Today was a day filled with singing, sermons, and church fellowship. We sang worship music in three different services for three different congregations and each service had a great familiarity to us. Actually, the major reformed churches of the Netherlands have recently merged into a large denomination along with the Lutheran Church and are now called The Protestant Churches of the Netherlands (PCN), yet each of the three churches we sang in still had their own personality. The first service was in the Osterkerk, a Gereformeerde congregation. All of the songs were Genevan Psalms and were sung heartily in unison with wonderful organ introductions and interludes. Our music was much appreciated and the people were friendly and hospitable.

The 11 a.m. service, also Gereformeerde, was led by the pastor of the Fontain kerk, now meeting in the Osterkerk while their church is under renovation. The congregational singing was both from the Genevan Psalter and the new hymnal of the PCN, with some hymns and Bible songs. Again, the organ was big part of the service and the singing was in unison. We did a few more songs in this service and then enjoyed lunch prepared by Anneke and her husband, Gert Bijker (a relative of Calvin president Gaylen Byker). What a wonderfully hospitable couple!

We left at 1:30 p.m. for another leisurely drive through the Frisian countryside and arrived in Franeker at about 3 p.m. Our host, Mr. Tjebbela Miedema, was awaiting our arrival and stood in the middle of the street to greet us! He is the picture of a Dutchman with rosy cheeks and a hearty laugh. This church is Gereformeerde (Frijgemakt) and is in a very contemporary setting. The congregation purchased a large warehouse in the center of town and renovated it into a lovely, simple worship space with areas for fellowship, music, and classrooms. The church was packed and the people were so very happy to have this first event with visitors in their brand new church. The pastor was young and had been educated both in the Netherlands and the U.S. He made a great effort to include us in the worship by translating as he went along and handed out an overview of his sermon to us in English. The singing was both from the Genevan Psalter along with great hymns of the faith and by this time, our reading of Dutch hymn texts was quite good. Again the singing was in unison, but he urged us to sing the descant on Holy, Holy, Holy! His sermon was passionate and relevant and we were very touched particularly by his congregational prayer. He asked the congregation for prayer requests and there were some very tragic matters to consider. He prayed deeply from the heart for these matters and even though he was praying in Dutch, we were moved by the sincerity and love he expressed for those broken and hurting.

Following the service, several members of the congregation joined us for a traditional Frisian cold buffet supper that included fresh herring on rogge brood, curry salad, cold meats and cheeses, and Frisian sweet bread (now a favorite of all of us). After the meal Mr. Miedema presented each of us with a bag of Frisian cookies baked by a member of the congregation for the fund-raising for their new church.

We drove back to Dokkum to meet our hosts or enjoy a good rest in our hotel.