Gereformeerde voorbereidingsvragen voor het avondmaal

Abstract

In this article, the authors discuss the origin, development and practice of a set of questions the Dienstboek voor de Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk in ontwerp (1955) offers for the Lord’s Supper preparation services. In answering the questions, churchgoers profess their faith, just as they did when they sought admission to the Lord’s Supper. The editing of the questions changed over time. The questions originated in East Frisia, but in their later editing were partly stamped by the Kirchenordnung (1563) of the Palatinate. Local congregations in both most northern provinces, but especially in Groningen, have adopted the questions from Emden. The provincial synod of Groningen prescribed them in 1659, but the reception in its jurisdiction has been variable. The same was true of the questions prescribed by Synod of the Netherlands Reformed Church in 1817 for the entire country. Nowadays, they are still sporadically in use.