Uitgeest, a village in the Dutch province of North Holland, formerly the seat of a Mennonite congregation, belonging to the Waterlander branch. There is only scarce information about this congregation, which in early times seems to have formed a kind of union with the neighboring churches of Knollendam, Krommeniedijk, and Marken-Binnen. About 1635 Abdias Widmarius, the Reformed pastor of Uitgeest, was a bitter opponent of the Mennonites. A letter of July 1673 gives the information that the Uitgeest congregation belonged to the stricter wing of the Waterlanders, maintaining the authority of the Confession of Faith (by de Ries,) and opposing the Collegiant views and practices. In 1670 the congregation joined the Zonist conference. In 1678, 1690, and 1733 the congregation contributed to the needs of the Mennonites in the Palatinate and Prussia. After 1740 the pulpit remained vacant; the last (lay) preacher was Lambert Daniels. In 1787 the congregation united with the Knollendam and Marken-Binnen congregation and in 1813 it is said to have died out. Then the meetinghouse was sold and the funds of the congregation, only 34 Dutch guilders, were given to the Rijper Sociëteit, of which the congregation had been a member since ca. 1640. Concerning the membership no figures are available. The elder Engel Arendsz van Dooregeest belonged to the Visser family of Uitgeest and was born there.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 762. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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