De Ontmoeting

In 1509, when the Dollard flooded once again, the residents decided to move the entire village a mile and a half to the north and the cruciform church was demolished and rebuilt as a hall church. In 1570, the old detached tower was replaced by a new one.

Built as a single-nave hall church without a tower in an expressionist style, influenced by the Amsterdam School. The Catholic Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church community, founded as a result of an ecumenical prayer movement in Great Britain, which had been led by apostles since 1832. The last apostle, Francis Valentine Woodhouse, died on 3 February 1901. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Catholic Apostolic Church had approximately 200,000 members in almost 1000 congregations worldwide, with 17 congregations in the Netherlands. Today, the Netherlands still has approximately 700 members, divided over 5 congregations in The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Amersfoort and Scheemda. All 5 church buildings are architecturally interesting, some have neo-Gothic facades. Since 1901, several of the 17 municipalities mentioned at the time have also been abolished, and the associated church buildings have been demolished or repurposed. A fine example of repurposing is the neo-Gothic church building in Arnhem on Parkstraat, now a funeral home.

The tower of this church has a special, octagonal, wooden superstructure, and was built two decades earlier than the church itself. The current wide rectangular hall church was built in 1738 and replaced a very impressive Romanesque church with four (!) towers. A reminder of these towers can be seen in the pinnacles on the wide gable roof; on every corner one. In the church itself the large Hinsz organ from 1772 stands out.