The Vrije Evangelische Gemeente (Free Evangelical Congregation) of Nijverdal held its last service on Sunday 30 August, ending a congregation founded in 1903 in the eastern Netherlands. The church on the Grotestraat was full for the farewell, and after the service the Bible, the baptism font, the communion vessels and the Easter candle were carried out while the congregation sang “U zij de glorie” in a large circle on the church square. The congregation was formally dissolved on 1 September 2026, the Bond van Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten (Bond VEG) reported this week.
For a long period VEG Nijverdal was the largest congregation in the Bond, the Dutch union of free evangelical congregations, and it was first known as a Zendingsgemeente — a mission congregation. Eight ministers came out of the congregation, as did members who served the union’s boards and committees. The Bond recorded the grief on the square after the last service: “Was this really necessary? Could it not have been different?” one member asked, while another said, “It still hasn’t sunk in that I can’t come here any more.”
The church building, the parsonage, the caretaker’s house and a hall are now for sale. The Bond said the proceeds are intended for good causes in Nijverdal and, through a fund named for the town, for Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten in difficulty. Some of the remaining members have transferred to the local Protestant congregation or to another church, while others have not yet decided where to go.
The closure also changed the standing of the retired ministers who had belonged to the congregation. Under Bond rules, a minister who wishes to remain connected with the union must be a guest or member of a Bond congregation, and three emeritus pastors chose instead to move to the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN). Sonja van Kooten-Tönjes, Laura van Weijen and Leo Mietus, a former lecturer at the Bond’s seminary, were formally received on Tuesday 27 October at a service in the chapel of the PKN’s national service centre in Utrecht. Each received a testimonium of admission and a candle bearing the PKN logo, and they were welcomed by Trijnie Bouw, preses of the moderamen of the general synod; the short service, led by Leo Blees, included Psalms 84 and 134.
The Bond noted that Van Weijen, minister of VEG Nijverdal until 30 August and also a PKN minister throughout, now joins the Protestant congregation in Nijverdal, while Van Kooten-Tönjes joins the Protestant congregation in Ommen, where she has lived since her retirement. It also recorded the departure of Ellen Sonneveld, who had joined VEG Nijverdal after the VEG Enschede was closed and has for several years been a minister of the Protestant congregation in Sleen.
(Originally published in Dutch. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: Bond van Vrije Evangelische Gemeenten (Bond VEG) — www.bondveg.nl/2026/10/29/einde-vrije-evangelische-gemeente-nijverdal-1903-2026/
