Rev. Richard B. Rienstra

Richard Bruce Rienstra was born July 3, 1943 in Rochester, New York, to Henrietta and Rev. Richard Rienstra, the youngest of four children and the only one with red hair, which earned him the nickname "Rusty" in his youth.  He died on May 2, 2026, after living for several years with Parkinson's, Lewy Body dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.  In spite of all the changes in mind and body these conditions caused, he stayed active and maintained a positive attitude. Some of his caregivers described him as "pleasantly confused."  

While a student at Calvin Seminary in 1966, he was sent on a summer assignment to Flanders Valley, New Jersey. There he worked with a SWIM (Summer Workshop in Missions) team of four recent high school graduates, one of whom was Carol Aukeman. Her keyboard skills stirred his imagination and passion, and she fell for him, even though he didn't like iced tea! They were married on August 8, 1968, and moved to Muskegon for Rich's internship with the United Evangelism Association (UEA).  After living for a year in an apartment above the Cornerstone Coffee House and community center, they moved back to Grand Rapids with their first child, Troy, waiting for a call to ministry in the Christian Reformed Church while Rich worked the third shift at Keeler Brass and their family grew to include Chad in December, 1971.  

When Reformed Church in America (RCA) pastors George Boerigter, Chuck Stickley and Bruce Menning invited Rich to come back to Muskegon and join them in starting a new collaborative, experimental community ministry, he accepted that offer and was ordained in the Reformed Church in America (RCA).  Reformed Inner City Experiment (RICE) helped several congregations learn about, and practice, "being in the city" in ways that opened their minds, hearts and facilities every day of the week for such programming as Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and LatchKey. From 1972 to 1981, Rich served on many boards and committees, including the Muskegon County Community Mental Health board during a time of deinstitutionalization of state facilities.  The board asked him to take on the role of directing the agency, which he agreed to do for transitional period of time.

During his 10 years as CMH director, a new mental health center was built adjacent to Hackley Hospital, and OASIS (Older Adult Support and Intervention Services) and day treatment programs were often staffed by former clients. He received several local and state recognitions for his innovative approaches to the well-being of people on the fringes: senior citizens, veterans, children, and those who were economically disadvantaged. During those years, on the homefront, two other sons came along - Luke in 1975 and Mark in 1983. It wasn't long before Rich had the pleasure of coaching Little League and attending many sports functions.

When in 1991 the politics around group homes pushed him out of CMH, Rich ran for State Representative in the 91st District, coming in second in a field of six Democrats.  He worked for a brief time in Lansing with the State Area Agency on Aging before Bishop Nathaniel Wells of Holy Trinity Church of God in Christ (COGIC) engaged him to develop a housing program as part of the COGIC Total Man Ministry.  From 1992-2001 Rich headed up Trinity Non-Profit Housing Corporation, which required that he become an ordained elder in the Church of God in Christ, as well as negotiate with financial institutions, grantors, and developers. During his ten-year tenure, hundreds of units of low-income and senior housing were built in Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, and Benton Harbor.  

So, what started out as an internship led to 30 years of community development and relationship-building across lines that often divide Dutch people from those who are not Dutch.  After all, four sons had moved out of the house and Carol started working at Calvin, they returned to Grand Rapids and joined Church of the Servant (COS), a congregation with "justice in its DNA" (according to Nick Wolterstorff's 2022 book "Beyond Imagining: Remembering the Beginnings and Early Years of Church of the Servant").  In 2008, Rich suffered a severe sepsis infection which landed him flat on his back for more than a month. While he was in the hospital, Church of the Servant endorsed his and his son Troy's vision of a prison congregation, and with support from the CRCNA Classis Grand Rapids East, a group of Christian inmates at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility planted Celebration Fellowship, a congregation with inside and outside members, built on the model of Prison Congregations of America. 

Rich delighted in telling about his baseball feats while at Calvin (something about striking out Mickey Mantle?), a trip to Egypt and Greece in 2012, his and Carol's adventures with the Sea to Sea cross-country bicycle tours in the summers of 2008 and 2013 to raise funds to fight poverty, taking his rescue greyhound, "good dog" Nicoal on long walks, and visiting grandchildren in Wisconsin and Iowa.  He volunteered with Citizens for Prison Reform, 70X7 Life Recovery, CONTACT (Calling Offenders to Network Together for Accountability, Collaboration and Training) and CLEAR (Coalition, Leadership, Education, Advice and Rehabilitation) Men’s Support Group, and served as interim director of Living Water Prison Ministry from 2015-2017. Rich continued to attend Together West Michigan meetings and assemblies, and every morning for the last year of his life woke Carol up with "Where are we going today?" or "What time is church?" and "Who's preaching?"   He loved to sing, especially with his brother John at Christmas time.  Just imagine "O Holy Night" with a huge vibrating crescendo - “Fall on your knees!  Oh, hear the angel voices!'

Rich is survived by Carol, his wife of 57 years, and their four sons, their spouses and children: Troy Luther (Dayna - Leanna, Troya, Anthony, Alex, and Avery), Dr. Chad Michael (Jennifer Gartside - Elizabeth and Nicholas), Luke Nathan (Amy - Sawyer and Caroline), and Mark Richard Rienstra; sister Jeanne Rienstra, sisters-in-law Rev. Marchiene Rienstra, Shirley Bultema, Gloria Aukeman and Nancy Aukeman. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Rev. Richard and Henrietta Rienstra, brothers Rev. Dr. Andrew R. Rienstra and Dr. John C. Rienstra, Andy's wife Mae and daughter Candace, his parents-in-law, Mark and Elizabeth Aukeman, and brothers-in-law Mark A. Aukeman and Rick Bultema.  

A service of remembrance and thanksgiving will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Church of the Servant, 3835 Burton St., SE, with visitation from 2-3 p.m. and refreshments following the service. A green burial will take place at Ridgeview Memorial Gardens in Grandville.  Gifts in Rich's memory may be made to the Rienstra Family Restorative Justice Scholarship at Calvin University or to Hospice of Holland.  

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