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The Maranathakerk

The current Reformed Maranatha Church (1971) at Peursumseweg 15 was built behind the previous Maranatha Church (built in 1913). When the current church was put into use, the demolition of the old church began. The first Maranatha Church from 1913 was built following the merger of two congregations: the Reformed Church of Giessen-Nieuwkerk and the Reformed Church of Giessen-Oudekerk. In 1913, the name of the church community became: Reformed Church Giessen-Nieuwkerk and Giessen-Oudekerk. Since 1957, the name has been Reformed Church Giessenburg (due to the merger of three civil municipalities). The Reformed Churches of Giessen-Nieuwkerk and Giessen-Oudekerk both have separate histories:

Modern church without tower. Various later modernizations.

The Vereniging Tot Heil des Volks (Association for the Salvation of the People), founded by Jan de Liefde (1814 - 1869) from Amsterdam, sent out evangelists to this peat area around 1870. In 1877, the Vrije Zendingsgemeente Nijtrijne (Free Missionary Church of Nijtrijne) was founded.

Construction started in 1953, but the actual construction did not start until 1954 on a vacant lot where the Hunzestraat, Kuinderstraat and Uiterwaardenstraat meet in the Rivierenbuurt.

Second Dutch Reformed Church in South Rotterdam (after the Wilhelmina Church). Architecturally and urbanistically very important, beautiful interbellum church with a defining tower, still in full use as a church. The Maranatha Church congregation still calls itself the "Reformed Church" and is of the Reformed Bond signature. Since the demolition wave of the 1970s, the tower of the Maranatha Church has been the highest church tower in South Rotterdam.

Very important modern church with freestanding tower. Built as a Reformed Church, replacing a small church hall on Groenestraat, and in addition to the more centrally located Immanuëlkerk (which was demolished about 10 years later, in 1973). This church is listed as a Municipal Monument of the Netherlands.

The church replaced a church from 1930 on Borneostraat, which was destroyed by war violence in 1944.

The Maranatha Church (1991-1992) was built to replace an older church building for the Moluccan community in Deventer, based on a design by Aldo van Eyck and his wife Hannie van Eyck between 1983 and 1985. With this church, Van Eyck attempted to develop a building with a minimal distinction between inside and outside, but which does not isolate itself from its surroundings, because this would fit in well with the religious experience of the users. For Moluccan Christians, the church service is a ceremony that begins in the living room at home and continues within the walls of the church. The distinction between inside and outside is eliminated in various ways. Van Eyck: 'The church as a continuation of the terrain, the terrain as an accompaniment to the walk to the church - that is actually the idea - not placed on the terrain, but situated in it.' For example, white roses climb up the walls 'to soften the walls'. The boundary between inside and outside is optically blurred. The closed outer walls are covered with climbing roses so that the church blends into the garden. The church space has a square plan, the four corners of which are defined by various semicircular fanlight elements. The church consists of two parts, the actual church space and a part with meeting room and consistories, which are connected by an inner street. Furthermore, the church has a flat roof that is supported by concrete columns. The unambiguous axiality of the traditional church has been replaced by a multi-axial system of local symmetries. The curved fanlight elements are clad on the outside with untreated iroko wood. A flat roof on a system of round concrete columns defines the original square. The inner walls are painted in blue stripes that go from dark to light and provided with wavy lines by artist Iene Ambar with shells found on the Moluccan islands. Due to the blue colour of the curved walls and the fact that they are in daylight, it seems as if one has come together under a flat roof in the open air. The imagination of the churchgoers is stimulated by the multiple sightlines created by the Van Eycks - this in contrast to most churches where there is only one direction of view. The church is not axially arranged, as is common in many churches, but polycentric, with multiple centers of attention and liturgical focal points. In this respect, the Maranatha Church is in line with Aldo van Eyck's earlier church designs, Wheels of Heaven (1963) and the Pastoor van Ars Church (1964-1969).

Second Reformed Church in Nieuwleusen. In expansion district (Den Hulst). Modern church with tower.