De plaats van de avondmaalsviering in monumentale hervormde kerken

Abstract

During the Reformation of the second half of the sixteenth century most of the Roman Catholic churches in the Netherlands were taken over by Reformed congregations. These congregations celebrated the Lord’s Supper several times a year, and thus had to find a space large enough to accommodate the large number of participants in this sacrament. Reformed Protestant Churches do not have regulations governing the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In the beginning, the celebrants were either seated at tables or came and went after receiving the sacrament, but in time the latter form disappeared and the celebration at the table became standard practice. If the congregation wished to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in this way, long tables were set up constructed from boards on trestles that were removed again afterwards. The place of these tables varied, but in large churches the most usual site was the nave in front of the baptismal screen. In other cases, the transept, a side aisle, or the choir aisle was used for the celebration. The selection of the site was not based on liturgical grounds: the congregation simply used the space that was best suited for the purpose. In several city churches, however, the choir was set aside for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and therefore often furnished with permanent tables and benches. Thus, the celebration of the sacrament as practised in Roman Catholic times was continued, albeit differently. In village churches, too, the table was set up where there was most space or where sufficient space could be created. Often this was the wide central aisle between the two rows of benches. This practice is still in use in various churches, particularly in Friesland. In village churches the Lord’s Supper can be celebrated in the choir, too, but this is usually not separated from the nave by means of a screen, contrary to the situation in city churches. A special case is the province of Groningen, where permanent spaces for the Lord’s Supper have been created in 35 churches, in almost all cases in the choir. After the Reformation several monumental Protestant churches have been built. The architects of some of these churches took the celebration of the Lord’s Supper into account and designed a separate space for this purpose, always on the east side of the church. Reformed congregations celebrated the Lord’s Supper in the part of their churches that was most suited for it, but they slightly preferred the choir, out of habit or a sense of tradition.