Dust storms made it even more difficult as sand blew across the land that had been cleared of trees. Evergreen trees were planted to hold the soil. Only later did some of these become marketable as Christmas trees or in landscaping. With the additional effect of the economic depression the population of West Olive declined. So did the membership of the church, and the day came when it was closed as had many of the businesses in the village. The last recorded worship service of the Methodist Episcopal congregation was on February 22, 1942.

During that same year Evangelist Andrew VanderVeer was hired by the Christian Reformed churches of Holland to locate a place at which to begin a mission church. Finding the unused church building in West Olive he initiated Sunday School and morning worship in the fall of 1942. Once again the West Olive Church was serving the community in which it had been originally started. In 1945 the building was purchased from the Methodist Episcopal denomination.

At that time the church building was one large room which served well for worship. The seating was wooden chairs nailed to boards to keep them in rows. Wires were strung across the room and sheets were pulled along them to form class rooms for Sunday School. (If youth stopped listening to their teacher, they could easily 'tune in' to another.) The 'rest rooms' were very cold in the winter. They were also some distance from the main building.

The congregation grew. By the mid 1960's the building constructed in 1903 was too small, and the process began to build another along side of it. On May 25, 1966, the current building was dedicated. Three years later a very spacious parsonage was built adjacent to the church on First Avenue. It continues to be the residence of the pastor.

From 1942 to 1979 Ninth Street (now Pillar) Christian Reformed Church of Holland served as sponsor of the West Olive congregation. The congregation of South Olive Christian Reformed Church also provided help. Members of both taught classes and led in various ministries until there were enough members of West Olive able to take these responsibilities. During its early years representatives from both churches attended worship services at West Olive in order to encourage the emerging congregation. The council of Ninth Street Church supervised all organizational developments until May 20, 1979. Then, at a special service of celebration, leadership was turned over to the first elders and deacons elected by the members of the West Olive Church. Since 1942 fourteen evangelists and pastors have served as ministers of the West Olive Church. Rev. Mark Stephenson served most recently from 1996 to 2006. 

The people of West Olive Church have continued to focus their efforts on remaining a church which is rooted in the community, but always open to guests and newcomers. The current fellowship is composed of people from many different church backgrounds some of whom were members of West Olive Church when it was a Methodist church, and other people who have joined throughout the years from the 40's to the present. New members as well as "old timers" are welcome to participate in all levels of church programs and leadership.

God has continued to bless West Olive Church. The church now has over 100 members and is growing in number and in the joy of serving God. Members and regular attenders are united by their deep desire to love God, reach out to their community, and build one another up in love.

The story of the West Olive Church continues today as it began over one hundred years ago. It's a congregation of people from the area who meet regularly for Sunday School and worship in order to be nourished spiritually. At the same time it is their hearts' desire that others living in the community join them to get to know God better, share his blessings, and serve him every day in every area of life.