View source for Rasquert (Groningen, Holland)

Rasquert, a village in the Dutch province of [[Groningen (Netherlands)|Groningen]], formerly the seat of a Mennonite congregation belonging to the [[Groningen Old Flemish Mennonites|Groningen Old Flemish]] branch. This congregation probably existed as early as 1550. The following ministers are named: Jacob Derks (d. 1620) from ca. 1560, Luy (Luirt) Cornelisz ca. 1685, Jacob Lippes (d. 1735), Waalke Eises from 1729, Tjaard Michiels (d. before 1754), Tonjes Klassen (Teunis Clasen) 1736-d. 1765, Tamme Pieters (Huizinga) 1741-1770, Luitje Olferts Wiersema 1757-1791, and Hendrik Bakker 1792-1795. Tjaard Michiels and Teunis Clasen were at the same time elders of the Groningen Old Flemish Conference. All of these preachers except the last were chosen from the congregation of Rasquert; they were farmers, and had no training for the ministry. After 1795 the pulpit remained vacant.

The Rasquert congregation was small: in 1710 there were about 100 baptized members, 97 in 1733, 59 in 1754, 22 in 1809. It built a plain meetinghouse in 1708, which is reported to have been in a state of ruin in 1815. The members, most of whom were farmers, lived around the village of Rasquert or near-by [[Baflo (Groningen, Netherlands)|Baflo]]; hence the congregation is sometimes called Baflo. In 1686 and again in 1717, when the ocean dikes burst and the country was flooded, the congregation suffered great damage and lost some of its members. In 1816 the Rasquert congregation merged with [[Hoorn, Den (Groningen, Netherlands)|Den Hoorn]] and Obergum-Winsum, together forming the new congregation of [[Mensingeweer (Groningen, Netherlands)|Mensingeweer]]. [[Vos, Karel (1874-1926)|Karel Vos]] surmised that after [[Menno Simons (1496-1561)|Menno Simons]] left the Catholic Church in January 1536, he lived for a time at Rasquert, enjoying the hospitality of [[Ewsum, Christoffer van (1523-1583)|Christoffer van Ewsum]], a rural nobleman, who possessed a country house at Rasquert.
= Bibliography =
Cate, Steven Blaupot ten. <em>Geschiedenis der Doopsgezinden in Groningen, Overijssel en Oost-Friesland</em>, 2 vols. Leeuwarden: W. Eekhoff en J. B. Wolters, 1842: v. I, 127, 131, 140, 142, 202; v. II, 54, 224, 225.

<em>Doopsgezinde Bijdragen</em> (1879): 5.

<em>Doopsgezind Jaarboekje</em> (1840): (table facing 52).

<em>Groningsche Volksalmanah</em> (1918): 149-64; (1919): 139-46.

<em>Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de vereenigde Nederlanden</em>. Amsterdam, 1829: 65.
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