Twisk, a village near Hoorn in the Dutch province of North Holland (coordinates: 52.74135, 5.05634 [52° 44′ 28″ N, 5° 3′ 22″ E], the seat of a Mennonite congregation since early times. It formerly belonged to the strict branch of the Old Frisians. Concerning its history there is not much information. It is a clear example of old Frisian strictness, that Jan Jacobsz of Twisk and Jacob Jansz of the neighboring village of Abbekerk refused appointments as magisterial officials. They were exempted on payment of a fine of 25 guilders each, which was given to the Reformed poor of their villages. The Mennonites of Twisk were rather well-to-do, for they made a considerable contribution (more than 4,000 guilders!) in 1672 to help the Netherlands, then at war. They also contributed to collections of money for the Prussian Mennonites. About 1725 the congregation of Abbekerk merged with Twisk. No membership figures are known for the early period. Since 1919 the pastor of Twisk also serves at Medemblik.
Until the middle of the 18th century the congregation was served by ministers chosen from its members, the number of preachers usually being three or four. Cornelis de Bleyker, serving 1770-96, was the first preacher called from outside. He was followed by Atze Wybes van der Hoek 1796-1835. The first minister trained at the Amsterdam Mennonite Seminary serving at Twisk was Sjoerd Hoekstra 1835-1880, followed by Jan Fopko Bakker 1881-1908, D. Attema 1909-1912, S. H. N. Gorter 1912-1914, C. C. de Maar 1915-1919, A. Keuter 1920-1925, H. C. Barthel 1926-1935, S. Gosses Gzn 1935-1938, R. de Zeeuw 1938-1941, Miss A. C. Büch 1941-1942, J. Krijtenburg 1942-1946, Miss T. G. Siccama 1949-1951, and Miss M. G. Stubbe after 1954. In the late 1950s there were two women's circles in this congregation.
Cate, Steven Blaupot ten. Geschiedenis der Doopsgezinden in Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht en Gelderland, 2 vols. Amsterdam: P.N. van Kampen, 1847: v. I, 212, 251; v. II, 203, 204, 233.
Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1919): 222.
Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam, 2 vols. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: v. II, Nos. 2280-2282.
Reliwiki. "Twisk, Dorpsweg K 149 - Doopsgezinde Kerk." 3 October 2013. Web. 12 October 2014. http://reliwiki.nl/index.php/Twisk,_Dorpsweg_K_149_-_Doopsgezinde_Kerk.
 Additional Information
Congregation: Doopsgezinde Gemeente Twisk-Abbekerk
Address: K 149, 1676 GK Twisk, Netherlands
 Church Membership
|Author(s)||Nanne van der Zijpp|
 Cite This Article
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Twisk (Noord-Holland, Netherlands)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 12 Feb 2016. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Twisk_(Noord-Holland,_Netherlands)&oldid=130453.
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Twisk (Noord-Holland, Netherlands). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 12 February 2016, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Twisk_(Noord-Holland,_Netherlands)&oldid=130453.
Herald Press website.
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