Amsterdam 400

Come to Amsterdam!

Amsterdam 400 – the EBF gathering for the celebration of Baptist beginnings – is drawing closer. The Baptist historical sites of this unique city are waiting to be found and explored!

The Baptist pilgrim should certainly stop at the corner of Amstel Street 120 and Bakker Street. In this quarter the first Baptist congregation in the world gathered in 1609. It is inspiring to see the site and to meditate on John Smyth and Thomas Helwys having a Bible study and prayer in the back-room of Jan Munter's bakery. And why not have a cup of coffee in the present-day Café L'Opera?

Only a short walk from the historic location of Bakker Street there is the Singelkerk, a Mennonite church that dates back to the time of Smyth and Helwys. A "family tree" on a wide sheet of paper in the corridor of the church shows "the English Group" with John Smyth and Thomas Helwys as leaders. Historians still discuss what relationship the first Baptist group actually had with this church.

A Baptist pilgrim could then continue the walk to the New Church in the centre of the city. It is a museum today, but numbered stone slabs in the floor, usually without names, remind visitors of people who have been buried here over centuries. Under one of these stone slabs John Smyth was buried though do not know the exact location of Smyth's grave.

A fourth stop of Baptist interest is the English Reformed Church in the Begijnhof, a 5-minute walk from the New Church. Part of Smyth's original group of Separatists in England ended up worshipping at this church before returning to England and setting sail for the New World. Some of these people became known as the Pilgrim Fathers.

Brief historical information about these four places important to Baptists is provided in the historical walking tour brochure that each participant of the Amsterdam 400 event will receive.

Many details on the Smyth group and its relationship with the Waterlander Mennonites in Amsterdam have survived in documents stored in the Amsterdam City Archives. Baptist historian Kirsten Timmer from the Netherlands recently found the entry for Smyth’s burial in the official burial books of the New Church. Apart from the documents already known to us, she hopes to share newly-discovered details and documents at the EBF gathering.

AMSTERDAM 400: Did you know?

The conference programme is almost completed. Conference plenary sessions and seminars will be led by inspiring speakers from European and worldwide Baptist family: Neville Callam, David Coffey, Raquel Contreras, Teddy Oprenov, Vjacheslav Nesteruk and others.

At special Focus Areas you will be able to discuss relevant issues with fellow participants over a cup of tea or coffee. Amsterdam 400 is a gathering where we celebrate our common story, where friendships are strengthened and new creative ideas will be born.

AMSTERDAM CITY: Did you know?

Amsterdam - the city where the first Baptist congregation emerged four centuries ago - is a city of bicycles. There are over 1 million bikes in the city for its 700 thousand inhabitants. The canals, green areas and streets full of history welcome the visitors of the city. The name Amsterdam comes from the combination of the river Amstel and the Dam that was built on the river. And dams are important! You may have never thought that when you land at Schiphol Airport, you are actually four meters below sea level. Come and discover!