The Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church () is a church located in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Delfshaven Delfshaven () is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major ri ...

, in the Netherlands.

History

The history of the Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church goes back as far as 1417, when the Roman Catholic church of St Anthony was consecrated on this site.Old or Pilgrim Fathers Church
Stichting Vrienden van de Oude of Pelgrimvaderskerk, 2011 The oldest known depiction of the church dates from 1512. In 1574 during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the church came into Protestant hands and was altered to suit its new function. In 1608 a group of

English Dissenters English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestants who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. English Dissenters opposed state interference in religious matters and founded their own churches, educationa ...

fled to the Netherlands. They had left the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

a few years before and founded their own religious community. After living in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

for eleven years, they decided to become Pilgrims and cross to America, where they might worship God in their own way and still be Englishmen. The '' Speedwell'' left

, on 21 July 1620, bound for America. According to the chronicles the

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith had named ...

knelt down in prayer on the quay near the church. Much later, American visitors gave the church its third name, Pilgrim Fathers' Church. The most radical rebuilding took place in 1761. At this time the church was heightened considerably () and was given its present facade with the bell-shaped gable. In the nineteenth century the building with the text ''Eben-Haëzer'' ('helping stone') in its gable, was erected behind the church. The ''Stichting Oude Hollandse Kerken'' (Foundation Old Churches in Holland) acquired the church in 1992. A large-scale restoration was completed in 1998. The main user of the Pilgrim Fathers Church remains the Reformed Church Delfshaven. Besides the church activities, the Pilgrim Fathers Church is rented for concerts, lectures, weddings and exhibitions.

Interior

The Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church has a spacious and light interior. Arches, plastered white, divide the nave from the aisles. Commemorative panels, bearing the names of the vicars who served the community from 1574 adorn the otherwise bare walls. The richly carved pulpit dates from the eighteenth century. As usual in Dutch Protestant churches, the pulpit stands within a rectangular enclosure. Here, the members of the church council sat during services and here, baptism was administered. The stained-glass windows in the choir represent the six days of Creation. It has a 44-bell

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

but the oldest bell, which was cast in 1464, is cracked and is now on display in the church.

References

External links

Website of the Old or Pilgrim Fathers' Church

Website of the Reformed Church Delfshaven

Foundation Old Churches in Holland
{{coord, 51.909, N, 4.449, E, display=title, source:nlwiki Rijksmonuments in Rotterdam Churches in Rotterdam

History

Interior

See also

References

External links