Wormer (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)

Doopsgezinde Kerk, Wormer. Source: Reliwiki.

Doopsgezinde Kerk, Wormer. Source: Reliwiki.

Wormer, a village in the Dutch province of North Holland on the Zaan River (1953 population, 5,400, with 120 Mennonites; 2006 population, 12,566; coordinates: 52° 30′ 0″ N, 4° 49′ 0″ E), the seat of a Mennonite congrega­tion. Early Anabaptism, found here from 1533, was somewhat revolutionary; in March 1534 there were some 30 inhabitants of Wormer among the Anabap­tists who sailed from Amsterdam en route to Münster in Westphalia. Pieter Pietersz, of Wormer, who was among them, was executed in 1534. Anabaptists of Wormer in December 1534 tore the sacrament from the hands of the Catholic priest Duncanus (see Dirck van Wormer). In early 1535, during a raid in the Waterland district of North Holland, only a few persons were apprehend­ed at Wormer, the others having fled until autumn. A bit of information dated 4 March 1535, seems to indicate that a house at Wormer in which the Ana­baptists had held meetings was destroyed. In 1536 Frans Dirksz Quintijn (Frans van Wormer), who had promulgated a plan to seize the city of Alkmaar, was executed there. In 1543 a new raid was made in the villages of Wormer and neighboring Jisp, without success however; all the Anabaptists had fled. Cecilia Jheronimusdochter, a native of Wormer, died as a martyr in 1549.

Soon after this there was a congregation at Wor­mer, which in the 1550s joined the Waterlanders. To the Waterlander conferences of 1581 and 1647, both held at Amsterdam, the Wormer congregation sent a representative. Like most Waterlander congregations in North Holland, that of Wormer was in the 17th century rather conservative, strictly maintaining the confession of de Ries and opposed to Collegiant views. About 1674 both the congregations of Wormer and Jisp joined the Zonist Societeit. By this time Wor­mer and Jisp seem to have partly united (complete union not before 1834). They were led by very con­servative ministers like Pieter Jans Stapper and some members of the Mol family. In 1698 Jacob Pieters Banning, a more liberal preacher at Wormer, was dismissed by a council of Zonist leaders, including Herman Schijn, E. A. van Dooregeest, and D. S. Moeriaen.

The town of Wormer in the second half of the 16th century became very prosperous, its inhabitants being engaged in herring fishing and in the 17th century also in whaling and industries connected with fishery: shipbuilding, baking ship biscuit, etc. In 1673, 800 guilders were collected in the Mennon­ite congregation as a contribution to the expenses of war. But in the early 18th century a great economic decline began, which cast its shadow on the Men­nonite congregation. Though exact figures of mem­bership are not available, there was a considerable decrease about 1720, the membership dropping to about one third of that of 100 years earlier. The amounts collected for the Mennonites of Poland and Prussia in 1727 and 1733 were therefore rather small: 60 and 75 guilders, respectively.

Until 1831 the congregation of Wormer-Jisp was served by lay preachers, usually chosen from its own membership; one of them was Klaas Yp, who served 1743-d.95, more than half a century. In 1831 the congregation called its first minister trained at the Amsterdam Mennonite seminary - C. Cardinaal, who served here until 1834. He was followed by G. L. Bavink, serving 1834-36, W. A. van Kampen 1836-41, P. van der Goot 1842-43, G. Vissering 1843-69, E. M. Mulder 1869-71, A. G. van Gilse 1871-72, A. Mulder 1873-74, W. I. Leendertz 1875-78, J. G. Boekenoogen 1881-84, and W. P. J. van Haarst 1884-1921. After the departure of van Haarst the pulpit was vacant for nearly two years. Since 11 February 1923, the pastor of neighboring Krommenie  has also been serving at Wormer-Jisp. , The baptized membership of the congregation numbered 58 in 1847, 62 in 1861, 96 in 1900, 123 in 1926, and 80 in 1958 (about 50 living in Wormer). The old meetinghouse, a frame building of ca. 1755, was replaced by a brick church in 1851. Church activities are a ladies' circle, a circle of young mem­bers, and a Sunday school for children.

Bibliography

Cate, Steven Blaupot ten. Geschiedenis der Doopsgezinden in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht en Gelderland, 2 vols. Amsterdam: P.N. van Kampen, 1847: I, 45, 251, 348; idem II, 204, 234.

Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1861): 164; (1872): 57; (1877): 80; (1898): 78-106; (1909): 18; (1917): 173.

Doopsgezind Jaarboekje (1837): 171; (1850): 22-24.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: I, Nos. 10, 62b, 83, 85c, 98, 131, 137, 159, 159a, 253, 357, 896, 904; II, Nos. 2352-56.

Kühler, Wilhelmus Johannes. Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Doopsgezinden in de Zestiende Eeuw. Haarlem: H.D. Tjeenk Willink, 1932: I, 87, 92, 366.

Reliwiki. "Wormer, Dorpsstraat 371 - Doopsgezinde Kerk." 20 September 2014. Web. 15 October 2014. http://reliwiki.nl/index.php/Wormer,_Dorpsstraat_371_-_Doopsgezinde_Kerk.

Additional Information

Congregation: Doopsgezinde Gemeente Wormer-Jisp

Address: Dorpsstraat 371, 1531 HK Wormer, Netherlands

Denominational affiliation:

Algemene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit

Map

Map:Doopsgezinde Gemeente Wormer-Jisp

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Wormer (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wormer_(Noord-Holland,_Netherlands)&oldid=126241.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Wormer (Noord-Holland, Netherlands). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wormer_(Noord-Holland,_Netherlands)&oldid=126241.

---

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 981-982. All rights reserved.

©1996-2024 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.