Hervormde Kerk

Church hall. Various renovations and extensions.

Until December 31, 2016, this was the Reformed Church (synodal) of Kornhorn. On this date, the last Reformed service was held in this church. In September 2019, the church was taken over by the Hindu acarya (kind of guru) Shankar Upadhyay who turned it into a Hindu temple, the Mandir Shri Ketumaleshwar Dhaam. The clearest symbol of this change is the replacement of the cross on the facade by the trident of Shiva.

The Christian Reformed Church of Kornhorn emerged from the Christian Separated Church in Grootegast, a neighbouring village, which church in turn, apart from the work of De Cock et al., was the fruit of a number of revival movements in the Groningen Westerkwartier, which took place there in the second half of the nineteenth century. From 1875 onwards, every Sunday evening, there was a revivalist sermon in a barn in Kornhorn. This barn was located at the (current) Provincialeweg 49. A separate Christian Separated Church was founded in Kornhorn on 23 May 1880. The first minister was Reverend J. Buikema (1882-1887), the second Reverend H. Huis (1887-1890). In 1892, when Rev. J. Veenbaas (1890-1920) was a minister, the Christian Reformed Church of Kornhorn joined the unification of the Seceders and the Dolerenden into the Reformed Church. Initially, this did not result in many changes in Kornhorn, but gradually objections grew to certain Reformed doctrines such as baptism, and to the contemplative way of preaching, where a more experiential approach was desired. The first manifestation of these objections occurred in 1902/1903 when a number of people gathered at someone's home to read a sermon. A minister was also sometimes invited, Rev. G. Oosterhuis from Groningen. This led to the creation of a Christian Reformed Church in Kornhorn, which was instituted on 18 November 1903. Initially, people attended church at the farm of J. van der Velde, which is diagonally opposite the current church. A few years later the first own minister, Rev. WF van de Kodde (1905-1911), arrived. The first church building was built shortly after the establishment of the Christian Reformed Church by the contractor J. Notenbomer. A piece of land was purchased for this purpose from one of the parishioners. The total costs for land and construction amounted to f. 2,712.30. In 1907 the same contractor also built the first parsonage, costing f. 460.84. In 1925 the church building had become too small and a new church was built on the same site. This still stands today. The building was put into use in February 1926. The architect was Glastra from Marum. It is a simple hall church in art deco style with 500 seats and windows of colored glass. Externally it has the silhouette of a traditional village church with a tower above the front facade and a three-sided choir closure. However, this does not correspond with the internal disposition. The liturgical centre with the pulpit is located on one of the long sides on the east side, while galleries have been placed against the short sides (front facade and 'choir closure'). The main reason for this was that space was to be kept free for the expansion of the church to the west. This expansion was never necessary, mainly because of a wave of emigration that took place after the Second World War,as well as because of the foundation of a Christian Reformed Church in Lutjegast, a neighboring village. In 1935, a youth building was built at the back (north side) of the church, called 'De Schakel', and in 1967-1968 a new parsonage was built, southwest of the church on the street. In 1979, a small renovation was carried out on the church: new stained glass windows and smooth tiles were installed on the church.