The village church in Grolloo seemed to come to an end. Due to too few churchgoers and no one wanting to take a seat on the church board anymore, the future was under great pressure, but hope is shining again for the village church.
“We had an information evening to indicate, well people, things are not going well. We indicated that there are two options: we will continue, but then we need your help, or we will stop. The audience responded quite emotionally at the time,” says Walter Regeer, chairman of the Grolloo-Schoonloo church council.
“As a non-Grolloer, I was also surprised, because okay, it is a church,” he continues. “But if you keep talking to people, you notice how many generations have been baptized, married, ordained here. Then you understand, that’s why we said, we won’t let this happen, we’ll move on.”
The biggest challenge was filling the church council, the board of the local church. “Until October. Then a number of people in Grolloo-Schoonloo stood up and said, we cannot let our community stop,” said Regeer.
Currently, a church service is still held every two weeks, but this will be stopped because, according to Regeer, people have less time to go to church on Sundays. Only major celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and memorial services will be held later.
In addition, the cultural role of the building is expanded. Regeer: “We have, among other things, the Grolloo Flute Sessions, Blues and choirs can also come here.” To make room for cultural activities, church benches have already been removed.
Five of the seven spots on the church council have been filled. An open position is that of pastor, for which a vacancy has been written. Last year a ‘DOA’: pastor on call was deployed.
“What we are still looking for are 1 or 2 people from the villages of Grolloo and Schoonloo who say, we are going to participate. That is why we are approaching people. It is not a lot of work, but a role that you form and carry out together as a church board.”
Without church council it was over for the church community. Regeer: “We absolutely did not want that. That is why the rule here is: rule of the strongest, shoulders to the wheel and we continue.” The final choice for whether the church remains open lies with the Protestant Church of the Netherlands. Regeer expects this to turn out well.