Lamist Mennonite Church (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

The Lamist Mennonite Church (Kerk bij 't Lam), later known as the Singelkerk, is located in Amsterdam. In 1607 Harmen Hendricks van Warendorp, a native of Aachen, Germany, purchased a lot on the Singel for 5,000 gilders, beside the brewery "'t Lam" (i.e., at the sign of the Lamb). There he had a church building erected (1608) that cost him 7,800 gilders, "out of love to God and the church." It became the place of worship of the Flemish branch of the Mennonites. The church was completely remodeled in 1639-1640. It remained the property of the van Warendorps until 1740, when the congregation bought it with the adjacent houses for the sum of 29,573 gilders. In 1777 an organ was put into the church. In 1840 it was remodeled again. It is still the meeting place of the Mennonites of Amsterdam. Thorough and costly repairs were again made in 1953-1954, when the decaying wooden pillars of 1609 on which the church was built were replaced with concrete pillars.

The Flemish group in Amsterdam was given the name "bij 't Lam" in 1608. It was a large, important congregation. In 1632, on the basis of the Dordrecht Confession, part of the Old Flemish joined the Lamist congregation; in 1639 it was still further augmented by its union with the United Frisians and High Germans. It had a membership of about 1,000 at this time. In 1664 a split occurred in consequence of a dispute. between Galenus Abrahamsz and Samuel Apostool, when the latter withdrew with 500 members and henceforth met in a house with the sign of the sun (see Zonists and Lammerenkrijgh). Four years later, on 1 June 1668, the Waterlander congregation "bij den Toren" united with the "Lamb" congregation. The united church (vereenigde Gemeente) used both church buildings until 1812; after that the church "bij den Toren" was no longer in use. In 1728 the small Old Frisian (or Jan Jacobs group) congregation, meeting in the Bloemstraat, joined the Lamist congregation. In 1801 the Zonist congregation united with the Lamist and Toren groups.

The church known as "van 't Lam en Toren" assumed responsibility for the Amsterdam Mennonite Seminary in 1735, thus laying the foundation for the Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit (1811). It had at an earlier period helped poor congregations to engage trained ministers. Thus the Lamist church has been a great blessing to the Mennonites, not only in Amsterdam, but also in all the Netherlands.

See also Amsterdam; Singel Mennonite Church

Bibliography

Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1863): 1-42; (1898), 1-54.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 606.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam. 2 v. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: II, Nos. 131-228, 1243-1343.

Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de vereenigde Nederlanden. (Amsterdam, 1802): 59-68.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1958

Cite This Article

MLA style

van der Zijpp, Nanne. "Lamist Mennonite Church (Amsterdam, Netherlands)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1958. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lamist_Mennonite_Church_(Amsterdam,_Netherlands)&oldid=105820.

APA style

van der Zijpp, Nanne. (1958). Lamist Mennonite Church (Amsterdam, Netherlands). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Lamist_Mennonite_Church_(Amsterdam,_Netherlands)&oldid=105820.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 270. All rights reserved.

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