“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, …” Ephesians 2:19

I have never been around more Dutch people than in the Church of my youth.  It was generally know as the “Dutch Church” while there was actually only one family from the Netherlands.  The vast majority of the other members had been born and raised in the United States.  However, many could claim a Dutch ancestry but their motherland dead-ended in Minnesota.  They knew very little of the actual Netherlands much beyond windmills, tulips, and canals.

However, that did not prevent a very real ethnic identity within that Church.

There was distinct passion and pride for all things Dutch.  Most members’ homes contained some knick-knack, trinket, or lawn ornament paying homage to Holland.  I remember one family friend who wore a baseball cap…