The Scots International Church or the Scottish Church (Dutch : Schotse Kerk) is located in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. An English-language Protestant church in the Presbyterian tradition, it is part of the Church of Scotland, within the Church's Presbytery of Europe. [1]
The church was first built in 1643 for the many Scottish merchants, sailors and soldiers who lived in Rotterdam, and was built on behalf of the city. The first Scottish minister was Alexander Petrie, who travelled from Perth in Scotland to take up his position. [2] The Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae (1928) states:
The Scottish Church at Rotterdam is one of the most interesting on the Continent. It was founded on 13 September 1643 with Alexander Petrie for its first minister, and, placed officially under the care of the Dutch Classis was accorded all the privileges of the Dutch Church, with full liberty to observe Scottish use and wont for worship. It was the central place of worship for the Scottish Brigade, consisting of three regiments, raised in 1572 for service in the Netherlands under the Earl of Leicester, and left by him there when he returned to England. For over two centuries these regiments aided the States General in their wars with Spain and France. They were always recruited from Scotland, and in 1688, as the earliest standing army in Europe, they formed the nucleus of William the Third's forces. The regimental chaplains were associated with the ministers of this congregation, and, until 1815, the church supported in Rotterdam, the Scottish Poorhouse, on the Schotsche dijk (now Schiedamsche dijk), for the education of orphan children of soldiers, and as a means of dispensing charity to invalided pensioners. The first meeting-place was a house in the Wynstraat, granted by the magistrates. In 1662 the congregation had the use of the ancient chapel of St Sebastian (demolished in 1910) in the Lombardstraat. Here ordination services, forbidden at home, were held by the banished Presbyters during the days of the Covenant. Amongst others, Richard Cameron was set apart to the ministry by Brown of Wamphray and Robert MacWard who (with his hand still upon Cameron's head) is said to have uttered the prophecy, fulfilled within a year: "Here is the head of a faithful minister and servant of Jesus Christ, who shall lose the same for his Master's interest." Colonel Wallace, the leader of the Pentland Rising, was an elder for a considerable time, and Sir Robert Hamilton, leader at Bothwell Bridge, was a communicant. On 13 December 1695, there was laid the foundation of a new church, which was opened in October 1697 by Robert Fleming the younger. All the stone-work was brought from Pittenweem and Queensferry. In 1894 this building underwent a complete renovation. It contains many interesting memorials, and has some valuable communion plate. The ancient pulpit of St Sebastian's has been preserved. The early records of the congregation are extant.
In 1722 the church was extended with a special almshouse for widows and orphans of fallen Scots soldiers.
The 17th-century church was destroyed in the 1940 bombing of Rotterdam. The current building in the Schiedamsevest dates from 1952 and was designed by M. C. A. Meischke.
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John Forbes (c.1568–1634) was a Scottish minister exiled by James VI and I. He founded a Church of Scotland in Middelburg in the Netherlands. He was born about 1568, and was third son of William Forbes of Corse and Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Strachan of Thornton. He graduated M.A. at St Andrews in 1583, and was settled in Alford in 1593. In November 1602 the General Assembly chose him as one of those whom the King might select for nominating commissioners from the various Presbyteries to Parliament. At Alford he came into conflict with the powerful sept of the Gordons, who were vigorous opponents of Protestantism, and when the Synods of Aberdeen and Moray excommunicated the Marquess of Huntly, and Huntly had appealed successfully to the Privy Council, Forbes was sent by these Synods to London to represent the case to King James. He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of Aberdeen on 2 July 1605 contrary to the King's order. Of twelve Aberdeenshire ministers who were present ten afterwards admitted the illegal nature of the Assembly, but Forbes [and Charles Fearn, minister of Fraserburgh] having been summoned before the Privy Council, declined the Council's jurisdiction, on the ground that the Assembly had dealt wholly with spiritual matters. For this he was imprisoned at Blackness, tried for high treason, and banished the country. On 7 November 1616 he sailed from Leith for Bordeaux, and after spending a time with Boyd of Trochrig at Saumur, he proceeded to Sedan. Much of his work thereafter consisted in visiting the Reformed Churches and Universities on the Continent, in which were many Scots students and professors. In 1611 he became minister of the English congregation at Middelburg, Holland, and soon after he was offered release from his sentence, but upon conditions he could not accept. In 1616 he came to London, where he had an interview with the King, who promised to annul his banishment — a promise which was not fulfilled. In 1621 he was minister at Delft, but the hatred of his former ministerial brethren, some of whom were now bishops, instigated Laud and the English Government to procure his dismissal, and this was carried out in 1628. He died in Holland in 1634.
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Alexander Petrie was a Scottish divine, born about 1594, was third son of Alexander Petrie, merchant and burgess of Montrose. He was the minister of Rhynd in Perthshire and was translated, to Rotterdam on 29 March 1643. He preached his first sermon at Rotterdam on 2 August, and was admitted on 30 August 1643. He died on 6 September 1662. His Compendious History of the Catholick Church contains copious extracts from the Records of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which were destroyed by a fire in the Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, 1701.
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Coordinates: 51°54′53″N4°28′47″E / 51.9147°N 4.4796°E
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