In the Dutch town of Leidschendam (province South- Holland) exist a State-Reformed Church named the “Pepper-box.” That name is given by the population because of the shape of the building.

This was the last of a series of ten Churches which were built in The Netherlands after the Reformation. It was ready in 1653. A small Church because there were not many Reformed people in Leidschendam (close to the city of Leiden which had a majority of them).

There are farmers, growers of vegetables and three factories. Most inhabitants work in the daytime in a city, so Leidschendam is mainly forensic.

In 1693 fire destroyed the Church. Rev. Cornelius van der Linden wrote in the “Book of the Session” that only some pieces of stone were left. But soon a start was made to rebuild it; the drawings of the original were in the files of the minister. It was quite a job for the volunteers, but in 1697 the Church was ready for use again. The date is carved in the oak pew of the four majors of the city of Leiden who used to go to the Church in Leidschendam with their families.

However, the next generation had other ideas and they took the beautiful stained-glass windows away and replaced them with ordinary glass in an arched shape, the sculptured entrance was replaced by a simple porch, instead of a dome shaped roof came a pavilion roof (eight sided). Later, in 1968, under the supervision of the foundation for “Care for Monuments” the whole building was restored.

The best-known minister in the history of the “Pepper-box” is Rev. Petrus van der Hagen (1641-1671), who was born in Amsterdam. He was in Leidschendam only from 25 February 1663 till 6 January 1664, but they never saw a Reformed minister who was so active. He wrote five books in that time. Some in Dutch as well as in German. He explained in detail the letter of Paul to the Philippians, and made explanatory notes to go with the Reformed Catechism. Most famous became “De Verborgentheyt der Godsaligheyt” (“The Mystery of the Godliness”) that was printed six years after his death, straight away reprinted eight times. ❖

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J.P. de Klerk is an author and journalist from the Protestant Reformed Church of New Zealand.